Deep Mission Troops
| Deep Mission Troops 종심 특수 부대 | |
|---|---|
| File:Deep Mission Troops insignia.png Full color insignia (left) and low-contrast patch (right) | |
| Active | 1967 – present |
| Country |  Menghe |
| Branch |  Menghean Army |
| Type | Special forces |
| Role | Special operations |
| Size | 8 Brigades (est. 7,000-10,000 personnel total) |
| Nickname(s) | Black Headbands Black Dragons |
| Motto(s) | Strike like lightning, burn like fire, vanish like smoke |
| Commanders | |
| Commander-in-Chief | Supreme Marshal Choe Sŭng-min |
| Commander of the Deep Mission Troops | Lieutenant General Bak Jun-sŏk |
Deep Mission Troops is the conventional translation of the Menghean 종심 특수 부대 / 縱深特殊部隊, Jongsim Tŭksu Budae, the main special forces arm of the Menghean Army. It is an abbreviation of Dae Meng Yukgun Jongsim Tŭksujŏn Immu Budae (대멩 육군 종심 특수전 임무 부대 / 大孟陸軍縱深特殊戰任務部隊), or "Deep Special Warfare Mission Troops of the Menghean Army." Alternatively, the abbreviated form may be translated as "Deep Special Forces" or "Deep Special Mission Troops."
As their name implies, the Deep Mission Troops specialize in missions within the enemy's rear areas, and form one component of Menghean deep operations (종심작전, Jongsim Jagjŏn). As such, they are trained in special operations, special reconnaissance, long-range reconnaissance patrols, intelligence-gathering, search-and-destroy operations, personnel recovery, assassination of enemy high-ranking officers, and sabotage of bridges, airfields, supply depots, missile launch sites, and other rear-area assets.
The Deep Mission Troops do not normally engage in domestic missions, such as counter-terrorism and hostage rescue, which are generally left to the Internal Security Forces and their subordinate agencies. Nor do they conduct amphibious reconnaissance, in-harbor sabotage, or defensive mountain patrols, all of which are left to other Menghean special forces units. In strategic-level operations, such as attacks on enemy politicians or sabotage of arms factories, they may cooperate with agents of Menghe's External Intelligence Agency, but generally the Deep Mission Troops focus on operations within 750 kilometers of the front lines in direct support of Army commanders.
History
The Democratic People's Republic of Menghe established the country's first Special Forces units in 1967, three years after the Menghean War of Liberation. At this time, their main mission was to infiltrate enemy countries and instigate Socialist revolution among the populace, while also sabotaging production facilities and collecting intelligence. As such, they were directly subordinate to the General Directorate for Intelligence rather than the Menghean People's Army.
Menghean special forces are known to have taken part in the Dzhungestani Revolution of 1971, parachuting into the country's interior to help organize uprisings against the monarchy.
During the 1970s and 1980s, their role changed to face the threat posed by New Oyashima, with an added focus on urban operations, undersea operations, and sabotage of industrial facilities. Documents declassified in the 1990s suggest that as early as 1986, Menghe was attempting to develop backback or suitcase nuclear bombs for use in sabotage missions, but never managed to miniaturize its nuclear warheads to a sufficiently small size.
After the Decembrist Revolution of 1987, the new Menghean government scaled down its special forces' strategic sabotage capabilities, and instead shifted to a focus on overseas deployment, including training in counter-terrorism and hostage rescue operations. During the early months of the Ummayan Civil War, Menghean special forces are known to have trained Taleyan rebels on Qusayni soil, and some sources claim they carried out operations within Naseristan itself prior to the official Menghean intervention.
Once the Ummayan Civil War came to an end, Menghe faced a greatly elevated risk of conflict with its neighbors Maverica and Innominada, which changed the special forces' range of missions. In 2006, as part of the prolonged 2005 Military Reforms, the Menghean Special Forces acquired their present name of Deep Mission Troops, and were reorganized into the Army-level Brigade system used today. This entailed major changes in training and equipment, which were not completely implemented until 2011. The Special Naval Troops were broken off into a separate administrative unit in 2009, and the Mountaineer Troops were broken off in 2013.
Menghe's Deep Mission Troops played a prominent role in the Innominadan Crisis, parachuting hundreds of operatives behind Innominadan lines in preparation for the land offensive led by the 4th and 7th Armies. Prior to the Menghean invasion, Deep Mission operatives had also landed in the Innominadan interior to arm and train insurgents affiliated with the Republica del Norte and Republica del Sur (RdN/RdS) rebel governments. During the buildup to Maverica's intervention, Deep Mission operatives are believed to have landed in the north of the country to sabotage key bridges, overpasses, and railway lines ahead of the Maverican advance, though the Menghean government maintains that these acts of sabotage were carried out by Innominadan insurgents.
