Special Forces - who's the best?, page 2

SPETSNAZ operate up to 1000 kilometers behind enemy lines, with emphasis on enemy nuclear delivery means, either locating them for attack by other forces or, if necessary, attacking by themselves. Typical SPETSNAZ targets include mobile missiles, command and control facilities, air defenses, airfields, port facilities, and lines of communication. In addition, specially trained SPETSNAZ elements have the missions of assassinating or kidnapping enemy military and civilian leaders.

The basic SPETSNAZ unit is a team of eight to ten men. The team is commanded by an officer, may have a warrant officer or senior sergeant as deputy, and includes a radio operator, demolitions experts, snipers, and reconnaissance specialists. Team members have some degree of cross-training so a mission can continue if a specialist is lost.

Upon induction, a SPETSNAZ conscript will be asked to sign a loyalty oath in which he acknowledges death will be his punishment for divulging details about his service.

After induction, some of the conscripts will be selected for an arduous, six-month-long noncommissioned officers school. Anticipating a high washout rate, commanders may send as many as five conscripts for each available NCO slot. In the event more NCOs graduate than there are slots available, the lower ranked graduates are assigned to positions as private soldiers. This excess of trained NCOs provides a ready pool of leaders to replace casualties in the field.3 Washouts and those conscripts not selected for NCO school receive training in their units. In addition to basic military training, they will be trained in the following specialized skills:

parachuting,
hand-to-hand combat and silent-killing techniques, including judo, karate, and knife-fighting,
sabotage using explosives, incendiaries, acids, and abrasives,
infiltration techniques, including defeat of locks and security systems,
foreign language and culture,
foreign weapons, tactics, and vehicles,
survival,
reconnaissance and map reading, and
rappelling.
Training in foreign language, etc., is geared to the SPETSNAZ unit's wartime target area. The team leader is expected to be nearly fluent in one of the languages of a target country, while enlisted personnel are expected to know the alphabet and basic phrases. This specific training relating to a foreign country is intended not only to facilitate operations there but also to enable the teams to conduct missions while wearing enemy uniforms or civilian clothing.

Parachute training begins with static line jumps, but many soldiers will progress to high altitude low opening (HALO) jumps using steerable parachutes. Jumps are made day and night, in all kinds of terrain and weather.4

In keeping with their behind-the-lines missions, SPETSNAZ are lightly equipped. Each soldier will have an AK-74 assault rifle or SVD sniper rifle, a silenced 9-mm pistol, ammunition, a knife, up to eight hand grenades of various types, and rations. In addition, every team member carries a portion of the team's gear, which will normally include an RPG-16 grenade launcher and rounds, an R-350M burst transmission radio capable of communicating over a range of 1000 kilometers, directional mines, and plastic explosives. If the mission demands it, the team can also be assigned special weapons such as the SA-7 or SA-14 surface-to-air missile. The load per team member is approximately 40 kilograms (88 pounds).

this is some other random things i found about spetsnaz.

sorry no link cause its from my puter!