The Army Ranger Wing (ARW or Sciathán Fiannóglaigh an Airm) is the special operations force of the Irish Defence Forces, the military of Ireland. A branch of the Irish Army, it also selects personnel from the Naval Service and Air Corps. It serves at the behest of the Defence Forces and Government of Ireland, operating internally and overseas, and reports directly to the Chief of Staff. The Army Ranger Wing was established in 1980 with the primary role of counter terrorism and evolved to both special operations and counter terrorism roles from 2000 after the end of conflict in Northern Ireland. The unit is based in the Curragh Camp, County Kildare. The 2015 White Paper on Defence announced that the strength of the Wing would be considerably increased. Rangers have served abroad in a number of international peacekeeping missions, including in Somalia, East Timor, Liberia, and Chad. The Army Ranger Wing trains with special forces units around the world, particularly in Europe. The Army Ranger Wing in its domestic counter terrorism role trains with the Garda SÃochána (national police) specialist armed intervention unit, the Emergency Response Unit (ERU).
