The S.A.S or Special Air Service is the United Kingdoms elite fighting force. Unlike some other special forces no one ever knows who is a soldier in the SAS. There has always been a veil of secrecy over the S.A.S since the regiment was born in 1941. Until the siege of the Iranian embassy in 1980 very few people even know who these elite soldiers were. The only reason they became so famous was due to the speed and skill in which the SAS (nicknamed the regiment) stormed the Iranian embassy saving everyone inside. All we currently know is that Special Air Service is based in Hereford and to become a art of the regiment you have to pass selection. Currently soldiers can put themselves forward for selection, and if they fail selection on two separate occasions they may not apply again. Selection is a long process that takes months to complete and pushes the boundaries of the physical and mental strengths of all who apply. The first few months include grueling marches, known as tabs in the English army, they can be up to 8 or 9 hours long and include carrying a full kit that is up to the weight of a man. One of the notorious tabs is across the Pen Y Fan mountain in the Brecon Beacons where the soldier has to tab across the mountain and back in full kit within a specified time. Not only is this tab about 26 miles in length but it can also be in treacherous conditions. Due to the horseshoe shape of the mountain with an almost vertical slope down one side and powerful winds there have been occasions where soldiers have been thrown to their deaths by the wind. Very few ever make it into the regiment, and the ones that do wont admit they are in the S.A.S. The Special Air Service motto is who dares wins. To win the opportunity of being in this elite force you must really DARE to push yourself to the limit. |
Home
