Special Air Service
Encyclopedia
Special Air Service or SAS is a corps of the British Army
constituted on 31 May 1950. They are part of the United Kingdom Special Forces
(UKSF) and have served as a model for the special forces
of many other countries all over the world. The SAS together with the Special Boat Service
(SBS), Special Reconnaissance Regiment
(SRR), and the Special Forces Support Group
(SFSG) form the UKSF under the command of the Director Special Forces.
The SAS traces its origins to 1941 and the Second World War, and was reformed as part of the Territorial Army in 1947, and named the 21st Battalion, SAS Regiment, (Artists Rifles). The Regular Army
22 SAS later gained fame and recognition worldwide after successfully assaulting the Iranian Embassy in London and rescuing hostages during the 1980 Iranian Embassy Siege
, lifting the regiment from obscurity outside the military establishment.
The Special Air Service presently comprises 22 Special Air Service Regiment of the Regular Army, 21 Special Air Service Regiment and 23 Special Air Service Regiment from the Territorial Army. It is tasked with special operations
in wartime, and primarily counter-terrorism
in peacetime.
and originally called "L" Detachment, Special Air Service Brigade the "L" designation and Air Service name being a tie-in to a British disinformation campaign, trying to deceive the Axis into thinking there was a paratrooper regiment with numerous units operating in the area (the real SAS would 'prove' to the Axis that the fake one existed). It was conceived as a commando
force to operate behind enemy lines in the North African Campaign
and initially consisted of five officers and 60 other ranks
. Its first mission, in November 1941, was a parachute drop in support of the Operation Crusader
offensive. Due to German resistance and adverse weather conditions, the mission was a disaster: 22 men, a third of the unit, were killed or captured. Its second mission was a success: transported by the Long Range Desert Group
, it attacked three airfields in Libya
, destroying 60 aircraft without loss. In September 1942 it was renamed 1st SAS, consisting at that time of four British squadrons, one Free French, one Greek
, and the Folboat Section
.
In January 1943, Stirling was captured in Tunisia
and Paddy Mayne
replaced him as commander. In April 1943, the 1st SAS was reorganised into the Special Raiding Squadron under Mayne's command and the Special Boat Squadron
was placed under the command of George Jellicoe
. The Special Raiding Squadron fought in Sicily and Italy along with the 2nd SAS, which had been formed in North Africa in 1943 in part by the re-naming of the Small Scale Raiding Force
. The Special Boat Squadron fought in the Aegean Islands
and Dodecanese
until the end of the war. In 1944 the SAS Brigade was formed from the British 1st and 2nd SAS, the French 3rd and 4th SAS and the Belgian 5th SAS
. It was tasked with parachute operations behind the German lines in France and carried out operations supporting the Allied advance through Belgium, the Netherlands (Operation Pegasus
), and eventually into Germany (Operation Archway
)..
In 1950, a 21 SAS squadron was raised to fight in the Korean War
. After three months of training in England, it was informed that the squadron would no longer be required in Korea and so it instead volunteered to fight in the Malayan Emergency
. Upon arrival in Malaya, it came under the command of Mike Calvert
who was forming a new unit called the Malayan Scouts (SAS). Calvert had already formed one squadron from 100 volunteers in the Far East, which became A Squadronthe 21 SAS squadron then became B Squadron; and after a recruitment visit to Rhodesia by Calvert, C Squadron was formed from 1,000 Rhodesian volunteers. The Rhodesians returned home after three years service and were replaced by a New Zealand
squadron. By this time, the need for a regular army SAS regiment had been recognised; 22 SAS Regiment was formally added to the army list in 1952 and has been based at Hereford
since 1960. In 1959 the third regiment, 23 SAS Regiment, was formed by renaming the Reserve Reconnaissance Unit, which had succeeded MI9
and were experts in escape and evasion.
in the Oman
. They have also taken part in operations in the Aden Emergency
, Northern Ireland
, and Gambia
. Their Special projects team assisted the West German counter-terrorism group GSG 9
at Mogadishu
. The SAS counter terrorist wing famously took part in a hostage rescue operation during the Iranian Embassy Siege
in London. During the Falklands War
D and G squadrons were deployed and participated in the raid on Pebble Island
. Operation Flavius
was a controversial operation in Gibraltar
against the Provisional Irish Republican Army
(PIRA). It directed NATO aircraft onto Serb positions and hunted war criminals in Bosnia.
The Gulf War
, in which A, B and D squadrons deployed, was the largest SAS mobilisation since the Second World War, also notable for the failure of the Bravo Two Zero
mission. In Sierra Leone
it took part in Operation Barras
, a hostage rescue operation, to extract members of the Royal Irish Regiment. In the Iraq War, it formed part of Task Force Black and Task Force Knight, with A Squadron 22 SAS being singled out for exceptional service by General
Stanley McChrystal, the American commander of NATO forces: during a six month tour it carried out 175 combat missions. In 2006 members of the SAS were involved in the rescue of peace activists Norman Kember
, James Loney and Harmeet Singh Sooden
. The three men had been held hostage in Iraq for 118 days during the Christian Peacemaker hostage crisis. Operations against the Taliban in Afghanistan
involved soldiers from 21 and 23 SAS Regiments.
Various British newspapers have speculated on the SAS involvement in Operation Ellamy
and the Libyan Civil War, the Daily Telegraph reports that "defence sources have confirmed that the SAS has been in Libya for several weeks, and played a key role in coordinating the fall of Tripoli." While The Guardian
reports "They have been acting as forward air controllers – directing pilots to targets – and communicating with Nato operational commanders. They have also been advising rebels on tactics."
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In recent years SAS officers have risen to the highest ranks in the British Army. General Peter de la Billière
was the Commander-in-Chief
of the British forces in the 1990 Gulf War. General Michael Rose became commander of the United Nations Protection Force
in Bosnia in 1994. In 1997 General Charles Guthrie
became Chief of the Defence Staff
the head of the British Armed Forces. Lieutenant-General Cedric Delves
was appointed Commander of the Field Army and Deputy Commander in Chief NATO Regional Headquarters Allied Forces North in 2002–2003.
recognised their need for Special Forces-type units. Australia formed the 1st SAS Company in July 1957, which became a full regiment of the Australian Special Air Service Regiment
(SASR) in August 1964. The New Zealand Special Air Service squadron was formed in 1954 to serve with the British SAS in Malaya. On its return from Malaya, the C (Rhodesian) Squadron formed the basis for creation of the Rhodesian Special Air Service in 1961.
