History of Gibraltar the narrowest points in the Mediterranean, only from the coast of Morocco in North Africa. Its position on the bay makes it an advantageous natural anchorage for ships. As one writer has put it, "whoever controls Gibraltar also controls the movement of ships into and out of the Mediterranean. In terms of military and naval power, few places have a more strategic location than Gibraltar." The territory's area measures only . Most of the land area is occupied by the steeply sloping Rock of Gibraltar which reaches a height of . The town of Gibraltar lies at the base of
South African Special Forces On 1 January 1981, a re-organisation of Special Forces took place, as part of which the Reconnaissance Commandos and other special forces were transformed into an independent formation, directly under the command of the (then) South African Defence Force (instead of the South African Army). As part of the re-organisation, the various Reconnaissance Commandos were also given the status of regiments. In the latter part of the same decade, a Special Forces headquarters and a Special Forces stores depot were also added to the Special Forces structure. Between the years 1981 and 1990, Special Forces was home to unconventional operations