Originally posted by ADVISOR

Originally posted by mad scientist[/i

Advisor, in a remote part of Afghanistan an Aussie SAS trooper was killed by a landmine when his Landrover ran over it. The US parachuted in 3 medics and 2(?) combat surgeons to try and save him. Is this PARARESCUE ?

More than likely, I know of no other units trained to do so.

They have my upmost respect and admiration. It's good to know you can count on close friends in the most dire of circumsatnces.

AUSSIE SAS FOR SURE.
WHY DO YOU YANKS THINK YOU ASKED US TO ENTER THE WAR AGAINST TERROR? FOR OUR F-18? OR MAYBE OUR C-130'S?
NOP GUESS AGAIN, SAS...........

It would be interesting to see how North Korean special forces would stack. Anyone have any good intel on their training methods ?

none of the US personel are trained well enough to be the best, they might have the best equipment, but they are deffinately not the best. The SAS and the SBS are probably the best.

Top four counter-terrorist units in the world

1: British SAS (and before any right wing Yanks start bitchin' we handled the IRA for a longer period than any war they were involved in)
2: GSG9 These Germans are tough customers. cant remember where but they freed a plane load of hostages without any major gliches
3: GIGN. Some Americans may not like this but the french have fought succesfully against many terrorist groups inc. Algerian seperatists, Action Directe, etc
4: Italian 'Leatherheads'. succesfully rescued General J Dozier from the Brigatte Rossi (red brigades) and have been instrumental in the war against the Rossi

SEALS and Delta may be good but come on, its mostly (MOSTLY but not quite) their technology that gives them the edge

British S.A.S. Undoubtedly, and i can personally vouch for that one.
Delta Force, Navy Seals, Mossad
...Who do you think wrote their training books?

SAS Soldiers have to spend a month on end in the scottish highlands, just surviving with only knives and a stove and a few very basic things.

Gurkha's They come from several asian countries, Bhutan, Nepal, Burma, etc and find it a great honour to fight for the british army.

I agree The British SAS are by far the best in the world the most public example of course is the Iranian embassy.

i agree with the intelligent blonde... the guy who started Delta, C Beckwith or sumfin like that, got the idea whillt serving with the SAS - the guy knew a good thing when he saw it...

Anyway, top non counter-terrorist SOF units in the world:

1: British SAS - these guys can adapt to any surroundings in mega quick time. example:'D' squadron went to the middle east (i think in the 50's or 60's) then where pulled out and sent to Borneo
2: Spetznaz. They make the Gung ho US Marines look like pacifists. once a year they hold a tournament to see who is the toughest. limbs are broken...
3: Gurkhas. in the Falklands these guys just had to turn up, and the Argies absolutly $#iT themselves and fled. Need i say more...?
4: Navy SEALS. i know what i said before but i was talking counter-terrorist, now i am not. the seals have amazing technology at their finger tips, making them a true battlefield force to contend with

My vote goes with the SAS.
I base this on the fact that although other forces may be up to their standard, they have that little edge because they have always been using their skills.

Only two Special Forces groups have been in constant action since WW2 - SAS and Israeli Special services.
The SAS just gets the vote because they are more rounded. They specialise in Urban/Counter terrorist techniques and regular warfare.

The Austrailian SAS is up there with the best but they don't have the all round skills that their UK counterparts have. In fact most of the UK's allies send their special force teams to the UK for specialised training. The SAS do go to other countries to train but it's mostly to practice skills that they have already acquired.

I'm reminded of an old report I read of an SAS guy who went to the US in the early 80s to train on the Stinger SAM.

The US instructor stands at the front of a class of Special Service troops from around the world. He is giving a lesson on one of the most advanced missile systems of it's day. He asks if anyone has ever fired a Stinger before. Expecting no answer he ignores the hand that is raised at the back. The hand stays up. The instructor finally asks the guy when he fired a Stinger. A British voice comes back - "1982". The instructor smiles, "A simulated exercise?". "No" replies the SAS trooper, "I shot down a jet with it".


Apparently this guy had been at San Carlos water in the Falkland islands. On the day of the landings he had been rummaging around the supplies left on the beach-head and had found a crate of Stingers that the UK had just received from the US. A couple of minutes later a flight of Argentinian Pucaras flew overhead on a bombing run on the task force ships. The SAS trooper picked up a Stinger and put it to his shoulder. He reckoned he didn't know how it worked so he just pressed every button he could find. It fired.
It's contestable over who felt more suprised. The SAS trooper or the Argentinian pilot who was on the receiving end.

