Indian Air Force a commanding officer with the rank of wing commander. Some transport squadrons and helicopter units are headed by a commanding officer with the rank of group captain. Flights are sub-divisions of squadrons, commanded by a squadron leader. Each flight consists of two sections. The smallest unit is the section, led by a flight lieutenant. Each section consists of three aircraft. Within this formation structure, IAF has several service branches for day-to-day operations. They are: In September 2004, the IAF established its own special operation unit called the Garud Commando Force, consisting of approximately 1,500 personnel. For starting this special force
Group captain rank titles, it was suggested that the RAF might use the Royal Navy's officer ranks, with the word "air" inserted before the naval rank title. For example, the rank that later became group captain would have been "air captain". Although the Admiralty objected to this simple modification of their rank titles, it was agreed that the RAF might base many of its officer rank titles on naval officer ranks with differing pre-modifying terms. It was also suggested that RAF colonels might be entitled "bannerets" or "leaders". However, the rank title based on the Navy rank was preferred and as RAF