The Special Air Service- Britain's original special forces and the granddaddy of all modern
special forces.
The SAS is the benchmark by which every other special forces unit is measured, and their
tactics and training methods have been replicated all over the world.
The history of the SAS begins in the deserts of World War II, and their feats of daring
are the stuff of legend, and continue to this day in the global war on terrorism.
One of the toughest special forces outfits in the world to enter into, the SAS requires
the absolute best out of every recruit.
Many apply each year to join this legendary service, and many fail and are washed out
of training.
What about you though?
Think you got what it takes to join the elite SAS?
SAS selection takes place across several phases of selection, with Selection Phase 1, known
as endurance, taking place over three grueling weeks.
Any dummy can be physically fit and carry a heavy pack, but Selection Phase 1 will weed
out the dumb brutes and leave behind only the mentally and physically strong.
For Phase 1 you'll head out to the countryside in South Wales, but don't expect a picnic
because you'll immediately be put to marching across varying routes.
Initially, you'll carry a pack loaded up with essential gear such as rain poncho, sleeping
bag, first aid kit, and distress flares, though you can expect that as the distance you're
forced to march increases, so does the weight.
You'll carry your food with you too, which consists of some bread rolls, a few Mars candy
bars, and potato chips- along with a 24 hour ration pack that can only be opened in an
emergency.
Forced to march endlessly low on food and sleep, this phase isn't just testing your
physical fitness but your mental fitness as well.
Unlike in most other special forces candidate programs, here you won't have to deal with
instructors screaming at you and breathing down your neck.
Instead, SAS instructors purposefully leave you completely to your own devices, offering
no encouragement but no chastisement either.
You will pass or fail completely of your own volition.
And you better be good at disciplining temptation too, because while you may be starving opening
up that emergency 24 hour ration pack without permission is grounds for rejection.
Attention to detail is critical for an SAS soldier, so as you're trying to drag yourself
through another day long march on your blistered feet, you should expect instructors to occasionally
quiz you about landmarks you may have just passed.
The purpose is to test your alertness, and see how well you can pay attention while physically
miserable- one candidate said that he was asked how many supports were on a bridge he
had just crossed over during his march.
Eventually you'll face the final test, a grueling 40 mile (65 km) march up and down hills, carrying
55 pounds of gear and an assault rifle to boot.
Not only will you have to accurately navigate your own course, but you'll have only 22 hours
to complete the course.
Failure means your application process is over, and you'll return to your home unit.
Just because you pass though don't expect that you're on to the next official phase,
because instructors will have been carefully evaluating you the entire time.
If they suspect you aren't the right stuff, it won't matter how fast you completed your
course or how much weight you can carry, you'll be rejected and sent back to your home unit.
Out of 200 candidates, only about 30 to 40 will make it past this phase, and move on
to the next phase: Jungle Training.
Like most of SAS's training, the exact details of what goes on in the Jungle phase are classified.
What is known though is that trainees will learn jungle survival skills, as well as how
to conduct patrols deep behind enemy lines and live off the land for weeks at a time.
Trainees will learn how to operate as a four man unit and live on rations, remaining undetected
as they carry out their mission.
A strong emphasis on physical fitness will also see trainees hit the gym every day, and
after the gym there will be a great deal of time spent out on the range.
There you'll learn how to operate standard bits of SAS gear, to include battle rifles,
recoilless rifles, grenade launchers, and light machine guns.
Trainees will also learn how to operate many other weapons in use across the world- an
SAS soldier must know how to pick up a weapon in a foreign battlefield and use it effective
if he needs to.
You'll also undergo training on setting up ambushes as well as responding to enemy ambushes.
You'll be trained in advanced scouting techniques, and how to observe your environment for subtle
changes that could signal a hidden enemy patrol or a sniper perched in waiting.
Detecting changes in color, shadows, and even small movements can mean the difference between
life and death for a SAS operative deep behind enemy lines.
As many other special forces training programs, you'll also learn advanced defensive driving
techniques, enabling a quick getaway in any hostile situation.
These are many of the same techniques that police use for stopping speeding drivers,
but you'll learn how to avoid those same techniques and not be stopped yourself.
We hope you like blowing things up, because you'll also be learning how to handle a variety
of explosives, and because explosions typically means wounded, you'll receive extensive medical
training that can be quickly deployed out in the field.
One of the most important jobs that special forces operators do in war is reconnaissance,
and so you'll learn how to establish Listening Posts/Observation Posts and covertly observe
an enemy.
To aid you in your mission you'll learn how to use a variety of secure communications
gear such as satellite radios, and how to avoid getting pinned down by the enemy due
to your electronic emissions.
Lastly, you'll undergo extensive hand-to-hand and close quarters combat techniques, and
become an expert in breaching and assaulting enemy structures.
Make it to the end of this phase and you'll be amongst the 15-20 who didn't get sick from
the jungle environment and drop out, or weren't washed out by instructors.
