Garuds are the Special Forces unit of the Indian Air Force. It was formed in September 2004.

The youngest special force of the three services, Garud is a force multiplier raised with the intention of providing versatile military capability specific to the Indian Air force.

Raised in the year 2003, the strength of the force is speculated upon. However,it is estimated that the strength hovers around 1000-1500 personnel.

Raised and trained on the lines of the Para commandos of the army and MARCOS of the navy, Garuds have been able to carve a niche for themselves within a short period in operational specific tasks.

The Indian Air Force had felt a need to have a dedicated Special Force trained in Special Forces techniques, Combat Search and Rescue , Counter Insurgency Operations and Emergency response to terror-threats to airfields. While the Army might have provided some Special forces units to the Air Force, its units were always subject to being posted out on rotation to other areas as per the Army`s requirements.

It was felt that the specialised training the air force would have provided such units would have to be repeated again and again for the replacement units. So to address the need for a dedicated force, the Government of India had authorised a 1080 strong force to be raised in September 2003. Soon after, 100 airmen from the No.1 Airmen training center in Belgaum were earmarked to under go the Garud Training at Gurgaon. Not all would make it through the rigorous training.

Contrary to popular perception, Garuds are not an airfield and key assets protection force as its made to believe. The security of vital IAF installations like radars, airfields and other establishments in border areas is usually under the care of the Air Force Police and the Defence Security Corps.

The Training regime to qualify as a Garud is extremely rigorous and lengthy. The 72 weeks of Basic training makes it the longest and most difficult.

The initial phase is conducted at the Garud Regimental Training Centre located at Hindan, near New Delhi. The first batch of 100 recruits were arrived from the No.1 Airmen Training Center at Belgaum , Karnataka. The three month probation filters out those who would go into the next phase. The attrition rate is very high.

The subsequent phase on special operations training is imparted by the Special group of the Special Frontier Force, the army, NSG and the paramilitary forces. A few officers have also been trained by foreign militaries like that of the United States of America. Those who qualify, proceed to the Parachute Training School (PTS) at Agra to complete the basic airborne phase. The remainder of the phases concentrates on niche fields like jungle and snow survival, demolition etc.

Garuds also train at the diving school of the navy and the Counter Insurgency and Jungle Warefare School (CIJWS) of the army . The final phase of training is active operations on being attached to Special Force Units of the army.

All Garuds sport the 9mm pistol as personal armament. Most of the airmen are issued with the INSAS rifle and lately tavor-21 and micro-tavor.