68th Special Forces Brigade (Bulgaria)

68th Special Forces Brigade
Active	1942 - present
Country	Bulgaria
Branch	Bulgarian Land Forces
Type	Special forces
Role	Counter-terrorism, Combat Search and rescue, Expeditionary Warfare, Aerial Warfare
Size	1,500
Garrison/HQ	Plovdiv
Motto	Там, където другите не могат (Where the others can't) За Родината славата, за нас честта (The glory is to the Motherland, the honour is to us)
Anniversaries	18 October
Equipment	AR-M1, MP5, AR-SF, Arsenal LMG PKM, RPK, RPG-22,RPG-7B,GP-25,Barrett M82, Arsenal Shipka, SVD rifle; Mercedes-Benz G-Class, UAZ-469,HMMWV other armored vehicles
Commanders
Current commander	Brigadier-General Yavor Mateev

The 68th Special Forces Brigade (Bulgarian: 68-а бригада Специални Сили) is a special operations formation of the Bulgarian Land Forces. The 68th SF Brigade is also Bulgaria's principal paratrooper unit and includes the 101st Alpine Battalion, which has participated in all conflicts involving Bulgaria.^[1]

History

It was established in 1942 under the name Parashutna druzhina ("Paratrooper battalion"), its initial personnel being 350 soldiers. By January, 1943, these began to receive their training in the city of Braunschweig, in Nazi Germany. The unit was first thrown in combat in 1944, when Bulgaria already changed its allegiance from the Axis to the Allies and the Soviet Union. The Parashutna druzhina fought with the Wehrmacht in Macedonia and the 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen, achieving several victories.

The 68th SF Brigade adopted its current structure in 1975, and until 1989 it participated in all Warsaw Pact multi-national exercises.

In modern times, most of Bulgaria's deployments during the Iraq War and the ongoing Afghanistan War came either from 68th and 61st Stryamska Mechanized Brigade units.

Bulgarian SF in deployment.

References

1. Bulgarian mountain warfare battalion will be spared defence cuts, The Sofia Echo, 7 June 2011