“Who dares, wins”. This is the motto that is representative of the best of the best of Britain’s Royal Army. They are known as the Special Air Service, or more commonly, as the SAS. Although the SAS began only with small missions in Northern Africa during the 1940’s, they now carry on numerous operations throughout the world today. The unit has seen action in such areas as Borneo, Bosnia, Iraq, North Ireland, and also in their home territory of Great Britain. Today, the British Special Air Service is an elite force of highly trained and highly specialized soldiers that carry out a variety of operations throughout the world, specializing in every form of combat and carry out operations that range from jungle reconnaissance to counter-terrorism, all of which have gained the unit international recognition.

The idea for the Special Air Service was first introduced by David Stirling in 1941 during World War II. Instead of using a conventional assault group of forty or fifty men (which was common during this period), Stirling devised the idea that a smaller group of only four or five men would be more effective against the German defenses (Special Forces of the

In recent years, the Special Air Service has been celebrated as an expert counter-terrorism team. This was due to the immense media coverage that it received and the recognition it was given from Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher after its famous storming of the Iranian Embassy in England in 1980. During the siege, five of the six terrorists were killed in less than twenty minutes (Newsinger). The last terrorist was discovered hiding amid the hostages outside the embassy, feigning as a captive himself. This assault showed the world that the SAS was still a force to be reckoned with, and that the regiment could fight in any combat situation called for. Counter-terrorism (CT) operations are extremely well-prepared for however, since the SAS team that is assigned CT duty spends months after months polishing their skills in what is known as the “Kill House”. Here, they conduct simulations of real-life hostage scenarios under the most stressful conditions (British Special Air Service). They will almost always use live ammunition and they will often use live hostages to place even more stress and intensity on the members. This is done to add as much realism as possible, and to teach each member that every threat is real threat when the lives of hostages are at stake. Often, the live hostages are their instructors, but even Prince Charles and Princess Dianna have served these roles upon visiting this SAS training center.

Worlds Most Elite...The Special Air Service. 4 Mar. 2002 .

In recent months, the Special Air Service has been involved in Afghanistan in the search of Taliban and Al-Qaeda members, including the recently famed Osama bin Laden. Very little is known about their objectives, and there is much speculation surrounding their exact assignment. It is believed that they are primarily conducting reconnaissance missions, but it is known that they have attacked several Taliban strongholds. Several members of the SAS have also been sent in with the Green Berets and Delta Force (both of which are United States special operations units) to conduct covert activities. Despite publication of British tabloids, it is known that the SAS have not captured Osama bin Laden, and most publication of the Special Air Service’s action in Afghanistan is simply for media sales (Whelan).

Britain’s Special Air Service (SAS) Regiment. 4 Mar. 2002 .

David Stirling’s theory of a small man unit was proven correct. This was demonstrated through the first SAS mission. However, it was not accomplished in a fashion that was beneficial to the regiment. The reason for this being that of the sixty-six soldiers that were sent to battle, only a third of them returned. This further proved that a larger unit only made a larger target. This taught a great deal to the founders of the group, and the planning for the next mission was made with more caution.

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