Army Ranger Wing

The Army Ranger Wing (ARW) (Irish: Sciathán Fianóglach an Airm, "SFA") is the special operations force of the Irish Defence Forces, the military of Ireland. It is 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 ARW 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 ARW would be considerably increased due to operational requirements at home and overseas.

The unit has served abroad in a number of international peacekeeping and peace enforcement missions including in Somalia, East Timor, Liberia, Chad, and Mali. The ARW trains with special forces units around the world, particularly in Europe. The ARW in its domestic counter terrorism role trains and deploys with the Garda Síochána (national police) specialist armed intervention unit, the Emergency Response Unit (ERU).

In February 2022, the Commission on the Defence Forces report recommended that the ARW be renamed the Ireland Special Operations Force (IRL-SOF). The IRL-SOF would be placed under a Special Operations Command which would report directly to Joint Force Command. A follow up report released in November 2023, the Detailed Implementation Plan for the Report of the Commission of the Defence Forces, stated that the ARW is due to be renamed the IRL-SOF in 2028. The updated IRL-SOF is proposed to consist of three Task Groups: Land, Air and Maritime. By 2028, the Air and Maritime Task Groups are to be re-located to the Casement Aerodrome and the Haulbowline Naval base.