The Amazing SAS: the inside story of Australia's special forces

Here is some extracts from 'The Amazing SAS: the inside story of Australia's special forces' by Ian McPhedran. It is an outstanding book that details the men and the events of the Aussie SAS in the War on Terror and Iraq.

The blue uniforms stood out in stark contrast to the khaki summer kit worn by the diggers. On the parade ground on a crisp June day at SAS headquarters at Swanbourne near Perth, the flamboyant US Air Force (USAF) dress rig brought a touch of Uncle Sam to a very Australian parade.

The 1 SAS Squadron was on parade before the Governor General and the Prime Minister; they were to be presented with the military's highest group honour, the Unit Citation for Gallantry, for their daring deeds during the Iraq war.

Australia's top soldiers don't much like parades or the drill practice they entail. But in accordance with the SAS ethos of striving for excellence in all things, they marched in perfect unison before national leaders, military top brass, family, friends and quite a few 'old and bold' ex-SAS soldiers.

Four American airmen also marched that day as members of 1 SAS Squadron and as honorary Aussies, their mateship forged forever on the battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq.

A key part of the Iraq operation was calling in US air strikes against the enemy and preventing air strikes against friendly forces. In first two weeks of the war, SAS patrols directed more than 46 000 kilograms of high explosives onto hostile targets in western Iraq. Most of those strikes were physically called in by a liaison officer from the USAF's Special Tactics Squadron (STS) who was attached to an SAS troop...

The SAS enjoys very close links with US special forces units, including the STS, thanks not only to operational experience in places like Afghanistan and Iraq, but also to extensive exchange programs. Squadron Commander Major Paul was embedded with a US task force during Afghanistan, and his boss, SAS commander Lieutenant Colonel Rick, had recently commanded the task force in Afghanistan and also spent two years at the US Marine Corps Command and Staff College in Quantico, Virginia. The experiences gave the two men a great understanding of the American way of thinking and working.

Two of the four Americans who worked with the squadron in Iraq had already been with the regiment in Afghanistan. Working with the Australians was regarded as a plum job amongst the Americans and there was always strong competition for slots with the SAS.

The Australians regarded the STS boys as a great force multiplier and a sound insurance policy against friendly fire incidents. As Rick explains: 'They gave me and, I know, all the guys on the ground, as well as the Americans and the pilots, a lot more confidence that they could support us and prevent any sort of casualties occurring. They spoke the language, literally, and that's their job.'

The Americans were as keen as mustard to work with the Aussies and, says Paul, were accordingly very enthusiastic. 'They were pretty much self-motivated, self-controlled sort of guys, and their skills with communications systems were fantastic, and they augmented our communications architecture as well, because they had different links to what we had.

'Eric would go off to the side and send a sitrep back to his chain of command, so we had some dual chains going on there as well, and in preparing for deliberate action onto a target, I'd say, “Eric, this is what I want to do”, show him on a map; he'd deal with the target reports, deal with the detailed planning for how many bombs would be required in support of this operation; he'd make sure the aircraft was going to be on station and would have the correct overlap for refuel and all that sort of stuff. At no time did I have to worry about it – I'd identify a target on a map or I'd physically point to it and say “Neutralise that, mate, so I can manoeuver our ground forces”, and he did it, just like that. Sensational.'

'Eric' was Technical Sergeant Eric from the Special Operations Air Force Command, one of 350 men in the USAF who are part of US special forces...

Eric's comrades Technical Sergeant Ian and Staff Sergeant Clint also worked with 2 SAS Squadron in Afghanistan. Ian first met the SAS in Kuwait in 1998 during Operation Desert Thunder, when several STS operators were attached to Australian and Kiwi SAS patrols.

'I was very impressed with them, [they were] very professional,' says Ian. 'We had seen some of the things they were doing – if we got into a firefight then they were the ones we wanted coming to help us out.'

...'Some of our guys had worked with the squadrons previously in the war, so we'd talked to some of them and heard the stories, that they did a lot of good work, like in Anaconda [in Afghanistan]. So when they asked for volunteers to go work with them, we couldn't have volunteered fast enough. There was a little bit of wrestling and fighting to see who got to go.'

