Special Forces Airmobile Group
[Grupos Aeromóviles de Fuerzas Especiales]
In 1993 the Special Forces Airmobile Group, or GAFE (Grupo Aeromovil de las Fuersas Especiales) was a reinforced platoon-size commando unit of approximately 50 personnel. This unit initially was trained in the United States in special weapon and urban assault tactics and assigned a counterdrug role. The GAFE was under the direct control of the SDN, based at Santa Fe, Federal District. The creation of Special Forces Airmobile Group [Grupos Aeromóviles de Fuerzas Especiales - GAFE] in the Mexican Army corresponded to the idea of deploying rapidly complete combat units, helicopter transport and immediate systems supported with logistics, communication, reinforcement and replacement plan.
Mexican army force-modernization programs that were outlined in 1995 envisioned highly mobile units, including "special forces" components, based in each of the country's [then] 10 military regions. According to Mexican military and media reporting, a coordinating headquarters for these Ranger-like, company-sized units was to be established, as were "special forces" schools, with the Grupo Aerotransportado de Fuerzas Especiales (Airborne Group of the Special Forces), or GAFE, and with the First Army Corps special-operations unit. Special-operations training programs in desert, mountain and jungle environments will also be developed, with some units receiving training in urban operations. A particularly heavy emphasis was placed on those forces that will be located in the states of Chiapas and Guerrero, where "special regional airborne forces" were set up.
The Mexican army largely destroyed insurgent groups in Guerrero in the mid-1970s, though the violence attributed variously to guerrillas, drug traffickers and criminals has recently become more visible there. The Mexican Defense Secretary-General, Enrique Cervantes Aguirre, was chief of staff of the 27th Military Zone (Acapulco, Guerrero) during the 1970s, and his counterinsurgency experiences will no doubt influence the development of contemporary special-forces programs. In addition, the establishment of a regular military intelligence service also envisioned in the overall force-development efforts outlined in 1995 was expected to enhance special-operations capabilities. Concurrent with these and broader Mexican force-modernization programs, some Mexican and foreign critics have attacked what they assert to be the growing direct U.S. support for Mexican military development plans. Other observers hailed the professional-development process and what they hoped would be an open and closer U.S.-Mexican military relationship that promotes cooperation in dealing with common security problems.
In January 2002, 56 groups were reorganized as Airmobile Special Forces of Military Regions and Areas, integrating three brigade headquarters and nine battalions of Special Forces. Each of the forty-four military zones had its own GAFE and there were GAFE groups for the military police and airborne Brigades. There were also 36 Amphibious Special Force Groups (Grupos Anfibios de Fuerzas Especiales - GANFEs). These groups are trained in jungle, high-mountain, desert, amphibious, and submarine warfare.
The Special Forces began in the Army in 1986 with the creation of a unit that was called a "Quick Intervention Force" ["Fuerza de Intervención Rápida" - FIR]. The FIR was part of the Third Special Forces Brigade. At that time, according to information on the website of the Ministry of Defence, Special Forces units - in which shows the FIR - made high-impact operations (operations against drug trafficking, organized crime, armed groups and counter-terrorism) orders of the High Command in critical areas and critical, either independently or in coordination with conventional units." Later, according to the Ministry of Defence, the FIRchanged its name to Special Forces Group Airborne [Grupo Aeromóvil de Fuerzas Especiales - GAFE].
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