Australian SAS Elite

Our SAS elite

Mark Dodd September 22, 2007

WHAT makes the Special Air Service elite may not be what you expect, reports Mark Dodd.

While the memory of his Vietnam homecoming is unlikely to fade, this week -- the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Australian SAS -- the commander of the Australian Defence Force's Special Operations Command, Major General Mike Hindmarsh, pays Barnby and his fellow Vietnam SAS veterans the ultimate tribute: they were the best in the world.

"The SAS Regiment, in an incredibly difficult operating environment in Indochina, quickly stamped itself as probably the finest exponents of clandestine reconnaissance and harassment in the world at that time and perhaps since," Hindmarsh tells Inquirer.

"It's record of losing only one soldier to enemy fire in six years of highly effective counter-insurgency operations endures today as a phenomenal record and testament to the skills and professionalism of the soldiers and officers. I remain in awe of their achievements."

The origins of the Australian SAS date from 1957, with the raising of two army companies whose role remains virtually unchanged to this day, a parachute-capable force specialising in reconnaissance, surveillance and harassment deep in enemy territory.

The unit's humble beginnings derived from a need to replicate the British army's success with a special air service formed in 1941, during World War II, an all-volunteer outfit conducting deep penetration raids behind enemy lines in North Africa and whose the motto was: Who Dares Wins.

Indeed, the first SAS instructors in Australia were mostly hardened veterans of World War II and the Korean War, many of whom had served with British airborne and special forces units.

"It is a tribute to the original guys with whom we stand in awe that they set the standards, trained very, very hard and developed our capability," says regiment historian Greg Mawkes, who joined the SAS as an 18-year-old private after passing selection in 1966 and retired as a major in 1987. He continues to serve in the special forces reserve.

"What we are today, we can trace back to those early warriors."

It was not until 1964 that the Australian SAS, sometimes referred to as the SASR, evolved into a fully fledged regiment and the famed sandy beret with winged dagger was introduced.

Post-Vietnam, the regiment fell into relative obscurity and only began to regain a public profile in the 1980s with the introduction of a counter-terrorism role, spurred in part by the 1978 Hilton Hotel bombing in Sydney and the spate of Middle East-linked plane hijackings.

But the lessons learned at such cost in Vietnam and before that in Borneo endure today. Selection standards for the regiment, the Australian Defence Force's most elite fighting formation, remain the most demanding of any army entry. It is not unheard of for an entire draft of potential recruits to fail.

While entry demands require a superb level of physical fitness, mental toughness is tested equally. "The characteristics of the SAS soldier remain unchanged: emotional and physical resilience, mental toughness," Hindmarsh says. "An Olympic athlete may not necessarily have the mental toughness or be able to handle the emotional pain."

Sheer physical size and fitness by themselves are no guarantee of success at selection. More often than not, it is the scrawny guy and not the hulking rugby forward type who passes.

One example of a mental toughness test provided to Inquirer by regiment officers is the offer of a truck ride at the end of several forced marches, including night navigation trials.

An exhausted recruit will gratefully struggle on to the back of a truck, only to be ordered to walk back to the original destination, which could be 20km to 30km away.

This is a test of mental pain. Some recruits throw it in and refuse to go on. Others spit in their hands, accept the order and begin what they think is going to be another gruelling march, only to find the truck parked around the corner with the real offer of a lift back to base.

"We are testing personal integrity," says an officer with the Special Operations Command (SOCOM). The facts speak for themselves, although the nicknames of individual course tests convey little of the physical and mental pain they contain, names such as "lucky dip", "happy wanderer" and "lone warrior".

The SAS is reluctant to speak about specific numbers but confirms that of the "several thousand" aspirants for the sandy beret since 1968, about 25 per cent passed the three-week selection, now conducted at Bindoon in Western Australia. "You may get 100 guys turn up. You cannot pick who will get through. It is not (typically) the big strapping guy and can be the little weedy guy. It's a real lottery," says the SOCOM official.

The size of the SAS is classified but comprises hundreds, not thousands, formed into three Sabre squadrons similar in size to a regular infantry company of about 120 troops.
Since its inception, 4250 sandy berets have been awarded.

"The recruitment and management of high-quality personnel is imperative to SASR's continued success. SASR strives for quality, not quantity, and they will never drop their standards," Hindmarsh says.

Since September 11, 2001, the focus of the regiment has turned more towards a counter-insurgency role and demands for its unique services have never been higher since Vietnam, he says.

"The interesting thing is in 2003 we were still the Davids taking on the Goliaths when we went into the western desert against Iraqi main force units. Now our main focus is against insurgents. And because of 9/11 you have seen that happen, we're more in counter-insurgency mode now."

But SAS operators, as they like to be called, have also been active closer to home. Only last year they were deployed ahead of the main Australian-led force ordered into East Timor to restore order and put an end to weeks of bloody street violence.

And they were put on notice again for a possible intervention in Fiji following last year's military coup.

"So we have to be able as we can to maintain our capability and we have to be very careful to ensure we are not over-committed in Afghanistan and the Middle East to ensure we can fulfil all our roles that can pop up regionally," Hindmarsh says.

This week the SAS celebrated the 50th anniversary of its founding with an awards and medal ceremony led by Governor-General Michael Jeffery, a former regiment commander.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/