Non-commonwealth countries have also formed units based on the SAS. Impressed by the Australian SASR methods in Vietnam
, American General William Westmoreland
ordered the formation of a Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol
(LRRP) unit in each infantry brigade, modelled on the SASR. Another American unit, Delta Force
, was formed by Charles Alvin Beckwith, who served with 22 SAS as an exchange officer
, and recognized the need for a similar type of unit in the United States Army
. It is claimed the Israeli Sayeret Matkal
was also modelled on the SAS and even shares the same "who dares wins" motto. The French 1st Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment
can trace its origins to the Second World War 3rd and 4th SAS, also adopting its "who dares wins" motto.
, divided into four troop
s and a small headquarters section. Troops usually consist of 16 men, and each patrol within a troop consists of four men, with each man possessing a particular skill: signals, demolition, medic or linguist in addition to basic skills learned during the course of his training.
The four troops specialise in four different areas:
In 1980 R Squadron was formed which has since been renamed L Detachment; its members are all ex-regular SAS regiment soldiers who have a commitment to reserve service.
techniques and specializes in hostage rescue in buildings or on public transport. The team was formed in 1975 after Prime Minister
Edward Heath
asked the Ministry of Defence
to prepare for any possible terrorist attack similar to the massacre
at the 1972 Summer Olympics
and ordered that the SAS Counter Revolutionary Warfare (CRW) wing be raised.
Once the wing had been established, each squadron rotated on a continual basis through counter–terrorist training including hostage rescue, siege breaking, and live firing exercisesit has been reported that during CRW training each soldier expends as many as 100,000 pistol rounds. Squadrons refresh their training every 16 months, on average. The CRW wing's first deployment was during the Balcombe Street Siege
. The Metropolitan Police
had trapped a PIRA
unit; it surrendered when it heard on the BBC
that the SAS were being sent in.
The first documented action abroad by the CRW wing was assisting the West German counter-terrorism group GSG 9
at Mogadishu
. In 1980 the SAS were involved in a hostage rescue during the Iranian Embassy Siege
.
(UKSF). The UKSF originally consisted of the regular and the reserve units of the SAS and the Special Boat Service
, then joined by two new units: the Special Forces Support Group
and the Special Reconnaissance Regiment
. They are supported by the 18 (UKSF) Signal Regiment
and the Joint Special Forces Aviation Wing
, part of which (8 Flight Army Air Corps
) is based in Hereford with the SAS.
All members of the United Kingdom armed forces can be considered for special forces selection, but historically the majority of candidates have an airborne forces background. All instructors are full members of the Special Air Service Regiment. Selections are held twice yearly, in summer and winter, in Sennybridge
in the Brecon Beacons
. Selection lasts for five weeks and normally starts with about 200 potential candidates. On arrival candidates first complete a Personal Fitness Test (PFT) and a Combat Fitness Test
(CFT). They then march cross country against the clock, increasing the distances covered each day, culminating in what is known as the Fan dance
: a 14 miles (22.5 km) march with full equipment scaling and descending Pen y Fan
in four hours. By the end of the hill phase candidates must be able to run 4 miles in 30 minutes and swim two miles in 90 minutes.
Following the hill phase is the jungle phase, taking place in Belize
, Brunei
, or Malaysia. Candidates are taught navigation, patrol formation and movement, and jungle survival skills.
Candidates returning to Hereford finish training in battle plans and foreign weapons and take part in combat survival exercises, the final one being the week-long escape and evasion. Candidates are formed into patrols and, carrying nothing more than a tin can filled with survival equipment, are dressed in old Second World War uniforms and told to head for a point by first light. The final selection test is arguably the most gruelling: resistance to interrogation
(RTI), lasting for 36 hours.
Typically, 15–20% of candidates make it through the hill phase selection process. From the approximately 200 candidates, most will drop out within the first few days, and by the end about 30 will remain. Those who complete all phases of selection are rewarded with a transfer to an operational squadron.
This is followed by Standard Operational Procedure (SOP) Training, comprising:
On successful completion of this training, ranks are badged as SAS(R) and deemed fit for appointment. They enter a probationary period during which they complete final training:
, its cap badge
is a downward pointing Excalibur, wreathed in flames (often wrongly referred to as a winged dagger) worked into the cloth of a Crusader
shield
with the motto Who Dares Wins. SAS pattern parachute wings
, designed by Lieutenant
Jock Lewes
and based on the stylised sacred Ibis wings
of Isis
of Egypt
ian iconography
depicted in the décor of Shepheard's Hotel
in Cairo, are worn on the right shoulder. Its ceremonial No 1 Dress Uniform is distinguished by a light blue stripe on the trousers; the Commanding Officer and officer of the day wear a black leather pouch belt mounted with a silver whistle chain and the Mars and Minerva badge of the Artists Rifles. Its Stable belt
is a shade of blue similar to the blue stripe on the No 1 dress uniform.
, generally with a victorious outcome. The Special Air Service Regiment has been awarded the following battle honours:
North-West Europe 1944-45Tobruk 1941Benghazi Raid
North Africa 1940-43
Landing in Sicily
Sicily 1943
Termoli
Valli di Comacchio
Italy 1943-45
Greece 1944-45
Adriatic
Middle East 1943-44
Falkland Islands 1982
Western Iraq
Gulf 1991
:
The other main memorial is the SAS and Airborne Forces memorial in the Cloisters at Westminster Abbey. The SAS Brigade Memorial at Sennecey-le-Grand
in France commemorates the wartime dead of the Belgian, British and French SAS and recently a memorial plaque was added to the David Stirling Memorial in Scotland. There are other smaller memorials "scattered throughout Europe and in the Far East".
Australia: Special Air Service Regiment
New Zealand: Special Air Service
British Army
The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...
constituted on 31 May 1950. They are part of the United Kingdom Special Forces
United Kingdom Special Forces
The United Kingdom Special Forces is a UK Ministry of Defence Directorate which also has the capability to provide a Joint Special Operations Task Force Headquarters...
(UKSF) and have served as a model for the special forces
Special forces
Special forces, or special operations forces are terms used to describe elite military tactical teams trained to perform high-risk dangerous missions that conventional units cannot perform...
of many other countries all over the world. The SAS together with the Special Boat Service
Special Boat Service
The Special Boat Service is the special forces unit of the British Royal Navy. Together with the Special Air Service, Special Reconnaissance Regiment and the Special Forces Support Group they form the United Kingdom Special Forces and come under joint control of the same Director Special...
(SBS), Special Reconnaissance Regiment
Special Reconnaissance Regiment
The Special Reconnaissance Regiment or SRR is a Special Forces regiment of the British Armed Forces. It was established on 6 April 2005 and is part of the United Kingdom Special Forces under command Director Special Forces, alongside the Special Air Service , Special Boat Service and the Special...
