Much like the British Army Special Air Service, much of the information about the SF is highly classified due to the secrecy and sensitivity of its operations.

At its inception this unit was made up of two officers and 38 men under the command of Major Gamini Hettiarachchi from the Sri Lanka Armoured Corps.

With the view of increasing its mobility and stroke capacity 1 SF formed Combat Rider Team with assistance from South Africa.

2 SF soon raised a Combat Diver Team to specializing in amphibious warfare and later moved to Nayaru on the eastern seaboard.

Both units suffered heavy casualties including the commanding officer of 1SF, Lieutenant Colonel A. F. Lafir who was posthumously awarded the Parama Weera Vibhushanaya.

This resulted in the start of Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol (LRRP) concept in September 1996 with 3 SF based at Vavuniya under the command of Major Mahesh Senanayake.