This strategy was outlined in an unpublished 1975 British strategy paper titled "The Way Ahead" produced by a committee of senior Army, RUC and intelligence officers, chaired by John Bourn, a Northern Ireland Office civil servant.
The unit had its prototype in the Bessbrook Support Unit (BSU) set up in 1977 as part of the scaling-up of the RUC's numbers and capabilities under Chief Constable Kenneth Newman to "Ulsterise" as far as possible the maintenance of security.