‘Hunter Troop’ is Norway’s all-female special operations unit

Norway has established the Jegertroppen, or the "Hunter Troop," the world's first all-female special operations unit with the goal of improving the country's effectiveness in international operations.

"In Afghanistan, one of our big challenges was that we would enter houses and not be able to speak to the women" Capt. Ole Vidar Krogsaeter, an officer with the Norwegian Special Operations Forces, told Foreign Affairs. "In urban warfare, you have to be able to interact with women as well. Adding female soldiers was an operational need."

The training program is extremely challenging. The Norwegian Special Operations Forces Command reported that only 88 of the 317 candidates passed the initial admissions test and only 13 trainees made it to the end of Jegertroppen's yearlong course. The high dropout rate is similar to male Special Operations Forces units.

Graduates of the course are expected to conduct special reconnaissance missions and are trained on parachute operations, weapons, survival, and patrol skills, according to the Norwegian military's recruitment page for the unit.

Jegertroppen's soldiers displayed superior shooting and observational skills, Colonel Frode Kristoffersen, commander of the Norwegian Special Forces, told Foreign Affairs.

Hunter Troop soldiers do carry less weight than their male counterparts, a minimum of 60-pound rucks instead of the 88 pounds for male operators. But otherwise they complete the same training with long trips through the snow, days of limited food supplies, and operations on little or no sleep.