Origins The
Naresh Chandra Task Force was set up in July 2011 by
National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon to review the recommendations of the
Kargil Review Committee, assess the implementation progress, and further suggest new reforms related to national security. The task force was led by Naresh Chandra, retired
Indian Administrative Service officer, and comprised 13other members, including
Gopalaswami Parthasarathy,
Air Chief Marshal Srinivasapuram Krishnaswamy (Retd),
Admiral Arun Prakash (Retd),
Lieutenant General V. R. Raghavan (Retd),
Anil Kakodkar,
K. C. Verma and
V. K. Duggal. The committee conducted the first holistic review of national security since the Kargil Review Committee and submitted its classified report to
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on 23 May 2012. Among its recommendations, the Task Force recommended the creation of a
cyber command, an
aerospace command and a special operations command. All three units were proposed to be tri-service commands to bring the various special forces units of the military under a unified command and control structure. The AFSOD is a downsized implementation of this proposal. On 27 August 2025, the
Chief of Defence Staff General Anil Chauhan released the "Joint Doctrine for Special Forces Operations" and "Joint Doctrine for Airborne & Heliborne Operations" during the Ran Samwad tri-service seminar at the
Army War College, Mhow. This doctrine was formulated under the leadership of the Doctrine Directorate, Headquarters of the Integrated Defence Staff, in coordination with the three Services. The doctrine is meant to document the principles, concepts, and frameworks for conducting Special Forces missions and Airborne Operations, respectively.
Initial exercises • The division concluded its first exercise, code-named 'Smelling Field', on 28 September 2019. The exercise was carried out in the district of
Kutch in the state of
Gujarat. The exercise was meant to help in ironing out, and subsequently addressing the challenges faced by the division. • The second exercise was, code named 'DANX-2019', was subsequently held in the
Andaman and Nicobar Islands. The exercise aims for the mobilization and field manoeuvre to validate defensive plans of ANC HQ ensuring territorial integrity of A&N Island == Organisation ==