Was the term "commando style" in use in the late 1970s?

[R. Richard]

The term 'Commando' was really used in World War II. The British used the term until supplanted by Special Air Squad or Special Boat Squad. The USA Army Rangers and Navy SEAL teams are indirect descendants of the British Commandos.

 

[XerXesXu]

Thank you, I'm impressed that you were able to trace it all the way back to 1834. I'm not sure if "commando" is even a word used by the military or just something that journalists refer to. It usually means elite special forces like the Green Berets and the Navy Seals.

When the UK introduced conscription in WW2 it was decided to call for 'in service' volunteers for 'Special Service', duties involving hazardous duties. This was the origin of modern special forces. As a tribute to the tenacity and mobility of the South African volunteers in the Boer War they were called commandos. When the US joined the war they followed suit and sent units to train with the Special Service units, they called them Rangers in line with their tradition. After the war, Special Service units were rearranged and formally changed to Commando units because the insignia 'SS' had undesirable connotations. The old fogies used to wear a hat badge of a dagger between two Ss. The Royal Marines host commando training in the UK, though commandos are all arms. Commandos are formally called commandos, (in Australia as well) it's not a journalistic thing.

 

[gunhilltrain]

When the UK introduced conscription in WW2 it was decided to call for 'in service' volunteers for 'Special Service', duties involving hazardous duties. This was the origin of modern special forces. As a tribute to the tenacity and mobility of the South African volunteers in the Boer War they were called commandos. When the US joined the war they followed suit and sent units to train with the Special Service units, they called them Rangers in line with their tradition. After the war, Special Service units were rearranged and formally changed to Commando units because the insignia 'SS' had undesirable connotations. The old fogies used to wear a hat badge of a dagger between two Ss. The Royal Marines host commando training in the UK, though commandos are all arms. Commandos are formally called commandos, (in Australia as well) it's not a journalistic thing.

Okay, thank you, that really cleared it up. By the way, does the American military make the distinction between Rangers, Green Berets, and, I guess, Delta Force? And those Boers gave the British a difficult time at least twice.

In any case, I'm not going to use any term like that for a story set in 1977. I've already adjusted the text.

 

[SimonDoom]

Okay, thank you, that really cleared it up. By the way, does the American military make the distinction between Rangers, Green Berets, and, I guess, Delta Force? And those Boers gave the British a difficult time at least twice.

In any case, I'm not going to use any term like that for a story set in 1977. I've already adjusted the text.

They are all different special forces groups within the US army.

 

[ishtat]

Thank you, I'm impressed that you were able to trace it all the way back to 1834. I'm not sure if "commando" is even a word used by the military or just something that journalists refer to. It usually means elite special forces like the Green Berets and the Navy Seals.

Not really impressive at all. Its origin was noted in the OED in 1936. There is also a solid Wikipedia article on Commandos. The first nation to introduce a unit called Commando was Italy in 1917 and Austria-Hungary at about the same time. The US picked up the idea of Commandos from the Brits but made a deliberate decision to use a different name (Marine Rangers) They also pinched the idea of Green Berets and made it their own.

By far the biggest influence of those original Boer fighters was not military at all. Baden Powell was a huge admirer of their bush and scouting skills and he modelled the early Scout movement on an enemy he greatly admired.