Clint says that the good thing about working with the SAS guys was the fact that the Americans were welcomed as soon as they arrived. 'They just welcome you right in, and the next thing you know, they're hounding you just like anyone else, giving you sh*t. Constantly, but it's cool.'

...One of the biggest early barriers for the Americans working with the diggers was coming to grips with the bad language and slang terms used by the Aussies.

'In the US military we get a little bit colorful as well,' Ian admits. 'But there's a few words that I picked up from the boys that I get in trouble with at home with the ladies – they don't like a certain word. Every once in a while when something isn't going my way, I say, “Come on, you f***ing c***” and if there's women around, it's not pretty. “What did you say?” “I said I'd like to do hunting!”

When Clint and Ian went out for their first night duty, they were told that they had picquet duty from such and such a time. Their response” 'Picquet? What the f*** is that – picquet?'

Another alien word was 'brew', the diggers' slang term for a cup of tea or coffee. Australian soldiers brew up at every opportunity, but the Americans thought they were talking about booze.

As Ian recalls” 'When I went to meet the commander the first time he said. “Hey, let's go back here one minute and have a brew.” I'm thinking of beer. “Sweet! I'm hardly here one minute and I'm already drinking!” And he was like, “Coffee?” and I'm [thinking], “Where's the brew?”

Then there was 'having a feed'. The Americans thought they were talking about cattle. Not to mention 'Back to the rear' or 'Throw your thongs on!'

...Another reason why the Americans were so fond of working with the Aussies was the regimental culture of sharing. The strict SAS creed was to share the load. So if one man had 50 kilograms of gear and another had 100, they split it and carried 75 kilograms each. The Americans were used to lugging around up tp 100 kilograms, most of which was radio gear, so the sharing concept was a real blessing.

As Ian describes it, Any time we dismounted with these guys, all packs got weighed – they're all with in a pound or two of each other. Some Coalition teams I've worked with, I'm carrying 180 pounds, they're carrying 80 pounds. Try and get them to carry some of it and they say, “It's yours”.'

...The bottom line for the STS operators was their total confidence in the ability of the SAS soldiers. They knew that if things turned ugly, the Aussies would fight to save them.

'We do work with a lot of other coalitions,' says Ian, 'and some of them are really good at what they do, and some of them are not so good at what they do. I was talking to one of the [SAS] guys after Iraq and told him [about] some of the coalitions we've worked with and some of the scary things they do and this and that, and one of the guys said, “You can have that job! I wouldn't want to go out and work these guys.” Because you don't know, if you get into something, if they're going to fight to save you. Whereas when we worked with the SAS guys, you knew that these guys would save me just like I'd fight to save them. That made a lot of difference.'

The three STS men were also deeply honoured to be included in the Unit Citation for Gallantry. It was the first time American personnel had been accorded such an honour. They will only be allowed to wear the ribbon at certain functions, but the honour will stay with them always.

'I was really kinda taken by surprise when I heard that they were going to include us,' says Ian, and really honoured, actually, to be recognised. Just how big a deal it is, and being the first Yanks to ever be awarded anything from the Australian military, and this award, being the first time it's ever been awarded – it's just really big for us.'

A letter from Brigadier General James Mattis, USMC – Commander Task Force 58 in southern Afghanistan, to Major General Duncan Lewis – Commander Australian Special Operations Command.

Dear Duncan,

As the Commander Task Force 58 it was my pleasure to serve alongside the Australian Special Air Service contingent during active operations in southern Afghanistan from November 2001 through Feb 2002.

At this time I desire to acknowledge the high qualities of leadership, devotion to duty and aggressiveness displayed by the men of the SAS. Uncritical in their acceptance of missions, the sun has seldom shone on soldiers as competent and confident.

I am familiar with the standards set by the fighting men of Australia. No Marine can fail to be impressed by your force's combat achievements from Gallipoli to North Africa and beyond. The performance of Lieutenant Colonel Gus Gilmore and these super fighters continues that tradition. The conduct of your officers and men has earnt them the full admiration of the Sailors and Marines of Task Force 58.

Please pass to them my personal respect and appreciation for a job well done.

We Marines would happily storm Hell itself with your troops on our right flank.

Semper Fi,
James N Mattis, Brigadier General, US Marine Corps

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