The Special Operations Command (SOCOMD) is an Australian Defence Force command that was established on 5 May 2003 to unite all of the Australian Army's special forces units and by 2008 was fully operational. Australia's Special Operations Command is of equivalent status to Australia's Fleet, Forces and Air Commands. It is modelled on the equivalent commands in the United States and British military forces, and is led by a major general as Special Operations Commander Australia (SOCAUST). The origins of SOCOMD began in 1979 with the army creating a small Directorate Special Action Forces—Army. On 13 February 1990, Headquarters Special Forces was established, which was renamed in 1997 to Headquarters Special Operations and in 2003 to Special Operations Headquarters or SOCOMD.

History

While Special Operations Command had not formally commenced operations at the time, it appears that the headquarters may have overseen the boarding of the North Korean freighter MV Pong Su in April 2003, which involved elements of both the Special Air Service Regiment and 4th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (Commando) Tactical Assault Groups. In November 2018, the 30th Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting held in Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea had Special Operations Command involvement to enhance the Papua New Guinea Defence Force's Incident Response Group to provide security as world leaders, including Scott Morrison, Mike Pence, Xi Jinping, Dmitry Medvedev and other government and economic leaders were in attendance. The Incident Response Group had received extensive training to build its capabilities in preparation for the meeting from SOCOMD units and the New Zealand Special Operations Component Command.

Organisation

As of 2020, the Special Operations Command comprised the following units:

Special Operations Commander Australia (SOCAUST)

The Special Operations Commander Australia (SOCAUST) is responsible for the peacetime 'raise, train and sustain' functions of Special Operations Command reporting to the Chief of Army, while the Chief of Joint Operations is responsible for the operational functions of Special Operations Command deployments. The SOCAUST is responsible for the domestic counter-terrorism deployments of Special Operations Command reporting directly to the Chief of the Defence Force. The following have held the position of Special Operations Commander Australia, with the ranks and honours as at the completion of their tenure: