Zidd: What Makes Special Forces Training One Of The Toughest In The World?
In the upcoming series Zidd on ZEE5 you will get a look at one India’s most elite armed unit, the Special forces.
The upcoming series Zidd is set to give audiences a never seen before look at the training and operations conducted by the Special Forces in India. The Special Forces training is considered one of the toughest training regime in the World.
Here’s the promo for Zidd here.
There are 7 Special Forces (SF) Battalions in India and the toughest of these is the 9 Para. The soldiers who go through this training come out as complete warriors and are considered better than Commandos. All trainees go through a nine-month course at the Special Forces training centre in Nahan, Himachal Pradesh before another three-month course at whichever battalion they are selected to join.
By the end of the probation period, 90% of the volunteers give up or drop out because of the amount of physical and mental stress they are put through. The special forces battalions are always in a state of combat and their operations mostly remain classified, so you might never even find out about their involvement in maintaining peace.
One of the toughest aspects of the Special Forces training is the 36 hours stress test. This test is only to test if the ‘probee’ is fit to undergo the training at the special forces. The volunteers are left completely sleep-deprived before they even begin the test. Once the test begins, they spend the next 36 hours doing intensive work.
They begin with routine exercises before going on a 10 km steep climb with 30 kg backpacks while one paratrooper continuously demotivates the probees and tells them to quit. They are then trained to carry almost 70-80 kg logs and truck tyres for over 1 km. They are then dumped in a 12 feet deep swimming pool where they undergo simulated drowning. This is just the first few hours and over the course of the entire test, they are given only one glass of water and one meal.
While this is just the first step, the real training of the special forces remains secret. Expect to see some of this gruesome test in the upcoming series Zidd. Watch the original series Code M on ZEE5. where Jennifer Winget plays the role of an army lawyer.