[Edited on 29-5-2003 by Leveller]

@ Leveller
I've seen the video of it, its funny as hell.
p.s. The SAS also wrote the book on survival ..yeah they did actually...you can buy it on amazon

MS, thanks for the link!

Yes, I have the SAS survival manual, and another also done by former SAS operative Andrew Kain (The SAS Security Handbook, by Andrew Kain, 1996, Andrew Kain Enterprises, ISBN 0-434-00306-9). Both of them are excellent, and well worth hunting down.

The one thing I cannot get over however with the Security Handbook, is that it specifically DOES NOT encourage armed resistance to agression, but considering that is was written for a specifically unarmed population (UK) I guess its shouldnt be a surprise.

I wonder who else besides the SAS would have thought of using a 60% sugar solution as a replacement for antiseptic?

Originally posted by dragonrider
I wonder who else besides the SAS would have thought of using a 60% sugar solution as a replacement for antiseptic?

Its awsome how fairly fast it coagulates, also thats something to remember in case you are around one or more of those people who can't stop bleeding, sugar might just save you from a potentially messy situation!

It would seem that many people think the SAS is the best because of their high profile. This simply isn't true. Many special forces around the world undergo just as rigorous training and in some cases more so.

The Australian SAS would have to be the best multipurpose special forces unit in the world. They are capable of filling the roles of both the Brit SAS and SBS or similarly the roles of Delta and SEALS.

They have also seen almost constant combat since the 1950's, many of their missions still being secret. They are also better funded than the Brirish SAS.

All you have to do is look at their history in Vietnam a 500-1 kill ratio.

The Brit SAS maybe good but as far as being the best, this is just a fallacy. This is because it seems that every ex SAS trooper seems to write a book, telling everyone how good they are.

Delta would kick the Brit SAS's arse in close quarters battle, no doubt about it. Many SAS guys agree with this statement.

Originally posted by dragonrider
I'll step up and speculate on the Russian Spetsnaz. They are obviously combat tested in Afghanistan and Chechnya, as well as other venues.

Consider that the only time that you hear about special forces in the media is when an op gets screwed up... you hardly ever hear about Spetznaz... Granted, that may well be because Russian media is so tightly controlled, or because they make sure if an op gets screwed up, the team doesnt ever screw up again...

As far as training, Spetznaz is in a cloud of mystery. However, the Russians are not at all squeamish about putting thier special forces through the most rigorous training, to the point of combat reality, and if thier troops get killed in training, that means they wont get killed in combat and compromise an op.

The one Spetznaz deployment that I am aware of was in Lebanon: In the mid 80s, about the time that US citizens were being kidnapped by Islamic extremists in the hope that the US would pressure Israel into concessions, someone got the bright idea to try the same with Russian citizens...

Russia never once demanded the return of these people, and all demands to the Russians were ignored.

A small Spetznaz group was deployed into Lebanon... within 24 hours, several wealthy/powerful backers of the extremists began showing up dead, killed in very gruesome fashion. In a matter of days, the Russians were released in good health. After that, not a single Russian was kidnapped in Lebanon.

i got some links about the training of the Spetsnaz "Vityaz" and some other, if you want i can give it to you but its on russian..

"The Brit SAS maybe good but as far as being the best, this is just a fallacy. This is because it seems that every ex SAS trooper seems to write a book, telling everyone how good they are.

Delta would kick the Brit SAS's arse in close quarters battle, no doubt about it. Many SAS guys agree with this statement"

I think you may well be right here. The UK SAS are more of a media circus than any other. I`ve recently been of the opinion that the SBS is probably the better of the two. This has come mainly from the compliments they have received (its been awhile but I`ll look for the links).

Given the now quite open nature of the SAS I would not be surprised if the Army had shifted the emphasis away from them to another force.

And much though I enjoyed reading various books by the SAS guys I think it pretty disgusting that they do so.

Shame on them.


[Edited on 4-6-2003 by cassini]

I'd vote SAS as well...

...though when people mention SAS they tend to think British or Australian...when one of the most potent SAS Forces is in fact New Zealand SAS...extremely respected within other countries SAS branches...

Steven Spielberg has the BEST special forces. Noone, no country can top what he's got! Sorry to break it to ya

But if you were asking in a haha way, then I'd have to say that Russia has them..yep they sure do..
Mags

Originally posted by magestica
Steven Spielberg has the BEST special forces. Noone, no country can top what he's got! Sorry to break it to ya

But if you were asking in a haha way, then I'd have to say that Russia has them..yep they sure do..
Mags

Spielberg??

What does he do?? Send in a wave of rampant ETs...all storming towards the enemy waving their little glowing fingers instructing them to all "phone home"???