[8] On 15 May 1987, Ligairi, given the temporary rank of captain at the time, began working on the selection of a tightly knit Close Protection Group (CPG) for tasks ranging from bodyguard and close protection mainly for Rabuka and visiting VIP personnel and intelligence gathering to specialist EOD and counter insurgency work.

[1] As more interested soldiers applied for the challenging selection course, the unit evolved steadily under Ligairi's supervision from C.P group to C.R.W (Counter Revolutionary Warfare Unit), trained with the latest techniques in Close Quarters Battle and Counter-terrorism, and tasked with being on 24-hour standby for any terrorist activity that posed a threat to the small island nation.

After 12 years of nurturing the unit and introducing the concept of Special Warfare, Ligairi retired from the Fiji Military Forces in February 1999.

[2][10][11] The unit continued to function in its primary roles, their secrecy and professionalism shrouded in an aura of mystique common in special forces worldwide until on 19 May 2000 they hit the local and world news headlines when a number of their members took the new ethnic Indian Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry and his Labour-led coalition government of Fiji hostage at the Parliament of Fiji complex led by failed business entrepreneur George Speight and Ilisoni Ligairi.

[18] Lieutenant Colonel Viliame Seruvakula of the Third Fiji Infantry Regiment in 2001 had said the creation of the CRW was not the right thing to do as the military was not trained to face their own kind.

"[21] Ballu Khan, a prominent and somewhat controversial entrepreneur of Indian descent, has employed at least eight former CRW unit members as drivers and bodyguards.