Call For Witness

[bina]

tabor....

the name of a mountain in central /northern israel... mount tabor... a rather mystical area, well forested, goats, wildlife...

tabor is also the bellybutton , not sure entymology of the word though...

we use the semi hard b/v sound....

either way, at least its smaller and easier to carry on a bus when coming home on a weekend break then the m16 longs that the new soldiers always have to lug home when sent on mini breaks, along with kit bags etc all done travelling by busses..

bina

[Kerryd]

Bina, 9mm and 5.56 are the same, just a different way to measure

Sorry for laughing, but as I was reading this at my desk, I glanced at the 9mm, 5.56mm and .50 calibre rounds sitting on my desk and couldn't help myself.

9mm (9×19mm) is primarily pistol (and submachine gun) round.

5.56mm (5.56×45mm) is the standard NATO rifle round (in non-metric, it is known as .223 calibre) and is primarily a rifle round (though there are a couple of pistols that are designed to fire rifle rounds).

First pic - 9mm. Second pic - 5.56mm

Too bad I didn't see this thread a little sooner. Going on holidays (very) soon, otherwise I could have taken the pics, and some of the comments from this thread, and gone around to the different SF groups here to see what they think.

No doubt there would be quite a few sniggers, chuckles and laughs (at some of the comments), and some quick (professional) judgments on the troops shown in the pics. Who knows, maybe even some first hand knowledge.

Oh, by the way. I won't say how many different SF groups are here right now, or which countries they are from, etc. However, it is usually easy to distinguish them at a glance for various reasons (when they are on camp at least).

//edited to add:

"Micro Tavor (MTAR 21) is based on the IWI Tavor Assault Rifle, yet this small weapon is tailored for the Special Forces market. Its compact dimensions make this weapon a perfect match for drivers and tank crews. MTAR was developed in close cooperation with special operations units and is tailored to their specific requirements and needs.

With length of only 59 cm MTAR21 is considered to be the shortest 5.56mm weapon in the market yet its barrel is only five centimeter short of the assault rifle version, thus offering accurate fire at contingencies. Utilizing a conversion kit, MTAR 21 can be turned into a 9mm sub-machinegun loaded with 25 rounds magazines."

"The Indian version of Micro-Tavor, called Zittara, is designed by the India's Ordnance Factory Board (OFB) for use by India's special operations units. Zittara differs from the Israeli Micro-Tavor by allowing the use of three different configurations and ammunition types for different situations - a carbine (firing 5.56x30 ammunition), an assault rifle (firing 5.56x45mm) and submachine-gun firing 9x19mm rounds with accuracy of up to 200 meters. These conversions can be performed in the field with standard tools."

Edited July 25, 2008 by Kerryd

[Austeyr]

Tigs... Finally a well balanced and factually based response. I spent 36 years in the Royal Australian Navy and rose through the ranks to Lieutenant Commander. I spent three years at the Australian Embassy in Bangkok and on many occasions accompanied members of the Australian Special Air Services Regiment as a liaison whilst they were conducting training exercises with Thai "special forces" these exercises involved such things as Entebbe style hostage rescue scenarios through to establishing FOP's in hostile territory. The Aussie soldiers were more than impressed with the discipline, weaponry, skillsets and attitude of Thai SF. I later went on to spend five months with the Thai Army battalion in East Timor as the liaison officer between the Thais and INTERFET HQ and all of the Thai military in ET were from Lop Buri... Very fit and very professional. Thailand has SF in the Army, Marines and the Navy, they are well thought of in international SF circles and have trained with the best of the best from USA, Australia, Indonesia and Singapore to my knowledge. I woud not be suprised to learn that they have also conducted training with Chinese SF personnel as well.

As to who the military personnel were in the photos, I think Justback has answered that question very well.

Elkangorito, unless you were part of team 1, it would seem that you are just another ex military expat walking around alluding to secret missions that you cannot talk about, sad really. You are though, quite correct with respect to publication of pictures of SF personnel, Apart from those already KIA, you will never see the face of any SAS (Australian) in any media.

Cheers and Beers All.

I spent 10 years with the Royal Australian Army whom crossed trained me as a Thai translator. I spent a year working in lopburi with the Thai Rangers who worked along with members of the SASR and are regarded as very professional and skilled in certain aspects of jungle warfare and survival. People of a skewed view of what SF is and it seems alot of people have made some pretty uneducated guesses. If a unit falls under special operations command they are SF regardless of what the world thinks or if they have black squares across their face or not.

To the person who made the sling comment, i see nothing wrong with how he has slung his weapon and i can assure you he knows exactly what he is doing. Also carrying different weapons is normal practice for certains units regardless if they are third world or not.

Midasthailand, i am also a timor veteran and did alot of translation work in between other things during INTERFET, maybe we have crossed each others paths although you are much more my superior in regards to rank. It was also a nice suprise for me to see some of my ranger friends from Lopburi get a gernsey in Timor.

[silverhawk_usa]

I suggest you call them "Thai military men wearing black clothing". Since there is no proof of their abilities plus they have been fully exposed to the public (& therefore to other governments), I see no reason to assume the ridiculous title of "special forces".

Not all special forces need to hide their identities. They are not spies. Perhaps they are crack combat troops rather than want-to-be James Bonds.

I have to agree with this statement. On hwy 107 between Chiang Mai and Mae Rim are a number of Army bases. They have a clearly visible road sign in both Thai and English stating "Special Forces Battalion #%$%", obviously I don't remember the numbers given and I am not going out to look for you guys. There are no real restrictions to viewing from two different roads and they make no attempt to conceal what is going on inside.

For the past week they have been practicing parachuting from helicopters every afternoon. I can see the view from my house and it is quite entertaining but far from secretive.

[Austeyr]

Also to add, the men in black, as mentioned, are taharn phran and are a paramilitary troops usualy posted on the borders of Thailand, they are not "special forces".

[bina]

kerry, that means i translated the article properly... i was never good with numbers...

getting on a bus any sunday morning when all the soldiers go back to base, fridays when they get weekends off, surrounded by uniforms, ranks, and weapons for 23 years and i still dont have a clue... my daughter has some rank and i still dont have a clue... (she's a soldier teacher so no weopons for her other then tear gas)...

bina