One of my best friends and colleagues who is affiliated with the units above sent me a fascinating article/interview. It took some doing to get it translated into English. You can read it here: The unknown action: When Norwegian naval hunters rescued 200 civilians – VG.
The Viking special operators of Norwegian SOF are very close-mouthed about what they do, as are most Tier One units. This open source interview with one of the Ground Force Commanders details one of the many high-risk operations they’ve been involved in. This particular operation involved the rescue of some hundreds of British civilians in Afghanistan a few years back.
Both of these units have been recognized by the United States government by the award of the Presidential Unit Citation:
I’ve been honored to have a few members of these units train with me. They live up to the legends of the Viking Berserkers. The interview with “Nico” outlines in broad strokes some of the mental attributes necessary in their operators. I’m compiling a list of these for a summary piece on the desired attributes of the 21st century “Hyper-Enabled Operator” that our Special Operations Command desires.
Thank you for your service, “Nico”!
And you, Special K —
