UK Special Forces breakdown: The Special Forces Support Group (SFSG)

Note: This is part four of a multi-part series exploring the various units within the U.K. Special Forces (UKSF). The Special Forces Support Group (SFSG) is a fairly new special forces unit. Officially formed on 3 April 2006, the SFSG is based on a core segment of the soldiers from the 1st Battalion Parachute Regiment […]

UK Special Forces breakdown: The Special Reconnaissance Regiment (SRR)

Note: This is part two of a multi-part series exploring the various units within the U.K. Special Forces (UKSF). The United Kingdom’s prolonged involvement in the Global War on Terror (GWOT) has created the demand for an increase in the country’s number of special forces operators. From that need emerged the United Kingdom’s newest special […]

Legendary SAS operator passes away

A legendary Special Air Service (SAS) operator and assault team leader during the famous Iranian Embassy hostage rescue has passed away. Command Sergeant Major Tom MacDonald died at the age of 71 in New Zealand where he had retired to. The SAS operator had a long and illustrious career in the British Army. He first […]

UK Special Forces breakdown: 18 (UKSF) Signals Regiment

This is the first part of a multi-part series exploring the various units within the U.K. Special Forces (UKSF). The Special Air Service (SAS) is widely recognized the world over and is often erroneously considered the only special operations unit Britain has. This couldn’t be further from the truth. In this series, we’ll cover the […]

SAS Old School: The Oman mission that saved the Special Air Service

“The Special Air Service is superfluous. It doesn’t belong to our Cold War army.” This was your conventional post-war British military thinking. Following the defeat of Nazi Germany, the “anomaly” of the SAS had been corrected and the Regiment disbanded. It took a communist insurgency in Malaya (1950-1960) to resurrect it. But its position still […]

SAS operators rescue British orphans from ISIS in Syria

A Special Air Service (SAS) team rescued three orphans born to parents fighting for the Islamic State (ISIS). The parents of the three children had been killed during a Coalition airstrike earlier this year. The rescue operation took place sometime during the last two months. The SAS element was accompanied by a few Foreign Office […]

The Pic of the Day: British Paras in Afghanistan

British Army soldiers with the 1st Battalion, The Parachute Regiment, wait inside the belly of a Marine Heavy Helicopter Squadron CH-53D Sea Stallion prior to takeoff during a troop extraction mission in support of operations, in southwestern Afghanistan, April 27. Coalition troops traveled to the Helmand River valley to interact with the local populace and […]

SAS operator who singlehandedly stopped terrorist attack recognized

The Special Air Service (SAS) operator who responded to and stopped a terrorist attack in Nairobi, Kenya, in January will receive the Conspicuous Gallantry Cross (CGC). The CGC is Britain’s second-highest military award for valor in combat and second only to the Victoria Cross. On January 16, four terrorists associated with the al-Shabaab terrorist group […]

Royal Marines going back to their Special Operations roots

The British Royal Marines Commandos are bracing for significant changes that will take them back to their Special Operations roots. The British Ministry of Defence (MoD) is considering the restructuring of the Royal Marines under the Future Commando Force concept. Improvements include upgrades to their individual weapons, personal loadout, and uniforms. More importantly, however, the […]

This isn’t the SAS: Britain’s most secretive SOF unit in Northern Ireland

Editor’s note: This is the fourth part of a series. Captured by the IRA or a blown cover. These were the ultimate sins. In case an operator was compromised, he would either be sent to a different Detachment and location or to the conventional army. So, the three-week Induction Phase, when fresh operators were paired […]