(SRR), and the Special Forces Support Group
Special Forces Support Group
The Special Forces Support Group or SFSG is a special operations unit of the British Armed Forces. The SFSG is the newest addition to the United Kingdom Special Forces. It was formed officially on 3 April 2006 to support the Special Air Service and the Special Boat Service on operations. This could...
(SFSG) form the UKSF under the command of the Director Special Forces.
The SAS traces its origins to 1941 and the Second World War, and was reformed as part of the Territorial Army in 1947, and named the 21st Battalion, SAS Regiment, (Artists Rifles). The Regular Army
Regular Army
The Regular Army of the United States was and is the successor to the Continental Army as the country's permanent, professional military establishment. Even in modern times the professional core of the United States Army continues to be called the Regular Army...
22 SAS later gained fame and recognition worldwide after successfully assaulting the Iranian Embassy in London and rescuing hostages during the 1980 Iranian Embassy Siege
Iranian Embassy Siege
The Iranian Embassy siege took place from 30 April to 5 May 1980, after a group of six armed men stormed the Iranian embassy in South Kensington, London. The gunmen took 26 people hostage—mostly embassy staff, but several visitors and a police officer, who had been guarding the embassy, were also...
, lifting the regiment from obscurity outside the military establishment.
The Special Air Service presently comprises 22 Special Air Service Regiment of the Regular Army, 21 Special Air Service Regiment and 23 Special Air Service Regiment from the Territorial Army. It is tasked with special operations
Special operations
Special operations are military operations that are considered "special" .Special operations are typically performed independently or in conjunction with conventional military operations. The primary goal is to achieve a political or military objective where a conventional force requirement does...
in wartime, and primarily counter-terrorism
Counter-terrorism
Counter-terrorism is the practices, tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, militaries, police departments and corporations adopt to prevent or in response to terrorist threats and/or acts, both real and imputed.The tactic of terrorism is available to insurgents and governments...
in peacetime.
History
The Special Air Service was a unit of the British Army during the Second World War, formed in July 1941 by David StirlingDavid Stirling
Colonel Sir Archibald David Stirling, DSO, DFC, OBE was a Scottish laird, mountaineer, World War II British Army officer, and the founder of the Special Air Service.-Life before the war:...
and originally called "L" Detachment, Special Air Service Brigade the "L" designation and Air Service name being a tie-in to a British disinformation campaign, trying to deceive the Axis into thinking there was a paratrooper regiment with numerous units operating in the area (the real SAS would 'prove' to the Axis that the fake one existed). It was conceived as a commando
Commando
In English, the term commando means a specific kind of individual soldier or military unit. In contemporary usage, commando usually means elite light infantry and/or special operations forces units, specializing in amphibious landings, parachuting, rappelling and similar techniques, to conduct and...
force to operate behind enemy lines in the North African Campaign
North African campaign
During the Second World War, the North African Campaign took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943. It included campaigns fought in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts and in Morocco and Algeria and Tunisia .The campaign was fought between the Allies and Axis powers, many of whom had...
and initially consisted of five officers and 60 other ranks
Other Ranks
Other Ranks in the British Army, Royal Marines and Royal Air Force are those personnel who are not commissioned officers. In the Royal Navy, these personnel are called ratings...
. Its first mission, in November 1941, was a parachute drop in support of the Operation Crusader
Operation Crusader
Operation Crusader was a military operation by the British Eighth Army between 18 November–30 December 1941. The operation successfully relieved the 1941 Siege of Tobruk....
offensive. Due to German resistance and adverse weather conditions, the mission was a disaster: 22 men, a third of the unit, were killed or captured. Its second mission was a success: transported by the Long Range Desert Group
Long Range Desert Group
The Long Range Desert Group was a reconnaissance and raiding unit of the British Army during the Second World War. The commander of the German Afrika Corps, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, admitted that the LRDG "caused us more damage than any other British unit of equal strength".Originally called...
, it attacked three airfields in Libya
Libya
Libya is an African country in the Maghreb region of North Africa bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west....
, destroying 60 aircraft without loss. In September 1942 it was renamed 1st SAS, consisting at that time of four British squadrons, one Free French, one Greek
Sacred Band (World War II)
The Sacred band was a Greek special forces unit formed in 1942 in the Middle East, composed entirely of Greek officers and officer cadets under the command of Col. Christodoulos Tsigantes. It fought alongside the SAS in the Libyan desert and the Aegean, as well as with General Leclerc's Free...
, and the Folboat Section
Special Boat Service
The Special Boat Service is the special forces unit of the British Royal Navy. Together with the Special Air Service, Special Reconnaissance Regiment and the Special Forces Support Group they form the United Kingdom Special Forces and come under joint control of the same Director Special...
.
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
and Paddy Mayne
Paddy Mayne
Lieutenant Colonel Robert Blair "Paddy" Mayne DSO & Three Bars was a Northern Irish soldier, solicitor, Ireland rugby union international, amateur boxer, polar explorer and a founding member of the Special Air Service .-Early life and sporting achievements:Robert Blair "Paddy" Mayne was born in...
replaced him as commander. In April 1943, the 1st SAS was reorganised into the Special Raiding Squadron under Mayne's command and the Special Boat Squadron
Special Boat Service
The Special Boat Service is the special forces unit of the British Royal Navy. Together with the Special Air Service, Special Reconnaissance Regiment and the Special Forces Support Group they form the United Kingdom Special Forces and come under joint control of the same Director Special...
was placed under the command of George Jellicoe
George Jellicoe, 2nd Earl Jellicoe
George Patrick John Rushworth Jellicoe, 2nd Earl Jellicoe, KBE, DSO, MC, PC, FRS was a British politician and statesman, diplomat and businessman....
. The Special Raiding Squadron fought in Sicily and Italy along with the 2nd SAS, which had been formed in North Africa in 1943 in part by the re-naming of the Small Scale Raiding Force
Small Scale Raiding Force
No. 62 Commando or the Small Scale Raiding Force was a British Commandos unit of the British Army during the Second World War. The unit was formed around a small group of commandos under the command of the Special Operations Executive...
. The Special Boat Squadron fought in the Aegean Islands
Aegean Islands
The Aegean Islands are the group of islands in the Aegean Sea, with mainland Greece to the west and north and Turkey to the east; the island of Crete delimits the sea to the south, those of Rhodes, Karpathos and Kasos to the southeast...
and Dodecanese
Dodecanese
The Dodecanese are a group of 12 larger plus 150 smaller Greek islands in the Aegean Sea, of which 26 are inhabited. Τhis island group generally defines the eastern limit of the Sea of Crete. They belong to the Southern Sporades island group...
until the end of the war. In 1944 the SAS Brigade was formed from the British 1st and 2nd SAS, the French 3rd and 4th SAS and the Belgian 5th SAS
5 SAS
The 5th Special Air Service or 5th SAS was an elite airborne unit during World War II, consisting entirely of Belgian volunteers. It saw action as part of the SAS Brigade in Normandy, Northern France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. Initially trained in sabotage and intelligence gathering,...
