Generally speaking, there are a small number of “elite” units in the militaries of the world.
There are the Tier 1 operators- the US Navy’s DEVGRU, the US Army’s 1st SFOD(Delta Force), the British SAS, the Russian Alpha Group, for example. They’re the cream of the special operations units and generally specialize in hostage rescues, commando raids, etc…
Somewhere in here between tier 1 and 2 are the US Special Forces and MARSOC; they’re more specialized and highly trained than the Tier 2 units like the Ranger battalions, but they’re not really focused on the same thing- they are more geared to work with natives and do more deep reconnaissance and foster insurgencies, etc… than do direct fighting.
Then there are the Tier 2 forces- they’re usually larger and not quite as focused on commando raids/hostage rescues. In general, they’re all going to be highly trained parachute infantry, but they operate in larger units- companies and battalions. The US Ranger battalions are a prime example.
Then there are the tier 3 units, which are normal units with specialized training- the 10th Mountain Division, 82nd Airborne, USMC divisions, etc… are examples.
AFAIK, the Gurkha battalions are just regular light infantry with a hell of a reputation, as they don’t check any of the boxes above.
I’m not even sure I’d go that far. Apart from selecting a very few members of an impoverished and traditionally subjugated population, on what grounds could they lay claim to anything beyond US Marine infantry levels of training and conditioning? I don’t think mutilating the corpses of their enemies (in hopefully isolated incidents) is a point in their or the British Army’s favor. Not that the US military doesn’t have its own marks against it, only that war crimes don’t equate to “elite” in my mind.
I’ve known a former Gurkha and for all I know, may have met former SAS or Delta Force member. But I never want to meet Sonny Puzikas, former Spetnaz, even with how much he smiles! https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=spetnaz+sonny
Check out the Austro-Hungarian navy. The various nationalities had different tasks within the ships. And yes, there was one hell of a communication problem with all the different languages.
I think the thing is, an individual Gurkha is a formidable fighting man, due to various mental and societal factors. But the Gurkha battalions aren’t trained, equipped or employed as elite units- they’re typically serving alongside other regular line infantry units- that’s how they deployed in the Falklands, for example. I haven’t been able to find out much about their Iraq/Afghanistan deployments, but I’d wager it’s the same sort of thing.
So Gurkhas themselves are some of the best *individual *fighting men on the planet, but the units they’re in are regular light infantry units.
Even this is a wild generalization, IMO. The Gurkhas are essentially third world mercenaries recruited by the british army to fill the ranks, with a whole lot of historical window-dressing as their main distinguishing feature relative to all the other non-UK citizens who are also serving in the british army for exactly the same reason.
As far as I am aware there’s nothing much to suggest that they are overall better or worse than other army units. Physically fitter and handier with a large knife, certainly. But there are many things a solder in a modern army needs to do and some of them many Gurkhas struggle with just as much as the average british-born squaddie struggles with running up mountains. Fundamentally, modern armies are about the organisation and the training, not the human raw material.
