Struggle Companies/Struggle Brigades سرايا الصراع
Active	1973 – Unknown (dissolved)
Country	Syria
Allegiance	Syrian Armed Forces
Type	Praetorian Guard Shock Troops Special Forces
Role	Airborne forces Close-quarters combat Counter-insurgency Raiding Direct action Special operations Unconventional warfare
Size	5,000 (peak in 1990)
Garrison/HQ	Damascus
Engagements	Islamist uprising in Syria Hama massacre
Commanders
Ceremonial chief	Hafez al-Assad
Notable commanders	Adnan al-Assad Muhammad al-Assa

The Struggle Companies (Arabic: سرايا الصراع; Saraya al-Sira) was a 5,000-strong commando force deployed around the Syrian capital Damascus. It was created in 1973 and commanded by Maj. Gen Adnan Assad, a cousin of the late Syrian president, Hafez Assad.^[1][2] The all Alawite Struggle Companies are broadly similar to the Defense Companies and were fanatically loyal to the Syrian government and were heavily used during the 1982 Hama Massacre^[3][2]

The Syrian president exercised direct control over the Saraya al-Sira', Saraya al-Difa', and the Republican Guard all of whom function as a Praetorian Guard.^[4][5] The headquarters of the Saraya al-Sira' was Mezzeh Military Airport.

The Saraya al-Sira' wore combat uniforms quite distinct from the regular Syrian military, their uniform consisted of lizard-patterned camouflage fatigues worn with Soviet combat boots, helmets and bulletproof vests. Headgear consisted of a red or orange beret.^[4]

• Defense Companies (Syria)
• Shabiha

This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. Country Studies. Federal Research Division.

• Arabs at War: Military Effectiveness 1948-91, Kenneth M. Pollack, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln and London, 2002, and Pollack's book reviewed in International Security, Vol. 28, No. 2
• Arab Armies of the Middle East Wars (Men-at-Arms, 194) by Samuel Katz, Osprey Publishing 1988, ISBN 978-0-85045-800-8
• Armies in Lebanon 1982 to 1984 (Men at Arms Series, 165) by Samuel Katz and Ronald Volstad, Osprey Publishing 1985, ISBN 978-0-85045-602-8

• LOC country study