Sungai Udang Camp was certified as the ‘Home of the Commandos’. Its achievements attracted many volunteers from other corps. Lieutenant Colonel Borhan bin Ahmad was the  first administrator of MSSG responsible for expanding the
Special Operations Forces. Various activities including sports and other Army activities
were organized to get the SOF involved. Joint programs are conducted with other countries
such as Britain, New Zealand, Australia and the United States of America to improve
knowledge and get new experiences in special aspects of SOF operations.In the Third Malaysia Plan and the expansion of the Armed Forces, Special Warfare Training Centre (SWTC) was established on 1 August 1976. The function is to fulfill the training requirements for the Special Forces Team. After the establishment of SWTC, the Second Regiment of Special Service was established on 1 January 1977. All the three units were based in Sungai Udang, Melaka. In 1979, SWTC was fully established with Colonel Borhan bin Ahmad as the Commandant The Special Forces Directorate was established in the Ministry of Defense on 4 April 1980. Further to this, in January 1981, Markas Grup Gerak Khas was established in Imphal Camp, Kuala Lumpur. The establishment of the Special Operations Forces group also involved other elements such as the combat support units and service support units. At the same time the names of the commando units were redesignated to 21st Regiment Para Commando and 22nd Regiment Para Commando. The 11st and 12nd Special Service Regiment were established in Sungai Udang Camp on 1 April 1981. The two regiments were to assist in commando duties. In line with the Armed Forces organization, the 12nd Special Service Regiment was disbanded and its members were deployed to other combat units. Further to this development, the the designation for the Para Commando Regiment was changed to the Commando Regiment. In 1983, 22nd Commando Regiment moved to Kuala Kubu Baru due to insufficient facilities in Sungai Udang Camp. All three as well as the Royal Malaysian Navy's Paskal will be soon moving out to the new SOF base in Mersing, facing the South China Sea unlike the Sungai Udang which is facing the very busy waterway of the Straits of Malacca. Sungai Udang Camp is very small and lacking in many facilities for a good SOF base and training centre. It is also near a massive oil refinery and countless condominium projects which make it no good for security and practical reasons. |