. It was tasked with parachute operations behind the German lines in France and carried out operations supporting the Allied advance through Belgium, the Netherlands (Operation Pegasus
Operation Pegasus
Operation Pegasus was a military operation carried out on the Lower Rhine near the village of Renkum, close to Arnhem in the Netherlands. Overnight on the 22–23 October 1944, the Allies successfully evacuated a large group of men trapped in German occupied territory who had been in hiding since...
), and eventually into Germany (Operation Archway
Operation Archway
Operation Archway was the codename for one of the largest and most diverse operations carried out by the Special Air Service during the Second World War....
)..
Post war
At the end of the war the British Government saw no further need for the force and disbanded it on 8 October 1945. The following year it was decided there was a need for a long-term deep-penetration commando unit, and a new SAS regiment was to be raised as part of the Territorial Army. Ultimately, the Artists Rifles, raised in 1860 and headquartered at Dukes Road, Euston, took on the SAS mantle as 21st SAS Regiment (V) on 1 January 1947.In 1950, a 21 SAS squadron was raised to fight in the Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...
. After three months of training in England, it was informed that the squadron would no longer be required in Korea and so it instead volunteered to fight in the Malayan Emergency
Malayan Emergency
The Malayan Emergency was a guerrilla war fought between Commonwealth armed forces and the Malayan National Liberation Army , the military arm of the Malayan Communist Party, from 1948 to 1960....
. Upon arrival in Malaya, it came under the command of Mike Calvert
Mike Calvert
James Michael Calvert DSO and Bar was a British soldier involved in special operations in World War II. The degree to which he led very risky attacks in person led to his becoming widely known as "Mad Mike". Calvert was court-martialled and dismissed from the Army in 1952...
who was forming a new unit called the Malayan Scouts (SAS). Calvert had already formed one squadron from 100 volunteers in the Far East, which became A Squadronthe 21 SAS squadron then became B Squadron; and after a recruitment visit to Rhodesia by Calvert, C Squadron was formed from 1,000 Rhodesian volunteers. The Rhodesians returned home after three years service and were replaced by a New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
squadron. By this time, the need for a regular army SAS regiment had been recognised; 22 SAS Regiment was formally added to the army list in 1952 and has been based at Hereford
Hereford
Hereford is a cathedral city, civil parish and county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, southwest of Worcester, and northwest of Gloucester...
since 1960. In 1959 the third regiment, 23 SAS Regiment, was formed by renaming the Reserve Reconnaissance Unit, which had succeeded MI9
MI9
MI9, the British Military Intelligence Section 9, was a department of the British Directorate of Military Intelligence, part of the War Office...
and were experts in escape and evasion.
22 SAS Regiment
Since serving in Malaya, men from the regular army 22 SAS Regiment have taken part in covert reconnaissance and surveillance by patrols and some larger scale raiding missions in Borneo. An operation against communist guerillas included the Battle of MirbatBattle of Mirbat
The Battle of Mirbat took place on 19 July 1972 during the Dhofar Rebellion in Oman, which was supported by Communist guerrillas from South Yemen...
in the Oman
Dhofar Rebellion
The Dhofar Rebellion was launched in the province of Dhofar against the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman, which had British support, from 1962 to 1976. It ended with the defeat of the rebels, but the state of Oman had to be radically reformed and modernised to cope with the campaign.-Background:In...
. They have also taken part in operations in the Aden Emergency
Aden Emergency
The Aden Emergency was an insurgency against the British crown forces in the British controlled territories of South Arabia which now form part of the Yemen. Partly inspired by Nasser's pan Arab nationalism, it began on 10 December 1963 with the throwing of a grenade at a gathering of British...
, Northern Ireland
The Troubles
The Troubles was a period of ethno-political conflict in Northern Ireland which spilled over at various times into England, the Republic of Ireland, and mainland Europe. The duration of the Troubles is conventionally dated from the late 1960s and considered by many to have ended with the Belfast...
, and Gambia
The Gambia
The Republic of The Gambia, commonly referred to as The Gambia, or Gambia , is a country in West Africa. Gambia is the smallest country on mainland Africa, surrounded by Senegal except for a short coastline on the Atlantic Ocean in the west....
. Their Special projects team assisted the West German counter-terrorism group GSG 9
GSG 9
The GSG 9 der Bundespolizei , is the elite counter-terrorism and special operations unit of the German Federal Police.-History and name:...
at Mogadishu
Lufthansa Flight 181
Lufthansa Flight 181 was a Lufthansa Boeing 737-230 Adv aircraft named Landshut that was hijacked on October 13, 1977 by four members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine...
. The SAS counter terrorist wing famously took part in a hostage rescue operation during the Iranian Embassy Siege
Iranian Embassy Siege
The Iranian Embassy siege took place from 30 April to 5 May 1980, after a group of six armed men stormed the Iranian embassy in South Kensington, London. The gunmen took 26 people hostage—mostly embassy staff, but several visitors and a police officer, who had been guarding the embassy, were also...
in London. During the Falklands War
Falklands War
The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...
D and G squadrons were deployed and participated in the raid on Pebble Island
Raid on Pebble Island
The Raid on Pebble Island took place on 14-15 May 1982 during the Falklands War. Pebble Island is part of the Falkland Islands.-Background:Immediately after the Argentines had seized the Falkland Islands they established a small airbase on Pebble Island using the local airstrip on which were based...
. Operation Flavius
Operation Flavius
Operation Flavius was the name given to an operation by a Special Air Service team in Gibraltar on 6 March 1988 tasked to prevent a Provisional Irish Republican Army bomb attack...
was a controversial operation in Gibraltar
Gibraltar
Gibraltar is a British overseas territory located on the southern end of the Iberian Peninsula at the entrance of the Mediterranean. A peninsula with an area of , it has a northern border with Andalusia, Spain. The Rock of Gibraltar is the major landmark of the region...
against the Provisional Irish Republican Army
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
(PIRA). It directed NATO aircraft onto Serb positions and hunted war criminals in Bosnia.
The Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
, in which A, B and D squadrons deployed, was the largest SAS mobilisation since the Second World War, also notable for the failure of the Bravo Two Zero
Bravo Two Zero
Bravo Two Zero was the call sign of an eight-man British Army SAS patrol, deployed into Iraq during the First Gulf War in January 1991. According to one patrol member's account, the patrol were given the task of "gathering intelligence;.....
mission. In Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...
it took part in Operation Barras
Operation Barras
Operation Barras was the name given to a hostage rescue operation by the British Special Air Service, Special Boat Service, and Parachute Regiment in Sierra Leone on 10 September 2000...
