[3][4] The SSF was created based on the lessons learned in a successful (if not lengthy) prosecution of a counter insurgency campaign in the Dhofar'.

There has been and remains a clear and constant relationship between the SSF and the Palace Office, a government ministry which oversees all aspects of the Sultanate's security .

[8] Brigadier Tony Hunter-Choat OBE (formerly UK SAS) was the last British commander of the SSF[9] (retiring in 1997) the post then filled by an Omani officer.

[10] The SSF is split geographically into two units with operational elements based in the Muscat capital area and in Dhofar Mountains to the north of Salalah.

[13] In the late 1990s the SSF were also involved in patrolling and observation duties in the Sultanate's Oryx Sanctuary, that was at the time suffering from a great deal of poaching.