Ĭounter-insurgency (COIN) operations in Jammu and Kashmir: In the Jhelum River and Wular Lake, two to four teams of MARCOS are deployed through the year at Wular Lake. The team provided Maritime Special Operations support to the Naval Task Force. MARCOS were deployed off Mogadishu in support of the Indian contingent in Somalia. MARCOS personnel intercepted an LTTE vessel smuggling arms and ammunition. Operation Tasha, which was instituted after Operation Pawan wound up, was a coastal security operation on the Tamil Nadu coast to thwart operations of the LTTE there. A contingent of MARCOS operating from Ratmalana Airfield on the outskirts of Colombo, with some help from the Sri Lankan Army, boarded the ship and accepted the surrender of the militants and took them into custody. An Alize anti-submarine aircraft dropped two depth charges near the vessel, causing the militants to appear on the upper decks and surrender. Godavari trailed the hijacked vessel for two days, firing intermittently on the vessel's superstructure. The MCF was pressed into service along with INS Godavari, a multi-role frigate carrying Seaking helicopters and Alize aircraft operating from the Navy's base at Kochi. A group of 47 mercenaries attempted to escape by sea with 23 hostages on a hijacked vessel, MV Progress Light. The force played a supporting role in India's successful military aid, helping foil the attempted coup by Sri Lankan militants from the PLOTE and ENDLF. The MARCOS, as part of the Indian Navy contingent, defended the democratic government of President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom of the Maldives from a coup. He was awarded the Maha Vir Chakra for this mission. Aravind Singh, an officer trained by the US Navy SEALs. A team of 18 MARCOS were involved in this operation.
MARCOS fired back and swam to safety after the gunfight with no casualties. After they detonated the explosives and destroyed the harbour, LTTE militants started firing upon them. They rigged the LTTE harbour with explosives without being detected. MARCOS swam 12 km (7.5 miles) to their target with their combat load in a tow. On 21 October, MARCOS conducted a successful amphibious raid against an Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) base at Guru Nagar. The Indian Marine Special Force, as the MARCOS was then known, helped capture the harbours of Jaffna and Trincomalee, Sri Lanka, as part of the Indian Peace Keeping Force. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources. This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. Operations undertaken by MARCOS usually remain classified some of the known operations are: As of 2012, the MARCOS has about 2,000 personnel though the exact number remains classified. The force has undertaken numerous joint exercises with special forces from around the world. The MARCOS are capable of undertaking operations in all types of terrain but are specialised in maritime operations. The IMSF was renamed as 'Marine Commando Force' in 1991. In February 1987, the Indian Marine Special Force (IMSF) officially came into existence and the three officers were its first members. They later went on training exchanges with the Special Boat Service. Three volunteer officers from the diving unit, which was created in 1955, were selected and underwent training courses with the United States Navy SEALs at Coronado. In April 1986, the Indian Navy started planning for the creation of a special forces unit that would be capable of undertaking missions in a maritime environment, conducting raids and reconnaissance, and counter-terrorism operations.
In 1983, the Indian Army formation called 340th Army Independent Brigade was converted into an amphibious assault unit and a series of joint airborne-amphibious exercises were conducted in later years. After the war ended, army units were often drafted into amphibious exercises. Subsequently, during the war, the Indian Navy assisted the Indian Army in landing operations against the Pakistani military base in Cox's Bazar. The combat divers had also taught basic underwater demolition training to insurgents from Bangladesh, who were then sent on missions during the war but did not cause any substantial damage to Pakistani military installations.
The combat divers failed to achieve their desired outcomes during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971 as they were not adequately trained for sabotage missions.
In 1955, the Indian military established a diving school at Cochin with the assistance of the British Special Boat Service and began teaching combat divers skills such as explosive disposal, clearance, and salvage diving. Statue of a Marine Commando on display at Visakha Museum