, a hostage rescue operation, to extract members of the Royal Irish Regiment. In the Iraq War, it formed part of Task Force Black and Task Force Knight, with A Squadron 22 SAS being singled out for exceptional service by General
General
A general officer is an officer of high military rank, usually in the army, and in some nations, the air force. The term is widely used by many nations of the world, and when a country uses a different term, there is an equivalent title given....
Stanley McChrystal, the American commander of NATO forces: during a six month tour it carried out 175 combat missions. In 2006 members of the SAS were involved in the rescue of peace activists Norman Kember
Norman Kember
Norman Frank Kember is an Emeritus Professor of biophysics at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry and a Christian pacifist active in campaigning on issues of war and peace. As a Baptist, a long-standing member of the Baptist Peace Fellowship and the Fellowship of Reconciliation...
, James Loney and Harmeet Singh Sooden
Harmeet Singh Sooden
Harmeet Singh Sooden is a Canadian and New Zealand citizen who volunteered for Christian Peacemaker Teams in Iraq. From November 26, 2005, he was held captive in Iraq with three others and threatened with execution until being freed by multinational forces in an operation on March 23, 2006.Sooden...
. The three men had been held hostage in Iraq for 118 days during the Christian Peacemaker hostage crisis. Operations against the Taliban in Afghanistan
War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
The War in Afghanistan began on October 7, 2001, as the armed forces of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Afghan United Front launched Operation Enduring Freedom...
involved soldiers from 21 and 23 SAS Regiments.
Various British newspapers have speculated on the SAS involvement in Operation Ellamy
Operation Ellamy
Operation Ellamy was the codename for the United Kingdom participation in the 2011 military intervention in Libya. The operation was part of an international coalition aimed at enforcing a Libyan no-fly zone in accordance with the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973 which stipulated...
and the Libyan Civil War, the Daily Telegraph reports that "defence sources have confirmed that the SAS has been in Libya for several weeks, and played a key role in coordinating the fall of Tripoli." While The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
reports "They have been acting as forward air controllers – directing pilots to targets – and communicating with Nato operational commanders. They have also been advising rebels on tactics."
Peter de la Billière
General Sir Peter Edgar de la Cour de la Billière, KCB, KBE, DSO, MC & Bar is a former British Army officer who was Director SAS during the Iranian Embassy Siege and Commander-in-Chief of the British forces in the 1990 Gulf War...
was the Commander-in-Chief
Commander-in-Chief
A commander-in-chief is the commander of a nation's military forces or significant element of those forces. In the latter case, the force element may be defined as those forces within a particular region or those forces which are associated by function. As a practical term it refers to the military...
of the British forces in the 1990 Gulf War. General Michael Rose became commander of the United Nations Protection Force
United Nations Protection Force
The United Nations Protection Force ', was the first United Nations peacekeeping force in Croatia and in Bosnia and Herzegovina during the Yugoslav wars. It existed between the beginning of UN involvement in February 1992, and its restructuring into other forces in March 1995...
in Bosnia in 1994. In 1997 General Charles Guthrie
Charles Guthrie, Baron Guthrie of Craigiebank
General Charles Ronald Llewelyn Guthrie, Baron Guthrie of Craigiebank, was Chief of the Defence Staff between 1997 and 2001 and Chief of the General Staff, the professional head of the British Army, between 1994 and 1997.-Army career:...
became Chief of the Defence Staff
Chief of the Defence Staff (United Kingdom)
The Chief of the Defence Staff is the professional head of the British Armed Forces, a senior official within the Ministry of Defence, and the most senior uniformed military adviser to the Secretary of State for Defence and the Prime Minister...
the head of the British Armed Forces. Lieutenant-General Cedric Delves
Cedric Delves
Lieutenant General Sir Cedric Norman George Delves KBE DSO is a former British Army general.-Military career:Educated at Woolverstone Hall School, Cedric Delves was commissioned into the Devonshire and Dorset Regiment in 1968...
was appointed Commander of the Field Army and Deputy Commander in Chief NATO Regional Headquarters Allied Forces North in 2002–2003.
Influence on other special forces
Following the post-war reconstitution of the Special Air Service, other countries in the CommonwealthCommonwealth of Nations
The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and formerly known as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states...
recognised their need for Special Forces-type units. Australia formed the 1st SAS Company in July 1957, which became a full regiment of the Australian Special Air Service Regiment
Australian Special Air Service Regiment
The Special Air Service Regiment, officially abbreviated SASR but commonly known as the SAS, is a special forces unit of the Australian Army...
(SASR) in August 1964. The New Zealand Special Air Service squadron was formed in 1954 to serve with the British SAS in Malaya. On its return from Malaya, the C (Rhodesian) Squadron formed the basis for creation of the Rhodesian Special Air Service in 1961.
Non-commonwealth countries have also formed units based on the SAS. Impressed by the Australian SASR methods in Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, American General William Westmoreland
William Westmoreland
William Childs Westmoreland was a United States Army General, who commanded US military operations in the Vietnam War at its peak , during the Tet Offensive. He adopted a strategy of attrition against the National Liberation Front of South Vietnam and the North Vietnamese Army. He later served as...
ordered the formation of a Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol
Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol
Long Range Reconnaissance Patrols, or LRRPs , were special small four to six-man teams in the Vietnam War on highly dangerous special reconnaissance missions deep into enemy territory....
(LRRP) unit in each infantry brigade, modelled on the SASR. Another American unit, Delta Force
Delta Force
1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta is one of the United States' secretive Tier One counter-terrorism and Special Mission Units. Commonly known as Delta Force, Delta, or The Unit, it was formed under the designation 1st SFOD-D, and is officially referred to by the Department of Defense...
, was formed by Charles Alvin Beckwith, who served with 22 SAS as an exchange officer
Exchange officer
An exchange officer is a commissioned officer in a country's armed forces who is temporarily attached to a unit of the armed forces of another country....
, and recognized the need for a similar type of unit in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
. It is claimed the Israeli Sayeret Matkal
Sayeret Matkal
Sayeret Matkal is a special forces unit of the Israel Defence Forces , which is subordinated to the intelligence directorate Aman. First and foremost a field intelligence-gathering unit, conducting deep reconnaissance behind enemy lines to obtain strategic intelligence, Sayeret Matkal is also...
was also modelled on the SAS and even shares the same "who dares wins" motto. The French 1st Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment
1st Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment
The 1st Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment is one of three regiments in the French Army Special Forces Brigade. Based in Bayonne in the local Citadel...
can trace its origins to the Second World War 3rd and 4th SAS, also adopting its "who dares wins" motto.
