From Wikipedia: "The word "commando" comes from the Afrikaans word kommando, which in turn comes from the Portuguese term, comando (command). In conflicts with southern African peoples (such as the Xhosa and the Zulu during and after the Great Trek), Afrikaner communities formed commandos amongst themselves. Additionally, communities and farmsteads provided self-equipped, mounted men whenever a commando was mustered (a form of mobilization similar to the original Texas Rangers.) In the final phase of the Second Boer War, the commandos fought a guerrilla campaign, in which 75,000 Afrikaners occupied the attention of the 450,000-strong British forces." In short, commandos were originally local defense forces that formed up in response to outside aggression and used asymmetrical tactics ("guerilla warfare") against regular ("conventional") forces. They were often much smaller than the forces they faced, so they would use their superior knowledge of the area and combat tactics designed to slowly wear away at the enemy's fighting strength. "Hit-and-Run" tactics coupled with carefully chosen ambushes were the order of the day for a commano unit back then. Since then, the term "commando" is applied to any unconventional warfare unit that counts on superior skill and daring to overcome superior numbers and firepower.

Ahh.. Then there are two more possible answers: 1 (From Wiki again) -------- The Royal Air Force Regiment (RAF Regt) is a specialist corps within the Royal Air Force, responsible for capturing and defending airfields and associated installations. Effectively, its members are the RAF's soldiers. Members of the Regiment are known within the RAF as 'Rock Apes' or 'Rocks' and the corps itself is simply known as 'The Regiment'. Origin of the 'Rock Ape' nickname In the past the nickname 'Rock Ape' has been attributed to their traditional role guarding areas of Gibraltar, but this is not so. The term came into use after an accident in the Western Aden Protectorate in November 1952. Two Regiment officers serving with the APL at Dhala decided to amuse themselves by going out to shoot some of the baboons (locally referred to as "rock apes"). The officers drew rifles and split up to hunt the apes yet in the semi-darkness one of the officers fired at a moving object in the distance. When he reached the target he discovered he had shot the other officer. After emergency treatment Flight Lieutenant Mason survived to return to service a few months later. When asked why he had fired at his friend by a board of inquiry the officer replied that his target had 'looked just like a rock ape' in the half light. The remark soon reverberated around the RAF and it was not long before the term was in general use. -------------------- or 2 (From http://www.deanza.edu/faculty/swensson/guestlecture_mikekelley_3.html) -------------------------- Subject: Re: Question. Re Rock Apes Date: Sat, 25 Nov 2000 We ran into them frequently and I have a friend whose Recon position on Dong Den was overrun one night by hundreds of them. The made a noise that sounded just like a dog barking. In fact, you'd swear it was a dog. One time on a ridge of Nui Mo Tau, about 15 km S of Hue, about eight of them came walking up a trail and surprised a squad of our platoon while it was stopped for lunch. All hell broke loose because they looked very much like NVA soldiers in khaki (same height, size and color) as they came around a bend in the trail about 10 meters from the unsuspecting GI's. I was with the other two squads of the platoon eating our lunch on the far side of a clearing about 50 meters wide that separated the two elements. The trails wound up the ridge and then through the clearing. All of a sudden and without any warning, the lone squad opened up with every thing they had...M-16's, M-79's and hand grenades. I grabbed about 300 rounds of gun ammo and my M-60, then ran across the clearing with the platoon Sgt. (everyone else stayed home!) to the cover of a huge, toppled tree that was lying on the far side and close to the point of contact. The Sgt. and I looked at one another, nodded and then came up over the top ready to blast away but what we saw instead blew us away! The firing had been non-stop and we fully expected to engage a sizeable enemy force, but instead, we found ourselves looking at our men, some seated, some standing, some kneeling, and firing at these ghostly images swooshing around in brush and trees (some off the ground by that point) in all directions. All except one was light brown to reddish brown in color, and about 3 1/2 four feet tall. One dark, almost black, male remained fighting to protect the others retreat and he was flying through the branches and rushing the men with his teeth bared. He was one very brave animal, I'll tell you that. Then, as if someone had snapped their fingers, they all just seemed to disappear. Zip, the male turned and flashed into the trees and was out of site in a second. This may sound very strange to you, but although I had no or little concern about killing the enemy, the killing of innocent animals turned my stomach and could enrage me if done without being a necessity. But I searched the site and but found not a drop of blood, which totally amazed me given the amount of firing that had gone on. I wonder to this day if the men were shooting just to scare the Rock Apes away or whether they were really just poor marksman! The men who'd suffered the surprise looked a bit worse for wear, and I'm sure a few had to wash their shorts out as a result of the unwelcome visit. It really scared the crap out of them, I kid you not! We, on the other hand, did suffer one casualty. A trooper had an eardrum blown out by the muzzle blast of the first shot fired because the trooper who first saw the apes just picked up his M-16 and fired without saying a word, and the muzzle was right next to this poor fellow's ear when he did. Apart from that, I have all the same questions your student does and would love to hear just exactly what sort of apes they were? M-60 Mike Cheers, Michael Kelley D Co 1st/502d Infantry, 101st Airborne Div 69/70 www.vwam.com/vets/m60mike.htm