10 Paratrooper Brigade
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10 Parachute Brigade commonly called 10 PARA is the key element of the Malaysian Pasukan Aturgerak Cepat (Rapid Deployment Force, PAC), and is an elite unit (designated "Pasukan Khas") within the Malaysian Army. It is a brigade-sized unit in the army tasked with being rapidly deployed within the theatre of operations or outside the boundaries of Malaysia.
Beginning
The primary role is to be the nation's main offensive force in time of war or emergencies. The creation of the Parachute Brigade was proposed by Malaysia's defence planners in the late 70's as a part of the modernisation plan for the military. The plan originally did not receive much support from the government due to concerns that the formation of such a brigade would be looked with suspicion by its neighbour and former territory, Singapore.
The proposed formation of a parachute deployed formation was fast tracked priority when Malaysia was unable to respond to the request for assistance by that a certain country in the Indian Ocean (Maldives) when the country was invaded by foreign mercenaries in the 80's. The inability to render timely help caused Malaysia to move to the establishment of the Brigade. The country in question was was instead assisted by parachute formations of the Indian Army.
==Establishment==
In 1988, a single infantry battalion (8th Bn Royal Ranger Regiment) of the Malaysian Armay was parachute trained and converted from the traditional infantry battalion role into a Parachute Battalion. 8th Para underwent the proof of concept for the formation of the Parachute Brigade The first unit to be inducted into the Brigade was the 8 Royal Ranger Regiment.
Another battalion, the 17th Battalion Royal Malay Regiment was fully jump qualified in 1990 and designated a unit of the Rapid Deployment Force while 9th Battalion Royal Malay Regiment formed the third battalion to be jumped qualified and integrated into the force.
The 10 Malaysian Infantry Brigade was formally redesignated as the 10 Parachute Brigade on 10 October 1994 by the (then) Prime Minister Datuk Seri Mahathir Mohamad in Pulau Langkawi prior to the launch of a Rapid Deployment exercise undertaken by 8th Ranger (Para) and supported by elements of the Malaysian Special Forces Group (Grup Gerak Khas), PASKAL and operational support provided by the Royal Malaysian Navy and Royal Malaysian Air Force. The exercise centres around a scenario of the retaking of Langkawi International Airport from an invading force by the Rapid Deployment Force spearheaded by 8th Rangers (Para).
Today
Currently 10 Para is based at Kem Terendak in Melaka. The brigade today consists of
- 3 paratrooper battalions currently 8th Bn Royal Ranger Regt (Para), 17th Bn Royal Malay Regt (Para) and 9th Bn Royal Malay Regt (Para).
- 1 artillery regiment (1st Royal Artillery Regiment)
- 1 armour squadron equipped with British-made Alvis Scorpion equipped with 90mm Cockerill Mk III gun and Stormer APCs armed with 20 mm Oerlikon Contraves guns. The armored squadron was formerly "B" Squadron of 11th Armor and transferred as component of 10 Para in 1992.
- other supporting units including Signals, Engineers, Medical.
The motto of 10 Para is `Tiada Misi Terlalu Sukar, Tiada Pengorbanan Terlalu Besar, Tugas Diutamakan'. (No mission is too difficult, no sacrifice is too great, the mission comes first)
Deployment
The unit is currently deployed in Ops Pasir is Sabah to prevent terrorist elements from Philippines from entering Malaysia. In May 2006, 209 soldiers from the Brigade were deployed to Timor Leste as part of the Australian-led Operation Astute.
Previous Deployment
The unit had been deployed in the following operations:
- Malaysian Medical Team (MASMEDTIM), Chaman, Pakistan
- MASMEDTIM, Kashmir, Pakistan
- MASMEDTIM, Acheh
See also
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