Romanian Special Operations Forces Command

In the late 1990s, the Romanian Armed Forces considered the possibility of creating a unified SOF unit. The Joint Chiefs of Staff had informational talks in which they were seeking to decide whether they should keep the existing orders of battle of elite units incorporated into the categories of forces, or to create a new, integrated unit.
The conclusion of these talks was that such a new unit would be recommended, especially considering the (at that time) future integration of Romania in NATO.
Quick changes took place soon after September 11th, 2001, when the decision was made to create this new, integrated special operations unit, which would "embed the best soldiers from all three categories of the armed forces, the ground forces, the air force and the navy" (General Chief of Staff, Gen. dr. Mihail Popescu).
Selection started in 2003. Four allied nations are counceling the selection process, incorporating their experience into the new SOF battalion . Those four countries are: United States of America, Great Britan, Israel and Turkey.
In preparations for the creation of the unit, several elite units have been disbanded. Such were the cases of the 404th Scouting Center (previously Romania's most elite unit), the 119th Scouting battalion in Oradea, the 56th Para battalion in Caracal-Deveselu, the 64th Para battalion at Titu-Boteni, as well as the (?) Para battalion in Campia Turzii. Except for the latter, the other 4 units were elite units which participated into a large number of international exercises, as well as deployments abroad.
The "Special Forces battalion", as the unit is referred to, was legally created in late 2005, after several batches of graduates have already been selected.
Members of the SOF battalion have benefitted from courses abroad, such as the US Army Special Forces course (Green Berets), the Force Recon course (USMC), as well as other courses. The US Army Special Forces also sent several instructors which were station in Romania for periods of up to 6 months at a time. The Turkish SF were also heavily involved in counciling the selection process, due to the high number of exercises previously held in common with various units in Romania. Great Britain and Israel also sent instructors, although it's unclear from which units did they come from.
It is also worth mentioning that Detasamentul de Interventie Rapida, one of the other units incorporated into the new Special Operations Command, had member exchange programs with Israel's Sayerett Mat'kal.
The Special Forces battalion will be fully operation in 2007, while a company has already become operational in 2006.
Asked if members of the unit will take part in real missions abroad, lt-col Gelaledin Nezir, spokesperson for the Armed Forces, replied "with certainty".