Selection and Training
Before applying to join the Deep Mission Troops, an individual must first complete a two-year service term in the Menghean Army, either as a conscript or a volunteer. This serves as the applicant's basic training and familiarization, and is also intended to reduce divisions between Deep Mission Troops and regular conscripts. It also allows training staff to review Gunchal disciplinary records on individual soldiers during the first round of screening. In addition to physical fitness and good discipline, admissions staff in the first stage also pay close attention to applicants' political loyalty, to improve motivation in combat and reduce the likelihood that Deep Mission soldiers will desert, surrender, or defect to the enemy.
Approved applicants are then allowed to take part in a grueling four-day selection exercise testing their physical fitness, resourcefulness, ability to work cooperatively, and ability to remain calm under stress.
Those who pass the first round of screening advance to a one-year special training course. Here, they learn skills such as small arms operation, marksmanship, navigation, high-altitude parachuting (both HALO and HAHO), use of camouflage, and survival in the wilderness. All Deep Mission personnel are trained in full-contact martial arts and other forms of close combat.
Deep Mission Troops are also trained in resistance to interrogation, to ensure that they do not reveal sensitive information if captured by enemy forces. After learning theoretical tools for interrogation endurance, trainees are subjected to a variety of physical and psychological torture techniques, including techniques banned under Septentrion's international law. On high-risk missions, Deep Mission operatives may be instructed to commit suicide if captured, either with their own weapons or by means of a concealed cyanide pill.
As the final step in the course, trainees must complete a week-long solo navigation exercise in the wilderness, and a 100-kilometer march while carrying a simulated 25-kilogram combat load. Those who pass are formally declared personnel of the Deep Mission Troops, and assigned to one of the brigades listed below. On average, 80 to 90 percent of applicants are eliminated over the course of the training and selection period, including the disciplinary review, the initial selection exercise, and the final march.
Organization
Menghe's Deep Mission Troops are divided into six active-duty Brigades, each of which is permanently assigned to a field army. Within the Field Army, it is subject to the orders of the Army Commander, and employed in support of that Army's operations. As such, individual brigades incorporate some differences in training and equipment to suit their Army's needs; the 5th Deep Mission Brigade, for example, specializes in desert and steppe operations, and in raids on isolated supply convoys.
- 1st Deep Mission Brigade "Dragon" (7th Army)
- 2nd Deep Mission Brigade "Tiger" (4th Army)
- 3rd Deep Mission Brigade "Girin" (6th Army)
- 4th Deep Mission Brigade "Mantis" (8th Tank Army)
- 5th Deep Mission Brigade "Nomad" (12th Reserve Army)
- 6th Deep Mission Brigade "Panther" (9th Army)
In addition to the above, there are also two "Training Brigades:" 7th Special Training Brigade "Chŏllima" and 8th Special Training Brigade "Python." Normally, these are responsible for training incoming personnel and overseeing test exercises, but in an emergency situation they can be converted into regular Deep Mission Brigades. All of their non-logistical personnel are former Deep Mission personnel, or high-performing trainees who barely fell short of the year's personnel requirements.
Each Brigade is then broken up as follows. Note that the number of Battalions in an individual brigade varies extensively between units, from three in the 3rd Deep Mission brigade to eight in the 1st. This reflects the differing demands placed on different Army units. Note also that only members of the Deep Mission Company are expected to deploy in combat and have undergone full training; the rest are planning staff or logistics personnel on the base. Unlike Menghe's Airborne forces, Deep Mission units do not deploy with logistic personnel, and are expected to either forage off the enemy or rely on supply drops as they operate in small units on predominantly reconnaissance-based missions. Thus, a Brigade's size in Deep Mission operatives ranges from 540 to 1,440 operatives.
- HQ and Planning Company
- 3-8x Deep Mission Battalion (180 operatives)
- Battalion HQ and Planning Company
- 4x Deep Mission Company (45 operatives)
- Company HQ (5 operatives)
- 4x Deep Mission Squad (10 operatives)
- Signals Company
- Battalion Support Units
- Brigade Support Units
Deep Mission Troops are almost never deployed in units larger than Company size, and even a Deep Operations Company is similar in size to a large platoon in other militaries. Missions requiring larger concentrations of troops are left to the Air Assault Forces. While the smallest formal unit of organization is the Deep Mission Squad, in practice Deep Mission units may be deployed in fireteams, pairs, or individually.
