ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Navy celebrated 27th Raising Day of Pak Marines at Karachi. The event was marked with various ceremonies and activities of Pak Marines conducted at Marines Headquarters, Manora. Tributes were paid to the gallantry of Pak Marines and sacrifices of the martyrs by officers and sailors on the raising day. Commander Coast, Rear Admiral Moazzam Ilyas was the Chief Guest of the main ceremony. Families of troops and notables from different segments of society also attended the ceremony. The role of Chief Petty Officers (CPOs) and Sailors of Pak Marines was also acknowledged for motivation and encouragement to serve the motherland and safeguard its sovereignty. Sentinels of the Creeks along South Eastern coast and custodians of ground based Air Defence of important Naval and Maritime infrastructure; Pak Marines were raised and founded in 1990 and have carried out multiple operations and tasks of national importance since then. To prove equal to the tasks assigned and also to cope with emerging challenging situations, various offshoots of Pak Marines were raised over the period of time. In 1999, Creeks Battalion was established and to further augment their strength, an Air Defence Battalion was also instituted in 2005. Subsequently, for security of the CPEC another Battalion namely 3rd Force Protection was established in 2012, whereas in Dec 2016 a special 'Task Force-88' (TF-88) was established for maritime security of Gwadar port and protection of associated sea lanes against both conventional as well as non-traditional threats and 3rd marines battalion was made part of TF-88. At present, Pak Marines is a potent force of Pakistan Navy which is also capable of amphibious warfare, boarding operations, search and rescue operations and anti terrorism operations in addition to its primary responsibility of security of Pakistan Navy installations.
