Most SASR soldiers would not say how hard it was or how good they are. It is against their culture to highlight these things publicly. The Australian public generally only find out about their accomplishments from other countries. If you met one, they have a quiet confidence, and they know how well they compare to other tier 1 outfits. WRT selection, it has the lowest pass rate of any Tier 1 course that I am aware of. Intakes can vary from 5 to 17 successful candidates out of thousands of applicants. 17 was a record 25 years ago. Things may have changed in the last 10 years, but I doubt it.

brutal. and as they say once you get your sandy beret, its harder to keep than it was to earn. ultimate respect for sas. these guys are true warriors. your head needs to be stronger than your body.

Love your coverage and interest in Australia. 🇦🇺

I did the 1/86 cadre course. It's not easy. But you can find some enjoyment in it. We'll I did. I did the 20 km forced march in 3hrs and 2 minutes.

good to see some positive coverage of the regiment. its been far between of recent.

World's longest job interview. 2 years to get in and you can be cut at any time. That video made it sound so much easier than it is. If you want to get a better insight and have the time, watch the series, "SAS the search for warriors"

I would recommend the Life on the Line podcast that has interviews with a lot of ex SASR veterans who often speak about their selection experiences. One guy spoke about pulling off his sock and all the skin from the bottom of his foot coming off with it! Obviously he went on to pass but gives an indication of the level of suffering these guys can tolerate. Unbelievable really.

I’m exhausted thinking about it 😵‍💫

When I was younger I really wanted to be either commando or sasr/navy clearance divers. But when I did my JOES day in Perth which is an assessment day prior to enlistment. I got assessed highly into fighter pilot or submarines based on my tests. I ended up getting into submarines and warfare naval warfar officer instructor. In submarines people have now idea on the scope of intel gathering that our sub group undertakes with the multiple decade outlooks to defend Australia's potential interests for the long term. People have no idea why nations are willing to spend over a billion per vessel.

There's a tv show that followed a intake of soldiers a few years ago. Called SAS search for warriors. Get to see it all. Brutal stuff.

The defining characteristic of SASR is that they are trained for long term ops and recon. Seals get in, complete an objective and exfil. SASR remain in the field for weeks, gathering Intel, spotting for coordination of other resources, complete their objective and then exfil. They are hardcore survivalists.

My uncle was 25 years in the ADF and 12 years in the SASR. Never talked about it but his mind was a sharp as a tack and he was one tough guy you wouldn't mess with. Yes he had problems and drank them away but never a stronger minded person have I met yet. He died of cancer from agent orange and never whinged or moaned about the pain. On his last few days in hospital they wheeled him up to the roof and gave him a packet of cigarettes and a six pack and we sat around and joked with him. The last thing he said to us was see you on the other side.

Theres 2 things watching the Aus special forces selection documentary was when they had to run 20km in 3 hours with all their gear (i think it was total 20kg) And a 150km hike in 5 days with 30-40kgs of gear Thats just insane, on top of that all the training they did prior to that Hard as nails man

There is a documentary on the australian sas preselection course amd most dont even pass that,Then once you get through that there is a selection course after that if you are selected comes the training ,each stage harder than the one before.

I knew of a lot of guys that did the SASR cadre course, not many of them got through.

my best mate made selection for 2comm in sydney but snapped his knee during training off a helicopter, was pretty gruesome

the SAS was started by a British army officer called David Sterling

I was in the Australian navy, I was unfit when I joined and it destroyed any thoughts of me being able to do SF work. I was fit by the time I deployed and got even fitter during the course of it but I still wouldn’t have considered myself capable of performing that kinda work I deployed with a clearance diver (navy SF that can apply for SAS selection) and he was a unit, I’d work out at the same time for equally as long and he just performed like an animal while I just kept myself together. He wasn’t close to SAS level I had civilian mates that talked about getting into that branch and I would laugh openly at them, it’s not only the physical strain it the parallel mental pressure they apply You have to live perfection, you have to be a special type of psycho, but total respect to the lads that do that work, they kill it

This is a bit of a mash up. Generally, soldiers are expected to serve at least 2 to 3 years to attend SASR selection. The pipeline he mentions here is direct entry to 2cdo. The British SAS go through brecon beacons. The last march is 64 kilometres over 20 hours.

Brains and brawn and more brains

My brother was a commander in intelligence gathering in Cyprus and also in East Timor for the peace keeping forces. He worked with various world wide police forces and world wide special ops. My brother has said that the best special forces in the world are the British SAS, Australian SASR and those country boys from the Deep South in the USA. These forces often work together and therefore share training ideas. There is not a lot of difference between them in how they operate.

