The Special Service Force is a designation used by a Second World war Canadian-American formation, and also used by a Canadian Army formation from 1977 to 1995.

Motto - OSONS (We Dare)

Second World War: 1st Special Service Force

In 1942 a highly specialized joint Canadian-American force was created to undertake special operations in Europe. In order that 500 "all ranks" could be recruited without undue publicity being directed towards their future role, the 2nd Canadian Parachute battalion was raised at the same time as the 1st, coming into order on 10 July 1942. On 25 May 1943 it became the 1st Canadian Special Force Brigade, with its officers and men distributed with the Americans throughout the multi-national unit.

The 1st Special Service Force

Devil's Brigade

The Devil's Brigade , was a joint World War II American-Canadian commando unit organized in 1942 and trained at Fort William Henry Harrison near Helena, Montana in the United States...

 was trained in Helena, Montana before being deployed in the Aleutians Islands in 1943, where it had valuable training experience. By November it had gone into action in Italy, where it distinguished itself in the successful assaults on Monte Le Difensa and Monte La Remetanea. It also fought at Anzio and in the drive to Rome, where it was the first Allied formation to enter the city. The 1st Special Service Force then advanced as far as the Tiber before being deployed for the invasion of Southern France, where it spearheaded the landing force. After seeing action on the Franco-Italian border, the joint force was disbanded and the Canadian element was separated. It, too, was disbanded in December 1944, having fought well, earning ten battle honours & been given the nickname "the Devil's Brigade".

Post World War II: Canadian Army 2nd Special Service Force

In 1977, 2 Combat Group combined with the Canadian Airborne Regiment to form the 2nd Special Service Force, a formation of the Canadian Army. This latter day Special Service Force represented a compromise between the general purpose combat capabilities of a normal brigade and the strategic and tactical flexibility that derived from the lighter and more mobile capabilities of the Canadian Airborne Regiment. The Forces was a brigade-sized command with strength of 3,500, created to provide a small, highly mobile, general-purpose force that could be inserted quickly into any national or international theatre of operations. To this end each unit in the Force had a parachute sub-unit that would be used to support the Airborne Regiment. The Royal Canadian Dragoons had an armoured recce troop with M-114 Lynx APCs, while 2nd Royal Canadian Horse Artillery had a parachute battery with 105mm L5 Pack Howitzers. Though ultimately the Special Service Force's readiness and deployability were never tested as a formation, its units and soldiers served often & well in operations both at home and around the world. They have served in Cyprus

Cyprus

Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...

, Somalia

Somalia

Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...

, the Former Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....

, Rwanda

Rwanda

Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...

, Namibia

Namibia

Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...

 and internally at the Native uprisings in Ipperwash & SE Ontario. Its troops were also used during the natural disasters as the 1998 ice storm in Quebec

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

 and the 1998 Winnipeg

Winnipeg

Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...

 Flood.

The following Units were serving in the SSF on disbandment in 1995:

• 1st Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment
  The Royal Canadian Regiment
  The Royal Canadian Regiment is an infantry regiment of the Canadian Forces. The regiment consists of four battalions, three in the Regular Force and one in the Primary Reserve...
  
  
• 2 Field Ambulance
• Royal Canadian Dragoons
• 2 Military Police Platoon
• 2 Combat Engineer Regiment
• 2nd Royal Canadian Horse Artillery
  Royal Canadian Horse Artillery
  The Royal Canadian Horse Artillery is the name given to the regular field artillery units of the Canadian Army. RCHA units are the senior units of the Canadian land field force, with a history dating back to the birth of Canada as a nation...
  
  
• 2 Service Battalion
• 2 Intelligence Platoon
• 427 Tactical Helicopter Squadron
• 22nd Air Defence Regiment
• SSF HQ & Signals Squadron
• Canadian Airborne Regiment (now disbanded)

With the addition of Leopard tanks for the RCD, M109 howitzers for 2 RCHA & the addition of the 2nd Battalion of The RCR, the Special Service Force was officially redesignated as 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group

2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group

2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group is a Canadian Forces brigade group that is part of Land Forces Central Area of the Canadian army. It is currently based in CFB Petawawa...

(CMBG) by a Ministerial Order signed on 24 April 1995. This decision and the associated reorganizing and re-equipping of the formation are a reflection of the current emphasis in Canadian defence policy on general purpose capabilities. With a smaller force structure, a smaller defence budget and more frequent operational taskings, it has become clear that general purpose capabilities provide the best return on investment in defence. Accordingly, 2 CMBG has been designed to be a mirror image reflection of its two sister formations, 1 CMBG in Western Canada, and 5e Groupe-brigade Mécanisée du Canada (GBMC) in Quebec. In completing this transformation, 2 CMBG will maintain the fine spirit and traditions of the Special Service Force, while mastering the equipment and tactical doctrine that will give it wide employability in the range of possible taskings that face Canada's Land Force today.