United Kingdom Special Forces

The United Kingdom Special Forces, or UKSF, is a directorate of the United Kingdom Ministry of Defence which covers all special forces units within the British Armed Forces. It consists of the Special Air Service and the Special Reconnaissance Regiment (both parts of the British Army) as well as the Special Boat Service, which is predominantly manned by Royal Marines.

Special Air Service[edit]

The Special Air Service (SAS) was the original special forces group in modern military thinking. They were formed in the Western Desert of North Africa during WW2 by Colonel David Stirling - a Scots Guards officer. Stirling believed that a raiding group could operate successfully behind enemy lines and greatly disrupt enemy forces. The initial missions were unsuccessful due to extreme weather events and location errors, however, when the SAS joined with the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) the mission success rate improved significantly. Following the British victory in North Africa, the SAS were re-deployed in Europe where they harassed and sabotaged the German and Italian war effort until the end of the war.

Following the end of the war, the SAS was disbanded. The decreasing security situation in Malaysia and Indonesia, Yemen, Oman and other locations around the world forced the UK military to reform the SAS. They quickly became integral to preventing the march of communism in various parts of the world.

The SAS really came to public view in the 1980 Princes Gate Embassy siege in London. The Iranian Embassy was taken over by a group of "freedom fighters" and over 20 hostages were taken. After several days of negotiations and the eventual murder of an Embassy staff member, the SAS were deployed to liberate the embassy (Operation Nimrod). They successfully assaulted the building, neutralized the threat from terrorists and released the hostages. Though the site was cordoned off the whole raid was filmed and ran live on UK television. The fantasy career of many British school boys was created at that moment!

The SAS has fought in many locations since then including the; Falklands Campaign, South American drug wars, African Bush wars, the Cold War, Iraq 1 and 2, Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Somali, Yemen and various other exotic and secret locations.

The selection process to join the SAS is regarded as one of the most challenging training regimes a soldier can take. The majority of SAS troopers come from the Parachute Regiment (similar to the US Rangers) which demonstrates, given there is only a 10–15% pass rate during selection, the severity of selection. The early stages include a "Hill Phase" which includes several days of relentless individual hill and navigation exercises over increasingly long distances, in strict time limits whilst carrying increasing weight.

The SAS was the model used during the development of Australian SAS, NZ SAS, Delta Force, The Green Berets, Israeli Special Forces and many other groups worldwide.

Special Boat Service[edit]

The Special Boat Service (SBS) is similar to the SAS but operates predominantly in the marine environment. Not much is known about the SBS apart from they are drawn predominantly from the ranks of the Royal Marine Commandos, widely considered the most elite marine regiment in the world. As with the SAS, the selection process is grueling and has a high drop out rate.

The SBS was also formed in WW2 and have fought in many wars including Afghanistan (Tora Bora, Mazar-e-Sharif), Iraq and many others. They have a similar mission role to the US Navy Seals and cross training regularly occurs. The SBS is generally considered the elite of all special forces.

Special Forces Recon Group[edit]

The Special Forces Recon Group (SFRG) is similar to the American SAD units. It was first formed as "The DET" in the mid-1970's to counter Irish Terror. It drew its members from a wide variety of backgrounds to bring an eclectic range of skills that could be used for close observation and covert action. Not much is currently known about the current force or activities.

British special forces are amongst the most experienced and highly trained troops in the world. Many countries have copied the training methods and formation structures of the SAS: very few have reached the level of expertise the SAS have achieved.