User Guide

SAS TODAY
By now, all modern armies have similar small, elite special-purpose units—but
it’s generally acknowledged that the SAS remains, not only the model for most of
them, but also probably the unit with the highest standards, and the one most dif-
ficult to join.
No one (whether an officer, a noncom, or an enlisted man) can enter SAS
directly; all must have at least three years’ service in another army unit.
Applications to join SAS are rigorously screened; after that, those candidates in
whom the Regiment is interested must pass the standard Army Battle Fitness test.
They then move to the SAS home base (presently at Stirling Lines in
Herefordshire, although shortly to be moved to a nearby RAF base) for a grueling
3 to 4 weeks of further physical testing and training, including forced marches (first
alone, later in groups) through the rugged Brecon mountains of Wales. The cul-
minating “exercise” is a 46-mile endurance march, carrying 55-pound packs, that
must be completed in under 20 hours—regardless of weather. Men have been
known to die during these exercises.
Those who make it this far without being “retired” (either voluntarily or sum-
marily) are only at the beginning of their training, and are still far from being
accepted into the SAS. Only after another 14 weeks of continuation training, fol-
lowed by 6 weeks of jungle training in the Far East and 4 weeks of parachute train-
ing in England and France, do they receive the coveted sand-colored beret with its
badge of a winged dagger and Stirling’s original slogan, “Who dares, wins.”
Even then, they’re only at the beginning of advanced training—to which they’re
traditionally welcomed with the message, “getting the beret isn’t nearly so hard as
keeping it.”
The basic SAS unit is four men. Within the Regiment, troops are divid-
ed into four main areas of specialization:
• mountaineering: including rock and ice climbing
• amphibious assault: including SCUBA, submarine operations, underwater
demolition, etc.
• surface mobility: including assault vehicles and special Land Rovers remi-
niscent of LRDG operations
• airborne assault: including both HALO (High Altitude, Low Opening) and
HAHO (High Altitude, High Opening) parachuting as well as more typical
“parachute regiment” low-altitude jumping.
Within a four-man group, there are also four basic areas of specialization in
addition to troop specialization: leader, scout, medic, and signaler. Although
SAS now uses some of the most sophisticated satellite radios and encryption
equipment, they remain unique (at least in the Royal Army) in that they still remain
proficient in Morse Code as well, with the basic requirement for signaler at least
eight words per minute. (In some cases, old-fashioned Morse is still the best way
to communicate over long distances with low-powered, and hence difficult to
detect, radios—and in this era of “video game war,” the likelihood that the oppo-
sition has anyone who can understand Morse Code is smaller all the time!)
5
INTRODUCTION TO THE SAS