The JSO is one of the most secretive Serbian special operations units, placed...
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The JSO is one of the most secretive Serbian special operations units, placed under the control of the State Security Service (SDB). The unit's first commander was Franko "Frenki" Simatovic, a veteran of the wars in Croatia and Bosnia, and he is also assumed to have been the Chief of Special Forces of State Security. The direct action element of the SDB was first formed in 1991 under the name Jedinica za posebnu namenu (JPN), and was renamed to Jedinica za Specijalne Operacije (JSO) soon after. Detailed information about the JSO is very hard to come by and verify, but a general picture can be put together using various sources.
The JSO is sometimes considered to be a paramilitary force, rather than a government special operations unit, and goes by several nicknames including, "Frenkijevci," after the commander Franko Simatovic, and the "Red Berets." They are primarily used for "black" operations, including assassinations and surgical strikes against suspected terrorists. The chain of command that the JSO goes through is unclear, but it has been reported that they answered directly to Milosevic during the conflict in Kosovo.
There have been a lot of rumors concerning the JSO, both about their activities and their appearances. Reports have members of the JSO wearing cowboy hats, pigtails, black uniforms, uniforms of the Ministry of Interior and cream-colored uniforms. They have been accused of vast slaughters of civilians and have been named as taking part in ethnic cleansing in Kosovo. These reports cannot be confirmed, and cannot be accurately attributed to the JSO as there were a number of paramilitary formations operating in Kosovo with similar uniforms and appearances.
Former members of the JSO cite the unit as being a highly disciplined force of operators tasked with carrying out operations for the Serbian government. A former JSO member, cites the force as being involved in assassination and other forms of special missions, and compares it to units of many other governments who are unofficially tasked with the same thing. According to him, a 1000-strong JSO contingent arrived in Kosovo in February 1999, citing their mission as being to "completely destroy the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), their bases and their illegal country." He maintains the unit was composed only of professional soldiers. "We were professionals. We weren't interested in killing women and children. Our job was to destroy the KLA, and we did that." In his opinion, people capable of committing massacres and mutilating civilians should be executed.
The JSO was said to be deployed around Kosovo in pursuit of Albanian guerrillas. There have been rumours that the unit had also been deployed to Montenegro in anticipation of civil unrest there. Numerous reports have the JSO present in Belgrade on October 5, 2000, during the uprising against former Serb president Slobodan Milosevic. Apparently, JSO operators were easily identifiable in high-quality equipment, but they did not act against the demonstrators, and stood by instead. It has been reported that elements of JSO have also been deployed to the area around Presevo Valley and the region around Bujanovac to combat the rising Albanian insurgency there. However, the government says they did not enter the buffer zone along with other Serbian special operations units in March of 2001. The current commander is said to be a man nicknamed "Legion," a veteran of the Foreign Legion and the wars in Bosnia and Croatia.
The JSO is said to have favored wearing green hats, and were easily recognized by the high quality of their equipment and weapons, which were Western in origin. Their uniforms have been reported as being either green or cream coloured. Favoured mode of transportation are several US-built 'Hummer' all purpose vehicles. These were civilian models that were locally armoured and armed in Serbia. The Hummers are usually armed with M2 HB .50 cal machine guns, or two AGS-17 automatic grenade launchers. In addition, the JSO operates one "Grizzly" armoured personnel carrier that was captured from Canadian peacekeeping forces in Bosnia. For air transportation, the unit has at their disposal two Mil Mi-17 helicopters - one in a gunship configuration fitted with unguided rockets, and another in a VIP configuration. (Thanks to VM for this info) According to Milos, the former JSO operator, operators were paid $8,000 monthly, in addition to hazard pay.
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