Organisation
Little publicly verifiable information exists on the SAS, as the United Kingdom Government does not usually comment on special forces matters. The Special Air Service comprises three units: one Regular and two reserve Territorial Army (TA) units. The regular army unit is 22 SAS Regiment and territorial army units are 21 SAS Regiment (Artists) and 23 SAS Regiment.Squadrons
22 SAS Regiment has four operational squadrons: A, B, D and G. Each squadron consists of approximately 60 men commanded by a majorMajor
Major is a rank of commissioned officer, with corresponding ranks existing in almost every military in the world.When used unhyphenated, in conjunction with no other indicator of rank, the term refers to the rank just senior to that of an Army captain and just below the rank of lieutenant colonel. ...
, divided into four troop
Troop
A troop is a military unit, originally a small force of cavalry, subordinate to a squadron and headed by the troop leader. In many armies a troop is the equivalent unit to the infantry section or platoon...
s and a small headquarters section. Troops usually consist of 16 men, and each patrol within a troop consists of four men, with each man possessing a particular skill: signals, demolition, medic or linguist in addition to basic skills learned during the course of his training.
The four troops specialise in four different areas:
- Boat troop — are specialists in maritime skills using scuba divingScuba divingScuba diving is a form of underwater diving in which a diver uses a scuba set to breathe underwater....
, kayaks and Rigid-hulled inflatable boatRigid-hulled inflatable boatA rigid-hulled inflatable boat, or rigid-inflatable boat is a light-weight but high-performance and high-capacity boat constructed with a solid, shaped hull and flexible tubes at the gunwale. The design is stable and seaworthy...
s and often train with the Special Boat ServiceSpecial Boat ServiceThe Special Boat Service is the special forces unit of the British Royal Navy. Together with the Special Air Service, Special Reconnaissance Regiment and the Special Forces Support Group they form the United Kingdom Special Forces and come under joint control of the same Director Special...
. - Air troop — are experts in free fallFree fallFree fall is any motion of a body where gravity is the only force acting upon it, at least initially. These conditions produce an inertial trajectory so long as gravity remains the only force. Since this definition does not specify velocity, it also applies to objects initially moving upward...
parachuting, High Altitude-Low Opening (HALO) and High Altitude-High Opening (HAHO) techniques. - Mobility troop — are specialists in using vehicles and are experts in desert warfare; they are also trained in an advanced level of motor mechanics to field-repair any vehicular breakdown.
- Mountain troop — are specialists in Arctic combat and survival, using specialist equipment such as skis, snowshoes and mountain climbing techniques.
In 1980 R Squadron was formed which has since been renamed L Detachment; its members are all ex-regular SAS regiment soldiers who have a commitment to reserve service.
| 22 Special Air Service Regiment | 21 Special Air Service Regiment (Artists) | 23 Special Air Service Regiment |
|---|---|---|
| 'A' Squadron (Hereford Hereford Hereford is a cathedral city, civil parish and county town of Herefordshire, England. It lies on the River Wye, approximately east of the border with Wales, southwest of Worcester, and northwest of Gloucester... ) |
'A' Squadron (Regent's Park Albany Street Barracks The Albany Street Barracks, officially known as the Regent's Park Barracks, is a British Army barracks located on Albany Street, London, near Regent's Park.... ) |
'B' Squadron (Leeds Leeds Leeds is a city and metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. In 2001 Leeds' main urban subdivision had a population of 443,247, while the entire city has a population of 798,800 , making it the 30th-most populous city in the European Union.Leeds is the cultural, financial and commercial... ) |
| 'B' Squadron | 'C' Squadron (Bramley Bramley, Hampshire Bramley is a village and parish in Hampshire, UK. In the 2001 census it had a population of 3,348. It has a village shop, bakery, estate agency, pub and a railway station... ) |
'D' Squadron (Scotland Scotland Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the... ) |
| 'D' Squadron | 'E' Squadron (Wales Wales Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²... ) |
'G' Squadron (Manchester Manchester Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater... ) |
| 'G' Squadron |
Special projects team
The special projects team is the official name for the Special Air Service anti–hijacking counter–terrorism team. It is trained in Close Quarter Battle (CQB) and sniperSniper
A sniper is a marksman who shoots targets from concealed positions or distances exceeding the capabilities of regular personnel. Snipers typically have specialized training and distinct high-precision rifles....
techniques and specializes in hostage rescue in buildings or on public transport. The team was formed in 1975 after Prime Minister
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the Head of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom. The Prime Minister and Cabinet are collectively accountable for their policies and actions to the Sovereign, to Parliament, to their political party and...
Edward Heath
Edward Heath
Sir Edward Richard George "Ted" Heath, KG, MBE, PC was a British Conservative politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and as Leader of the Conservative Party ....
asked the Ministry of Defence
Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....
to prepare for any possible terrorist attack similar to the massacre
Munich massacre
The Munich massacre is an informal name for events that occurred during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Bavaria in southern West Germany, when members of the Israeli Olympic team were taken hostage and eventually killed by the Palestinian group Black September. Members of Black September...
at the 1972 Summer Olympics
1972 Summer Olympics
The 1972 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from August 26 to September 11, 1972....
and ordered that the SAS Counter Revolutionary Warfare (CRW) wing be raised.
Once the wing had been established, each squadron rotated on a continual basis through counter–terrorist training including hostage rescue, siege breaking, and live firing exercisesit has been reported that during CRW training each soldier expends as many as 100,000 pistol rounds. Squadrons refresh their training every 16 months, on average. The CRW wing's first deployment was during the Balcombe Street Siege
Balcombe Street Siege
The Balcombe Street Siege was an incident involving members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army and the Metropolitan Police Service of London, England lasting from 6 December to 12 December 1975. The siege ended with the surrender of the four IRA volunteers and the release of their two hostages...
. The Metropolitan Police
Metropolitan police
Metropolitan Police is a generic title for the municipal police force for a major metropolitan area, and it may be part of the official title of the force...
had trapped a PIRA
Provisional Irish Republican Army
The Provisional Irish Republican Army is an Irish republican paramilitary organisation whose aim was to remove Northern Ireland from the United Kingdom and bring about a socialist republic within a united Ireland by force of arms and political persuasion...
unit; it surrendered when it heard on the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
that the SAS were being sent in.
The first documented action abroad by the CRW wing was assisting the West German counter-terrorism group GSG 9
GSG 9
The GSG 9 der Bundespolizei , is the elite counter-terrorism and special operations unit of the German Federal Police.-History and name:...
at Mogadishu
Lufthansa Flight 181
Lufthansa Flight 181 was a Lufthansa Boeing 737-230 Adv aircraft named Landshut that was hijacked on October 13, 1977 by four members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine...
