Posted on 04/05/2005 10:42:36 PM PDT by 1066AD
New Special Forces unit will spy on the terrorists By Thomas Harding (Filed: 06/04/2005)
The Army's first new regiment in more than three decades begins operations today to provide covert surveillance for Special Forces fighting the international terrorist threat.
The Special Reconnaissance Regiment will draw on the experience of undercover soldiers who have conducted successful operations in Northern Ireland.
Regimental cap badge The new unit, the first to be formed since the Ulster Defence Regiment in 1970, will have an international and domestic role to provide intelligence to fight terrorism.
Geoff Hoon, the Defence Secretary, said yesterday that the unit was been formed to meet a worldwide demand for "special reconnaissance capability".
It will incorporate the surveillance skills learnt by the SAS and other units over decades of carrying out close target reconnaissance missions in enemy territory.
The formation of the regiment will free up a large portion of elite fighting troopers in the SAS and Special Boat Service to carry out the "hard end" of missions.
The SAS is finding it difficult to recruit enough soldiers to pass its tough selection course. But an equally rigorous selection test is likely to be used by the new unit, whose troops will have to undertake the arduous task of acting behind enemy lines.
It will absorb the 14th Intelligence Company, nicknamed "14 Int", which was formed to gather intelligence on Ulster terrorists. Recruits undergo a rigorous selection course, equivalent to the Paras' "P Company" training, and are trained by the SAS in close quarter battle.
The detachment, which is still operating in Ulster and the Balkans, recruited men and women from all three Services. At its height, 14 Int numbered about 200 troops. The new regiment could have up to 300 troops and will be based alongside the SAS.
The new cap badge shows a Corinthian helmet with a sword inserted in the mouth and coming out of the back of the head. A scroll reads: "Reconnaissance".
The Ministry of Defence said the cap badge design was related to the SAS and SBS badges, "ensuring conformity within the Special Forces Group.
"The Corinthian-style helmet, favoured by the ancient Greeks from the early 7th to 4th centuries BC. The helmet faces forward and suggests the viewer is being watched while the wearer behind the mask is anonymous."
the SRR .....ok
and what color is the beret?
sssssshhhhhhhh!...its a secret!
Not blue...I hope....
Because if you have 2 people trying to find and then spying on a couple of hundred, then it doesn't matter how good you are, you will probably die if you engage.
Unless you believe guys like John Rambo are real then it is better to call in a strike from the air or call in a greater number of your own to kill.
The whole point of these people is to sit and spy for weeks in a ditch watching who is there, what they are doing and why. If there is a pattern that finds Bin Laden is there every 10 days, then it is better to find that out than kill the rest in the first day.
The SRR cap badge consists of a Corinthian helmet placed in front of a Special Forces sword with a scroll underneath depicting the word 'reconnaissance'. This reflects the SAS and SBS cap badges in design, ensuring conformity within the UK Special Forces Group. The Corinthian style helmet, favoured by the ancient Greeks, was used from the early 7th to the 4th centuries BC. The helmet is facing forwards and suggests the viewer is being watched, while the wearer behind the mask is anonymous. Huh?! Forget the spying, just kill em!
If we had better spying we would have found Bin Laden by now. You cannot "kill em" if you cannot find them.
Yes, yes, I know but saying that makes me feels good. :)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.