Post by SAS P&P Admin on Oct 18, 2005 9:59:33 GMT -5
Source: www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=155593&in_page_id=1770
The number of SAS soldiers is to quadruple from 500 to 2,000 over the next five years in a massive escalation of the war on terror.
With Britain playing a key role in the efforts to hunt down Al Qaeda terrorists, Special Forces are already stretched to the limit.
But there were fears in the SAS last night that the rigorous entry requirements will be watered down to ensure there are enough recruits.
Men from the Special Air Service are currently on operations in the Middle East, Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Afghanistan and Macedonia plus a number of other secret locations around the world.
More than 200 troops were due to arrive in the Gulf this weekend to spearhead a 1,000-strong multi-national task group of Special Forces soldiers preparing to go deep inside Iraq and hunt down Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction.
Along with the Special Boat Service and members of the Army's 14 Intelligence Corps, the SAS is also working closely with the security services on domestic anti-terrorist operations.
However, such is the manpower shortage in the SAS - motto, Who Dares Wins - that elements of the Territorial Army are also being utilised. Under the command of the SAS, the TA soldiers would carry out a home defence role by guarding key installations.
Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon hinted briefly in the Commons last October at the enlargement of 'selected Forces'.
But it is only now that senior military sources have revealed the SAS is unable to cope with its widening role because of a manpower crisis.
Military insiders say the plan to expand the SAS is part of a 20-year strategy to fight what experts believe will be a long and uncompromising war against terrorists.
A source said: 'We simply haven't got enough Special Forces personnel.'
In order to cut costs, the Director of the Special Forces wants to train SAS and 14 Intelligence Corps hopefuls alongside each other, with the best getting into the SAS.
But an SAS insider said: 'Only four or five guys out of 180 on each course are good enough to pass the tough physical and mental tests for the SAS.
'Up to 60 per cent of the men who do the 14 Intel course have already failed SAS selection. So now they're being given another chance and the danger is the course will be diluted to let some more in.'
Meanwhile, the role of the SAS in preparations for a new war against Saddam emerged last night. The men, from A Squadron, 22 SAS, will link up with Special Forces troops from the US, France and Australia to pinpoint and blow up hidden Iraqi Scud missile sites near the borders with Jordan and Syria.
The number of SAS soldiers is to quadruple from 500 to 2,000 over the next five years in a massive escalation of the war on terror.
With Britain playing a key role in the efforts to hunt down Al Qaeda terrorists, Special Forces are already stretched to the limit.
But there were fears in the SAS last night that the rigorous entry requirements will be watered down to ensure there are enough recruits.
Men from the Special Air Service are currently on operations in the Middle East, Northern Ireland, Bosnia, Afghanistan and Macedonia plus a number of other secret locations around the world.
More than 200 troops were due to arrive in the Gulf this weekend to spearhead a 1,000-strong multi-national task group of Special Forces soldiers preparing to go deep inside Iraq and hunt down Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction.
Along with the Special Boat Service and members of the Army's 14 Intelligence Corps, the SAS is also working closely with the security services on domestic anti-terrorist operations.
However, such is the manpower shortage in the SAS - motto, Who Dares Wins - that elements of the Territorial Army are also being utilised. Under the command of the SAS, the TA soldiers would carry out a home defence role by guarding key installations.
Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon hinted briefly in the Commons last October at the enlargement of 'selected Forces'.
But it is only now that senior military sources have revealed the SAS is unable to cope with its widening role because of a manpower crisis.
Military insiders say the plan to expand the SAS is part of a 20-year strategy to fight what experts believe will be a long and uncompromising war against terrorists.
A source said: 'We simply haven't got enough Special Forces personnel.'
In order to cut costs, the Director of the Special Forces wants to train SAS and 14 Intelligence Corps hopefuls alongside each other, with the best getting into the SAS.
But an SAS insider said: 'Only four or five guys out of 180 on each course are good enough to pass the tough physical and mental tests for the SAS.
'Up to 60 per cent of the men who do the 14 Intel course have already failed SAS selection. So now they're being given another chance and the danger is the course will be diluted to let some more in.'
Meanwhile, the role of the SAS in preparations for a new war against Saddam emerged last night. The men, from A Squadron, 22 SAS, will link up with Special Forces troops from the US, France and Australia to pinpoint and blow up hidden Iraqi Scud missile sites near the borders with Jordan and Syria.