. In 1980 the SAS were involved in a hostage rescue during the Iranian Embassy Siege
Iranian Embassy Siege
The Iranian Embassy siege took place from 30 April to 5 May 1980, after a group of six armed men stormed the Iranian embassy in South Kensington, London. The gunmen took 26 people hostage—mostly embassy staff, but several visitors and a police officer, who had been guarding the embassy, were also...
.
United Kingdom Special Forces
The Special Air Service is under the operational command of the Director Special Forces (DSF), a major-general grade post. Previously ranked as a brigadier, the DSF was promoted from brigadier to major-general in recognition of the significant expansion of the United Kingdom Special ForcesUnited Kingdom Special Forces
The United Kingdom Special Forces is a UK Ministry of Defence Directorate which also has the capability to provide a Joint Special Operations Task Force Headquarters...
(UKSF). The UKSF originally consisted of the regular and the reserve units of the SAS and the Special Boat Service
Special Boat Service
The Special Boat Service is the special forces unit of the British Royal Navy. Together with the Special Air Service, Special Reconnaissance Regiment and the Special Forces Support Group they form the United Kingdom Special Forces and come under joint control of the same Director Special...
, then joined by two new units: the Special Forces Support Group
Special Forces Support Group
The Special Forces Support Group or SFSG is a special operations unit of the British Armed Forces. The SFSG is the newest addition to the United Kingdom Special Forces. It was formed officially on 3 April 2006 to support the Special Air Service and the Special Boat Service on operations. This could...
and the Special Reconnaissance Regiment
Special Reconnaissance Regiment
The Special Reconnaissance Regiment or SRR is a Special Forces regiment of the British Armed Forces. It was established on 6 April 2005 and is part of the United Kingdom Special Forces under command Director Special Forces, alongside the Special Air Service , Special Boat Service and the Special...
. They are supported by the 18 (UKSF) Signal Regiment
18 (UKSF) Signal Regiment
18 Signal Regiment is a Regiment of the Royal Corps of Signals in the British Army and provides communications and information systems support to the force elements of the United Kingdom Special Forces...
and the Joint Special Forces Aviation Wing
Joint Special Forces Aviation Wing
The Joint Special Forces Aviation Wing is a joint-service organisation which provides aviation support to United Kingdom Special Forces, using both fixed wing and rotary wing aircraft. The Wing is based at RAF Odiham....
, part of which (8 Flight Army Air Corps
8 Flight Army Air Corps
8 Flight Army Air Corps is one of the Independent Flights within the British Army's Army Air Corps. 8 Flight is attached to the Special Air Service and based alongside them in Hereford....
) is based in Hereford with the SAS.
Recruitment, selection and training
Sennybridge
Sennybridge is a village in Powys, Mid Wales, situated some from Cardiff and from Swansea. It lies west of Brecon on the A40 trunk road to Llandovery, at the point where the River Senni flows into the Usk...
in the Brecon Beacons
Brecon Beacons
The Brecon Beacons is a mountain range in South Wales. In a narrow sense, the name refers to the range of popular peaks south of Brecon, including South Wales' highest mountain, Pen y Fan, and which together form the central section of the Brecon Beacons National Park...
. Selection lasts for five weeks and normally starts with about 200 potential candidates. On arrival candidates first complete a Personal Fitness Test (PFT) and a Combat Fitness Test
Combat Fitness Test
A Combat Fitness Test was the name given to a test of fitness administered by the British Army and the United States Marine Corps.-United Kingdom:...
(CFT). They then march cross country against the clock, increasing the distances covered each day, culminating in what is known as the Fan dance
Fan dance (exercise)
The Fan Dance is part of the Fitness and Navigation phase of the selection process of the UK's Special Forces personnel. It has also been used on courses run by the Pathfinder Group and the Infantry Battle School, Brecon, Wales. It is a 24 kilometre long distance march in the Brecon Beacons of...
: a 14 miles (22.5 km) march with full equipment scaling and descending Pen y Fan
Pen y Fan
Pen y Fan is the highest peak in South Wales and southern Britain, situated in the Brecon Beacons National Park. At above sea-level, it is also the highest peak in Britain south of the Snowdonia mountain range...
in four hours. By the end of the hill phase candidates must be able to run 4 miles in 30 minutes and swim two miles in 90 minutes.
Following the hill phase is the jungle phase, taking place in Belize
Belize
Belize is a constitutional monarchy and the northernmost country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Even though Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official...
, Brunei
Brunei
Brunei , officially the State of Brunei Darussalam or the Nation of Brunei, the Abode of Peace , is a sovereign state located on the north coast of the island of Borneo, in Southeast Asia...
, or Malaysia. Candidates are taught navigation, patrol formation and movement, and jungle survival skills.
Candidates returning to Hereford finish training in battle plans and foreign weapons and take part in combat survival exercises, the final one being the week-long escape and evasion. Candidates are formed into patrols and, carrying nothing more than a tin can filled with survival equipment, are dressed in old Second World War uniforms and told to head for a point by first light. The final selection test is arguably the most gruelling: resistance to interrogation
Resistance to interrogation
R2I or resistance to interrogation is a name for a set of techniques taught to UK, and other NATO soldiers ostensibly to help them, after capture by the enemy, to resist interrogation techniques such as humiliation and torture....
(RTI), lasting for 36 hours.
Typically, 15–20% of candidates make it through the hill phase selection process. From the approximately 200 candidates, most will drop out within the first few days, and by the end about 30 will remain. Those who complete all phases of selection are rewarded with a transfer to an operational squadron.
SAS Reserve selection
The Territorial Army Special Air Service (reserve) Regiments undergo the same selection process, but as a part-time programme over a longer period:- nine weekends of endurance training;
- one week endurance training in the Brecon Beacons, followed by
- a one week assessment (Test Week) at the Beacons.
This is followed by Standard Operational Procedure (SOP) Training, comprising:
- nine weekends patrol SOP's including surveillance and reconnaissance;
- one-week live-firing including patrol contact drills and troop offensive action;
- a nine-day battle camp comprising live-firing assessment and field training exercise to test the skills learned throughout selection;
- culminating in Conduct after Capture (CAC) training.
On successful completion of this training, ranks are badged as SAS(R) and deemed fit for appointment. They enter a probationary period during which they complete final training:
- Basic Parachute Course;
- Special Forces Communications Course; and
- a main training period to be fit for mobilisation.
Uniform distinctions
Normal barracks headdress is the sand-coloured beretTan beret
The tan beret has been adopted as official headdress by several special operations forces as a symbol of their unique capabilities.-British Army:...
