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MPs used as live SAS targets (New Zealand's Elite Troops)
The Dominion Post (New Zealand) ^ | Saturday, 9 June 2007 | Staff Reporter

Posted on 06/09/2007 7:29:04 PM PDT by DieHard the Hunter

MPs used as live SAS targets

The Dominion Post | Saturday, 9 June 2007

SAS commandos are using politicians and foreign dignitaries in live target practice to ensure the troops are ready for a terrorist strike on home soil.

The super-realistic scenarios include firing bullets centimetres from the heads of "hostages", among them Prime Minister Helen Clark.

The politicians have been placed beside terrorists, represented by dummies with balloons for heads.

Bursting into the room, the soldiers shoot out the balloons.

Defence Minister Phil Goff said he had done it three times.

"First of all you think, 'I hope I don't sneeze'. And then you think, 'I hope the other guy doesn't sneeze'."

The details have been revealed under a Government plan to be more open about the activities of the SAS.

"These guys are sufficiently trustworthy that I've allowed myself to be used as target practice in hostage raids where they shoot targets away from my head, a matter of centimetres away from my head, with live ammunition," Mr Goff said.

A SAS spokesman said that every recent prime minister, including Miss Clark, had taken part in the exercises.

Mr Goff said that sometimes foreign prime ministers had been involved. "They are a little nervous."

The SAS "are not the macho guys", he said.

"You won't find them leaning over the bar and bragging about what they can do. When you see someone doing that you will know by definition they will not be a member of the SAS."


TOPICS: Australia/New Zealand; Foreign Affairs; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: elitetroops; marines; wot
The NZ SAS is New Zealand's elite armed force. Very little detail concerning their activities and deployments is made public.
1 posted on 06/09/2007 7:29:14 PM PDT by DieHard the Hunter
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To: DieHard the Hunter; Cindy; alpha-8-25-02

*Ping* for your Threat Matrix, Cindy; and *Ping* to you too, Marine...


2 posted on 06/09/2007 7:32:32 PM PDT by DieHard the Hunter
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To: DieHard the Hunter

3 posted on 06/09/2007 7:39:10 PM PDT by mgstarr (KZ-6090 Smith W.)
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To: DieHard the Hunter

Helen Clark,...balloon,...Heloon Clark,..Balloon Clark,..Hell,..I what did I shoot?


4 posted on 06/09/2007 7:41:17 PM PDT by nkycincinnatikid
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To: backhoe; CholeraJoe; Criminal Number 18F; DevSix; DJ Taylor; Future Snake Eater; GarySpFc; ...

SOCOM Ping


5 posted on 06/09/2007 7:48:44 PM PDT by ASA Vet
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To: nkycincinnatikid

Keep the baloon. It is probably a better politician and definitely a better person.


6 posted on 06/09/2007 7:59:20 PM PDT by Gideon Reader (DEMOCRATS: Not quite American, and proud of it! Palestinians are,...well,... Palestinian.)
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To: ASA Vet

Helen Clark already has a balloon for a noggin.......over inflated of course.


7 posted on 06/09/2007 8:06:22 PM PDT by Squantos (Be polite. Be professional. But, have a plan to kill everyone you meet. ©)
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To: DieHard the Hunter

Given the caliber of our granny-shooting no knock entry teams, and our politicians, I wish they’d try this here.


8 posted on 06/09/2007 8:12:17 PM PDT by CGTRWK
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To: CGTRWK

> Given the caliber of our granny-shooting no knock entry teams, and our politicians, I wish they’d try this here.

It’s an amazing scenario, I’d love to volunteer to be a hostage!

I note that they allow foreign dignitaries to take part in these exercises sometimes: I guess that is one very dramatic way of drilling home the concept that when New Zealand sends foreign assistance in the form of the NZ SAS, it is a very valuable gift not to be dismissed lightly.


9 posted on 06/09/2007 8:22:55 PM PDT by DieHard the Hunter
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To: DieHard the Hunter

Andy McNab’s book about his training in England’s SAS mentioned this. I wanna say the queen even served as a “hostage” in one of the training exercises, but it’s been a few years since I read the book.

Awesome training tactic, IMO.

McNab also mentioned that in one of the training demos being monitored at a distance by a VIP party, some joker deliberatly dropped a uniformed/geared dummy from a helo-to-rooftop rappel. That would have been pretty funny as long as you’re in on the joke. :o)


10 posted on 06/09/2007 11:21:37 PM PDT by Titan Magroyne ("Shorn, dumb and bleating is no way to go through life, son." Yeah, close enough.)
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To: DieHard the Hunter

Reminds me of the old joke where the commando says, “The damn gun had blanks in it, so I had to beat him to death with it.”


11 posted on 06/09/2007 11:24:57 PM PDT by ozzymandus
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To: Titan Magroyne

I wouldn’t be surprised if the Queen has done them - the Prince of Wales and the Princess of Wales certainly have. He annoyed the person in charge of one of the exercises by becoming more actively involved once - the simulation ended with them being taken out by helicopter and to see how they would deal with the situation, the helicopter pilot and co-pilot were ‘killed’. The Prince took control of the chopper - he was trained to fly them in the early 1970s. He was told this wasn’t what was meant to happen - but his view was that that is what he would do in that case - chopper pilots are dead, he’s the best qualified person available to fly the chopper - of course, he’d fly the chopper.


12 posted on 06/10/2007 3:54:41 AM PDT by naturalman1975 ("America was under attack. Australia was immediately there to help." - John Winston Howard)
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To: naturalman1975
For real? So what was supposed to happen?

I'm a fan of The Unit, which airs on Tuesday nights. In the last episode, the Ranger squad had a 3-prong mission during a diplomatic meeting in which they had to keep a meddling American congresswoman preoccupied and un-kidnapped by hostiles. So they kidnapped her themselves - saved anyone else the trouble and frightened her into humility.
13 posted on 06/10/2007 8:49:28 AM PDT by Titan Magroyne ("Shorn, dumb and bleating is no way to go through life, son." Yeah, close enough.)
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To: DieHard the Hunter
The Brit SAS does the same thing, but the PM is in the room.

L

14 posted on 06/10/2007 8:53:35 AM PDT by Lurker (Comparing moderate islam to extremist islam is like comparing small pox to plague.)
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To: naturalman1975

Or the time that Princess Di posed a new hairdo, it was later found out that she’d been to Hereford for SAS rescue training and had an unfortunate mishap with one of the SASs flashbangs!!!


15 posted on 06/20/2007 5:32:40 AM PDT by batco-barry
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To: Titan Magroyne

In 70s Germany, supposedly a US army general challenged an SAS patrol unit to kidnap him. To add realism to the scenario, the SAS units ID details were given to the West German police, who were informed they were subversives doing paid work for the communist terror groups of the red factions and baader-meinhoff.

The general was ‘kidnapped’ at a road block, and had the SAS lads been caught, they would have been shot dead by the German police. Quite ironic had it happened, as one of the SAS team was supposedly honoured by the Germans for his part in the GSG9 hostage rescue in Mogadishu!!!


16 posted on 06/20/2007 5:42:12 AM PDT by batco-barry
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To: batco-barry

Veddy interestink!


17 posted on 06/20/2007 6:18:41 AM PDT by Titan Magroyne ("Shorn, dumb and bleating is no way to go through life, son." Yeah, close enough.)
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