Amphibious Commandos Group

The Amphibious Commandos Group (Spanish: Agrupación de Comandos Anfibios, APCA) is a special operations force of the Argentine Marine Corps.

Amphibious Commandos Group
Agrupación de Comandos Anfibios
Active1952-present
Country Argentina
Branch Argentine Marine Corps
TypeSpecial operations forces
RoleAmphibious Operations
Special Reconnaissance
Air Assault operations
Direct Action
HALO/HAHO parachuting
Size600 commandos
Garrison/HQPuerto Belgrano
Nickname(s)APCA
Motto(s)'Stirps Virilis'[1]
EngagementsFalklands War
1982 invasion of the Falkland Islands
Battle honoursHonor al valor en combate
Commanders
CurrentLieutenant Commander Luis Marcelo Martinez

Role

Trained to perform quick and objective amphibious reconnaissance, assault raids, and direct action operations.

History

It was created in 1952 as the Vigilance and Security Company of Submarine Bases (at Base Naval Mar del Plata).

In 1960 the group received its first advanced training course of amphibious reconnaissance, airborne, and HALO/HAHO parachuting in the Military Diving School and in the Argentine Army. With the personnel of the 7th Marine Corps Company, formed in 1966 the Amphibious Reconnaissance Company, it took new tasks and responsibilities.

The commando course was incorporated in the training in 1973, and in the next year the unit was renamed Amphibious Commandos Group. The members of this group wear green berets with unit badges.

The group participated in 1978 and 1979 in the Marine Corps force deployed to Tierra del Fuego, in the course of the Beagle crisis, executing many special operations missions.

During the late 1980s, the group was moved from Mar del Plata to its current base in Puerto Belgrano.

On 2 April 1982, the unit was part of the Amphibious Task Force leading the assault on Port Stanley, taking part in the battle of Government House and the assault on Moody Brook barracks. Members of the group also saw action of at South Georgia Islands and carried out a couple of reconnaissance missions from Port Stanley since 1 May. The group was awarded the Honor al Valor en Combate decoration.

Training
The unit in action

The amphibious command course lasts 1 year and is physically and mentally exhausting. 95% of applicants do not succeed.

Training course consists of the:

  • amphibious warfare course
  • mountain warfare course
  • parachute course

Operatives are also trained as demolitions experts, multiple weapons experts and trained in Close quarters combat.

Weapons

See also

References
  1. Agrupación Comandos Anfibios Archived 1 January 2018 at the Wayback Machine (in Spanish)
  2. "La Agrupación Comandos Anfibios ya cuenta con sus fusiles modificados". 14 June 2019.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.