, its cap badge
Cap badge
A cap badge, also known as head badge or hat badge, is a badge worn on uniform headgear and distinguishes the wearer's nationality and/or organisation. The wearing of cap badges is a convention commonly found among military and police forces, as well as uniformed civilian groups such as the Boy...
is a downward pointing Excalibur, wreathed in flames (often wrongly referred to as a winged dagger) worked into the cloth of a Crusader
Crusades
The Crusades were a series of religious wars, blessed by the Pope and the Catholic Church with the main goal of restoring Christian access to the holy places in and near Jerusalem...
shield
Shield
A shield is a type of personal armor, meant to intercept attacks, either by stopping projectiles such as arrows or redirecting a hit from a sword, mace or battle axe to the side of the shield-bearer....
with the motto Who Dares Wins. SAS pattern parachute wings
Parachutist Badge
The Parachutist Badge or Parachutist Brevet is a military badge awarded by the Armed Forces of most countries in the world to soldiers who receive the proper parachute training and accomplish the required number of jumps. It is difficult to assess which country was the first to introduce such award...
, designed by Lieutenant
Lieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
Jock Lewes
Jock Lewes
Lieutenant John Steel Lewes, known as Jock was born in Calcutta but grew up in Australia and served as a British officer of the Welsh Guards in World War II...
and based on the stylised sacred Ibis wings
Ibis
The ibises are a group of long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae....
of Isis
Isis
Isis or in original more likely Aset is a goddess in Ancient Egyptian religious beliefs, whose worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. She was worshipped as the ideal mother and wife as well as the matron of nature and magic...
of Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
ian iconography
Iconography
Iconography is the branch of art history which studies the identification, description, and the interpretation of the content of images. The word iconography literally means "image writing", and comes from the Greek "image" and "to write". A secondary meaning is the painting of icons in the...
depicted in the décor of Shepheard's Hotel
Shepheard's Hotel
Shepheard's Hotel was the leading hotel in Cairo and one of the most celebrated hotels in the world between the middle of the 19th century and 1952....
in Cairo, are worn on the right shoulder. Its ceremonial No 1 Dress Uniform is distinguished by a light blue stripe on the trousers; the Commanding Officer and officer of the day wear a black leather pouch belt mounted with a silver whistle chain and the Mars and Minerva badge of the Artists Rifles. Its Stable belt
Stable belt
A stable belt is an item of uniform used in the armed forces of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries. Stable belts or similar derivatives are also worn by the armed forced of other nations such as Denmark....
is a shade of blue similar to the blue stripe on the No 1 dress uniform.
Battle honours
In the British Army, battle honours are awarded to regiments that have seen active service in a significant engagement or campaignMilitary campaign
In the military sciences, the term military campaign applies to large scale, long duration, significant military strategy plan incorporating a series of inter-related military operations or battles forming a distinct part of a larger conflict often called a war...
, generally with a victorious outcome. The Special Air Service Regiment has been awarded the following battle honours:
North-West Europe 1944-45Tobruk 1941Benghazi Raid
Operation Agreement
Operation Agreement consisted of a series of ground and amphibious operations carried out by British, Rhodesian and New Zealand forces on German and Italian-held Tobruk on 13 September 1942, during the Second World War. A Special Interrogation Group, fluent in German, also took part in missions...
North Africa 1940-43
North African campaign
During the Second World War, the North African Campaign took place in North Africa from 10 June 1940 to 13 May 1943. It included campaigns fought in the Libyan and Egyptian deserts and in Morocco and Algeria and Tunisia .The campaign was fought between the Allies and Axis powers, many of whom had...
Landing in Sicily
Allied invasion of Sicily
The Allied invasion of Sicily, codenamed Operation Husky, was a major World War II campaign, in which the Allies took Sicily from the Axis . It was a large scale amphibious and airborne operation, followed by six weeks of land combat. It launched the Italian Campaign.Husky began on the night of...
Sicily 1943
Allied invasion of Sicily
The Allied invasion of Sicily, codenamed Operation Husky, was a major World War II campaign, in which the Allies took Sicily from the Axis . It was a large scale amphibious and airborne operation, followed by six weeks of land combat. It launched the Italian Campaign.Husky began on the night of...
Termoli
Termoli
Termoli is a town and comune on the Adriatic coast of Italy, in the province of Campobasso, region of Molise. It has a population of around 32,000, having expanded quickly after World War II, and it is a local resort town known for its beaches and old fortifications...
Valli di Comacchio
Operation Roast
Operation Roast was a military operation by British Commandos at Comacchio lagoon in north east Italy during the Spring 1945 offensive in Italy in World War II.- Strategy :...
Italy 1943-45
Italian Campaign (World War II)
The Italian Campaign of World War II was the name of Allied operations in and around Italy, from 1943 to the end of the war in Europe. Joint Allied Forces Headquarters AFHQ was operationally responsible for all Allied land forces in the Mediterranean theatre, and it planned and commanded the...
Greece 1944-45
Dodecanese Campaign
The Dodecanese Campaign of World War II was an attempt by Allied forces, mostly British, to capture the Italian-held Dodecanese islands in the Aegean Sea following the surrender of Italy in September 1943, and use them as bases against the German-controlled Balkans...
Adriatic
Dodecanese Campaign
The Dodecanese Campaign of World War II was an attempt by Allied forces, mostly British, to capture the Italian-held Dodecanese islands in the Aegean Sea following the surrender of Italy in September 1943, and use them as bases against the German-controlled Balkans...
Middle East 1943-44
Middle East Theatre of World War II
The Middle East Theatre of World War II is defined largely by reference to the British Middle East Command, which controlled Allied forces in both Southwest Asia and eastern North Africa...
Falkland Islands 1982
Falklands War
The Falklands War , also called the Falklands Conflict or Falklands Crisis, was fought in 1982 between Argentina and the United Kingdom over the disputed Falkland Islands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands...
Western Iraq
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
Gulf 1991
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
Order of precedence
Memorials
The names of those members of the SAS who have died on duty are inscribed on the regimental clock tower at Sterling lines. Inscribed on the base of the clock is a verse from The Golden Road to Samarkand by James Elroy FleckerJames Elroy Flecker
James Elroy Flecker was an English poet, novelist and playwright. As a poet he was most influenced by the Parnassian poets.-Biography:...
:
The other main memorial is the SAS and Airborne Forces memorial in the Cloisters at Westminster Abbey. The SAS Brigade Memorial at Sennecey-le-Grand
Sennecey-le-Grand
Sennecey-le-Grand is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne in eastern France.-References:*...
in France commemorates the wartime dead of the Belgian, British and French SAS and recently a memorial plaque was added to the David Stirling Memorial in Scotland. There are other smaller memorials "scattered throughout Europe and in the Far East".
Alliances
Australia: Special Air Service Regiment New Zealand: Special Air ServiceExternal links
- SAS informational site, video also available