FSK (Norwegian military unit) - Definition and Overview

FSK stands for Forsvaret Spesialkommando, a Norwegian military unit which can be translated into Military Special Commando. The Norwegian government decided to establish a supplementary force in addition to the police's Delta force in 1981 because of the increasing terror threats, especially threats directed towards the Norwegian oil fields in the North Sea.

Little is known about this unit and its training, but only a few, highly trained individuals are members of it. An FSK team consists of about 20 individuals, possibly fewer, depending on the circumstances of a particular mission. Unlike other Norwegian special forces, the FSK are an elite group to which it is not possible to apply: rather its members are invited to join - mostly from Hærens Jegerkommando and Marinejegerkommandoen - if they exhibit high skills in:

• Weapon handling
• Hostage negotiations
• Combat
• Swimming
• Running
• Calm in extremely dangerous situations

To maintain a high level of secrecy, FSK troops remain unidentified even to their friends and family. The FSK's main missions lie in the area of counterterrorism within Norway, or the protection of Norwegian interests abroad, rather than in active subversion and sabotage of enemy capabilities.

It is believed that FSK cooperates with other special forces around the world; SAS (United Kingdom), Delta Force and DEVGRU (USA) and GSG-9 (Germany).