bobdina
09-09-2009, 08:44 PM
Britain’s special forces are viewed as such a unique asset to the Nato military mission in Afghanistan that they do not come under the command of the British Task Force commander in Helmand province but are deployed country-wide wherever they are needed.
The Special Boat Service (SBS), which was joined by two squadrons of SAS earlier this year after they completed their mission in Iraq, now makes up a formidable force. Members of both units were used in the rescue of Stephen Farrell, although it was described as an SBS operation.
The SBS, whose badge is pictured right, and which is based at Poole in Dorset, and the SAS, in Hereford, are much more of a joined-up organisation than they ever used to be.
For about five years, the selection course for both the SAS and the SBS has been the same.
They train together in the harshest of conditions on the Brecon Beacons in South Wales and hone their hostage-rescue skills in the so-called “killing house” at Hereford.
This is where they have to distinguish between hostage-taker and hostage before opening fire with live rounds.
Such skills were deployed to maximum effect in the rescue of the British reporter in a gunfight in which thousands of rounds were fired by both sides.
The special forces capabilities have expanded significantly because of a decision taken in 2004 that saw the conversion of the 1st Battalion The Parachute Regiment into the Special Forces Support Group, to add firepower and muscle to the SAS and SBS, and to switch the Special Reconnaissance Regiment from intelligence-gathering roles in Northern Ireland to a worldwide asset.
This highly covert unit would have provided some of the intelligence about the whereabouts of the kidnapped reporter, picking up radio communications by the Taleban and monitoring their movements from concealed observation posts.
There are several hundred British special forces personnel in Afghanistan but five have been killed this year. Three died in one incident when their armoured vehicle was blown up. They are given their missions through the top Nato command in Kabul, under General Stanley McChrystal.
They remain under UK jurisdiction through the Director Special Forces, a major-general who has served in senior command posts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/Afghanistan/article6828248.ece
The Special Boat Service (SBS), which was joined by two squadrons of SAS earlier this year after they completed their mission in Iraq, now makes up a formidable force. Members of both units were used in the rescue of Stephen Farrell, although it was described as an SBS operation.
The SBS, whose badge is pictured right, and which is based at Poole in Dorset, and the SAS, in Hereford, are much more of a joined-up organisation than they ever used to be.
For about five years, the selection course for both the SAS and the SBS has been the same.
They train together in the harshest of conditions on the Brecon Beacons in South Wales and hone their hostage-rescue skills in the so-called “killing house” at Hereford.
This is where they have to distinguish between hostage-taker and hostage before opening fire with live rounds.
Such skills were deployed to maximum effect in the rescue of the British reporter in a gunfight in which thousands of rounds were fired by both sides.
The special forces capabilities have expanded significantly because of a decision taken in 2004 that saw the conversion of the 1st Battalion The Parachute Regiment into the Special Forces Support Group, to add firepower and muscle to the SAS and SBS, and to switch the Special Reconnaissance Regiment from intelligence-gathering roles in Northern Ireland to a worldwide asset.
This highly covert unit would have provided some of the intelligence about the whereabouts of the kidnapped reporter, picking up radio communications by the Taleban and monitoring their movements from concealed observation posts.
There are several hundred British special forces personnel in Afghanistan but five have been killed this year. Three died in one incident when their armoured vehicle was blown up. They are given their missions through the top Nato command in Kabul, under General Stanley McChrystal.
They remain under UK jurisdiction through the Director Special Forces, a major-general who has served in senior command posts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/Afghanistan/article6828248.ece