Our SAS elite (Who Dares Wins: The Australian Special Air Service Regiment)

The Australian ^ | 22nd September 2007 | Mark Dodd

[naturalman1975]

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.

[naturalman1975]

[jamaksin]

Special Air Service ...

[Chode]

the Final Option.

[mcshot]

I salute these awesome warriors and allies.