Nzsas are damn elite, the 10 day selection is nasty on a very few make it this far. The cycle after that goes on for 9 months , after that you then go on ct role and continuation training Only then will you go n your first operation

Don’t know if they’re the best, but they are amazing people who’ve done this country proud for many years. Currently, they’re the victims of a bureaucratic, media and ineptocracy witch hunt. They deserve better. More have died in training than in action. Lest we forget. I’m lucky to say I’ve many friends who are ex-Regiment, one who did five tours of Vietnam. Unless damaged, they’re relaxed, contemplative, resilient, resourceful, reasonable, measure, adaptable…etc. They dangerous creatures wrapped in the package of a gentleman. Good friends, but don’t cross them.

G'day to me old mate RS

I find it pretty disrespectful to be trying to rank the various tier 1 forces. They are all elite and each have different areas where they are possibly better than other forces but this our force is the best rubbish when it is nearly all classified anyway is so annoying. I am Australian with several family members in service and I am proud of them & our military in general.

03:00 there are no mountains in Western Australia.

I know that some pass every course and expectation to be told they don't fit the team.

Happy wanderer is due to the low budget of the ADF, we can’t afford the vehicles and fuel required for a modern military.

03:20 the Brecon and they're not valleys.

150km happy what....damn.

SASR, 1/2 Commando come under 'SOCOMD/A'. We copied the abbreviation the US special ops use - the SAS were nicknamed "chicken stranglers" by the VC in Vietnam. The kit used by SOCOMD/A is the same/similar to the US - although we stupidly don't have a Marine Corps when there is actually a lineage of 'Marines' going back to the very first years of Australia being colonised by the UK. Even though they were Royal Marines, they 'could' have easily become 'Colonial Marines and eventually Commonwealth Marines. The structure of our army has changed SO many times it is infuriating. I have NEVER read/heard any US special force operators say anything but 100% positive commentary on our special forces. Australia's Dept of Defence is extremely secretive, it is very hard to get public details of key specs on SOCOMD/A unless you've served, have a family member who's serving/served, or a mate who's serving/served. The only real difference for SOCOMD/A is we don't have the 'global footprint' and reach of the US. France has a MASSIVE global military/special forces footprint in parts of Africa, the South Pacific and Middle East, an issue that arguably sadly ever is notated. The French I'd argue are FAR better and FAR more strategically placed than UK forces globally. Just my subjective opinion opinion !!

Not THAT long ago, in Mindinao, in The Philippines the Philippine scouts were sent to fight the rebels , the Abu Sayyef, but there were a little gun shy, so US Green Berets would go in with them , to force them to fight, BUT the Green Berets were guided in by a force that had gone in and tracked the rebles without them knowing it, the usually operated in 6 man teams,would not eat western food for a whiel before going in so the enemy would not smell them , did not even talk to each other but communicated in other ways , they would track the enemy and stay with them , until a suitable scenario would present itself for an ambush and then bring in the US Green Berets who bought the Philippine scouts in with them, these were Australian SASR men/

My cousin did it, got all the way through to the end, marched into the boss, only to be told "Not Suitable"! (it was only a year or so ogo he was told by someone else who was in, he had actually held the time record till just recently, for the fastest individual cross country nav !! He never knew....) He was saying how some crazy tasks they were just told to do was moving around sections of tank tracks..........

It seems they were used as the hit squad for the Americans in Afghanistan to undertake a lot of questionable missions and killings that the American units refused to do.

As a thin fella I can hike 25km a day for 14 days with a 20kg pac through west Australian bush. Australians are tough. Don't mess with us!

3/4 of these blokes commenting can't spell sufficiently to enter Australia's armed forces.

The Brecan Beakins

It’s based on the British SAS. The real best. Just saying. 🇬🇧

That’s ASASR.

40kg would be tough, 50kg kills me

If anyone says they are badge qualified or work in ASIS or ASIO - they lie.

kzfaq.info/get/bejne/asqkfM6gr87Lj3k.htmlsi=EAFstFEBhEit-FIE this is from the early 80s so you can only imagine what it is like in a modern course

The hardest part is your mentality and temperament

First

Sadly recently. There has been some not some nice stories coming out from there. Look up Ben Roberts Smith

Most of this information is pretty inaccurate tbh mate. Sounds like a combination of chatgpt and a summary of the doco they put out.

Tough guys. No question. I think they lost their way in Afghanistan though. Used as general Infantry, forgot their mission, and sadly murdered some civilians and prisoners. Hopefully they rebuild professional reputation.

Toughest special forces to enter? That would be the USA's Delta Force.

01:55 what we're watching is BS. Made up stuff click bait.

It would be reassuring to know they are working in plain clothes in society.

The Australian army itself is hard to join, all the red tape and requirements these days.... No wonder there's more armed bikies in Australia than soldiers in its army.

Don't mess with Australia

SASR can hold their own anywhere in the world... The "Happy Wanderer" through the outback of W.A. is brutal. They're bloody amazing. M 🦘🏏😎