Missions
In contrast with Menghe's other, smaller special forces organizations, the Deep Mission Troops are primarily concerned with Operational-level missions, and seek to support offensive operations by an Army, Corps, or Division by weakening the rear assets of the enemy unit facing it. At times, they may be called on for Strategic-level operations against a target country's underlying defense capabilities, or for short-range tactical flanking missions. In nearly all cases, they are deployed by parachute, but they may also infiltrate through enemy lines, or land far from the target and approach on foot.
More specifically, a list of possible missions for Deep Mission Troops would include the following:
- Gathering intelligence on the movement and capability of enemy forces, including forces held in reserve;
- Finding and designating targets for tactical bombers, theater-range missiles, and long-range artillery;
- Monitoring enemy signals, through radio interception or wire-tapping;
- Cutting important enemy supply routes by destroying bridges, placing off-route mines, and derailing trains;
- Disabling nuclear weapon launch or basing facilities;
- Identifying and securing landing sites for Air Assault forces and larger Deep Mission units;
- Capturing and interrogating enemy officers and soldiers to acquire intelligence;
- Assassinating high-ranking enemy officers;
- Using terror and loss of civil services to intimidate, panic, and disorganize the local civilian population; and
- Organizing and arming guerilla forces sympathetic to Menghe's war aims, specifically in Central Innominada.
Deep Mission Troops may also conduct direct raids on high-value targets, such as missile launch batteries, large-unit headquarters, and supply convoys, but are instructed to do so "only under conditions of fleeting opportunity" - for example, against time-critical targets for which there is no time to summon Air Assault forces or call for an airstrike. Despite their extensive training in areas ranging from marksmanship to hand-to-hand combat, Deep Mission Troops are advised to avoid combat wherever possible and eliminate targets as silently as they can. Under no conditions would they be used as conventional front-line combat troops.
Some captured Menghean Army doctrinal documents suggest that during preparations for a major conventional war, Deep Mission Troops may be deployed behind enemy lines days before the planned commencement of hostilities, so that they may infiltrate close to their targets while enemy rear-area security is still weak and provide intelligence on enemy force dispositions in preparation for massed air and artillery strikes in the opening hours of a war.
Appearance and Equipment
Insignia
The insignia of the Deep Mission Troops, pictured at the top of the page, is worn as a shoulder patch on dress uniforms; in the field, a low-contrast version is also available, or the insignia may be omitted altogether for secrecy.
The dando dagger in the center represents the units' combat skill and quiet killing techniques, while the parachute represents their airborne deployment and the stylized lightning bolts represent the speed with which they can strike their targets. A black background, in addition to matching the Deep Mission Troops' overall colors, also represents their stealth and their training in night operations.
Uniforms
The Deep Mission Troops' regular uniforms feature darker hues than those of the Army's regular soldiers, using a black-and-olive color scheme in place of the Army's black-olive-tan three-tone. They do not wear berets, neither as part of their dress uniform nor in combat, but are usually seen with black headbands.
On actual missions, however, the Deep Mission Troops may deploy in a variety of different uniforms, depending on the season, the destination of the terrain, and the nature of the mission. This includes the use of the same uniforms, equipment, and insignia as a regular Menghean Army combat unit or an Air Assault unit, to prevent enemy patrols from identifying captured or killed operatives as Deep Mission Troops.
A few training documents leaked to foreign sources have mentioned that on certain missions, Deep Mission Troops may even deploy in civilian clothing, or in Maverican and Innominadan uniforms, in order to blend in with their surroundings; for the same purpose, they are also rumored to maintain combat units composed only of ethnic Daryz, a rarity in the highly integrated Menghean Army. The Menghean Ministry of Defense denies such practices, which could constitute a violation of international law.
Equipment
Due to the wide diversity of missions they may be called upon to undertake, each Deep Mission operative is qualified on a variety of weapon systems, including weapons that may be captured from the enemy. There is no fixed allocation of weapons and equipment to personnel in a squad, as in regular Army units. Instead, each unit deployed is armed for the demands of the mission at hand, with a common reserve of weapons kept at the unit's base of operations.
On training exercises and parades, Deep Mission Troops are commonly seen with the JjS-106 carbine, which features a built-in suppressor. Other common weapon options include sniper rifles, anti-materiel rifles, grenade launchers, disposable rocket launchers, silenced pistols, and submachine guns. They are rarely armed with heavier weaponry, such as anti-tank rocket launchers and guided missiles, as they are instructed to avoid armor wherever possible.