Don't start congratulating yourself just yet though, because the ultimate test is coming
up next.
Part one of your final test is a 3-day escape and evasion course.
You'll be given a ratty old coat, boots that may be held together with only strings, and
no food or water- you'll have a short head start and must evade capture for three days
by a hunter force equipped with dogs and modern equipment.
For these three days you must live off the land while evading your pursuers, and though
officially you are barred from entering any structures, some crafty trainees may sneak
their way onto a civilian property and maybe even have a local take them in.
As with most special forces tests, cheating is simply another creative way of accomplishing
the required objective- as long as you aren't caught that is.
The second part of your final test will take place when you are captured or at the end
of three days.
If you've managed to avoid capture, then you'll be expected to return to a designated location
at the end of the third day.
Once there you'll be handcuffed, have a bag thrown over your head, and taken to a remote
location.
Instructors will then attempt to break you down mentally.
You'll be placed in stress positions and forced to hold them for hours at a time.
You may be locked in a cage the size of a dog kennel while instructors bash the roof
of it with chains.
Instructors will strip you nude in front of female instructors who will mock the size
of your manhood.
It is all a mental game, meant to soften you up for the pending interrogation sessions.
After enough humiliation and mental torture, you'll be thrown into a room with an interrogator
and your job will be to only reveal the big 4 to him or her: your name, rank, serial number,
and date of birth.
Giving the interrogator any information other than that will lead to your immediate expulsion
from SAS training.
That's it, the end of the line for you.
If you make it through this final phase, then you can feel proud of accomplishing what very
few people have ever done.
You'll receive the beige beret with the winged dagger insignia, and officially become a member
of the British Special Air Service.
However, maybe celebrate modestly because you'll be on probation until you finish your
continuation training, and sadly many soldiers are returned to their home unit during this
phase.
If that happens to you, you'll at least have worn the beret for a short time, and that
is an accomplishment in and of itself.
If you make it through training though you'll join the 22nd Special Air Service regiment,
which consists of 4 active squadrons: A, B, D, and G.
Each squadron is made up of around 60 men, meaning there's roughly 240 active-duty SAS
soldiers at a time in the British military, with two reserve regiments, the 21st and 23rd
SAS.
This is in sharp contrast to the approximately 2,000 Navy SEALS the US military has, but
that's due to the smaller size of the British military.
Amongst each SAS squadron are four troops, and each troop specializes in a different
area of expertise.
The Air Troop is specialized in parachute insertions, including static line insertions
and HALO jumps deep behind enemy lines.
The Boat Troop is specialized in amphibious operations such as inserting onto hostile
beaches via submarines- a favorite tactic of US SEALS.
Interestingly, SAS and American SEALS work so closely together that often SAS soldiers
will deploy from an American submarine specially outfitted to deliver special forces under
the cover of the waves.
Mobility troop soldiers specialize in handling any number of vehicles, you can think of them
as the getaway drivers of the SAS.
Mountain troops are trained in arctic warfare and navigating, and surviving, in dangerous
mountainous terrain.
SAS Mountain troops worked closely with American and French special forces in the mountain
areas of Afghanistan, hunting down Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters in deep mountain complexes.
The close-knit relationship between SAS and American special forces means that both nations
share many of the same tactics and training techniques, and an SAS soldier is always welcome
aboard any American aircraft or boat.
If you had joined the SAS in the early 2000s, you may have been part of the legendary Task
Force 88- easily the deadliest fighting force ever assembled on planet earth.
Immediately after Saddam Hussein's government was ousted from power, Task Force 88 was formed
to hunt down the former dictator and his supporters, and over the years their job evolved to becoming
the premier hunter-killers of NATO's war against terrorist leaders in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Most of their deeds are shrouded in extreme secrecy, though it's known that TF 88 was
responsible for killing one of the key members of the insurgency: Al-Zarqawi.
At its height, Task Force 88 was made up of Task Force Black, an SAS sabre squadron supported
by Special Boat Service operators.
Task Force Blue was made up of the legendary SEAL Team Six.
Task Force Green was made up of operatives from America's Delta Force, and Task Force
Orange was made up of the single most secretive special forces operators in the world: America's
Intelligence Support Activity- a special forces unit whose job is to find actionable intelligence
for other special forces units, and which the Pentagon denies any official knowledge
of.
Task Force 88 was an example of the close-knit relationship between the Special Air Service
and its American counterparts, and that relationship continues to this day in unacknowledged conflicts
all around the world.
If you think you've got what it takes to make it through SAS selection though after watching
our video, maybe you too will be working side-by-side with the world's best, hunting down bad guys
in jungles, deserts, and mountains all over the globe.
Now that you've watched this adrenaline packed video, maybe it's time to chill out with this
video over here- and if that one doesn't do it for you, maybe click this one instead?
Click one of the two videos quick though, for the love of Queen and Country!