SAS question.

[davidlayne 5]

I'm presuming members of the SAS are Airborne qualified. Are they therefore drawn from members of the Parachute Regiment? What if an SAS applicant came from an none Airborne unit, would he have to attend jump school?

I don't care how many skydives you've got,
until you stepped into complete darkness at
800' wearing 95 lbs of equipment and 42 lbs
of parachute, son you are still a leg!

[Stumpy 256]

They are drawn from any of the regular army, and yes, they attend jump school.

Never try to eat more than you can lift

[riggerrob 558]

The Special Air Service employs infantrymen, artillery gunners, forward artillery observers, tankers, medics, signallers, field engineers, auto mechanics, etc. These volunteers come from every regiment and corps in the British Army. A few SAS volunteers come from the (British) Parachute Regiment, but most have never jumped before starting SAS selection.

Static-line parachute jumping is just one of dozens of courses that every prospective SAS operator has to pass during his/her training.

If that SAS operator gets assigned to "Air" troop, he also attends HALO and HAHO schools.

Most other armies pattern their "special forces" training on the SAS.
Even the US Army's Delta Force was raised by Colonel Charlie Beckwith after he did an exchange posting with the SAS.

[rifleman 61]

riggerrob

The Special Air Service employs infantrymen, artillery gunners, forward artillery observers, tankers, medics, signallers, field engineers, auto mechanics, etc. These volunteers come from every regiment and corps in the British Army. A few SAS volunteers come from the (British) Parachute Regiment, but most have never jumped before starting SAS selection.

Static-line parachute jumping is just one of dozens of courses that every prospective SAS operator has to pass during his/her training.

If that SAS operator gets assigned to "Air" troop, he also attends HALO and HAHO schools.

Most other armies pattern their "special forces" training on the SAS.
Even the US Army's Delta Force was raised by Colonel Charlie Beckwith after he did an exchange posting with the SAS.

Other Troops an SAS soldier may be assigned to are:

Boat Troop - Amphibious warfare and operations specialists

Mountain Troop - Climbing, Arctic Warfare/Survival, Long Distance Skiing

Mobility Troop - Vehicle mounted operations specialists, the descendants of the LRDG

All will have attended the SF jump course at RAF Brize Norton as part of their initial selection/continuation training long before being assigned to a specific Troop/Squadron. There's been a bit of a brouhaha here because of the inquest into the deaths of three SAS recruits from heat stroke and dehydration while on the hill phase of selection. A lot of people blame the Regiment for their deaths but, IMO, a lot of it was down to their own stupidity. Even in the height of summer, there are plenty of springs all over the Brecon Beacons and given these are supposed to be the most self reliant troops in the British Army it doesn't take a genius to figure out that if there's no water at the checkpoint you fill up from a spring.

Atheism is a Non-Prophet Organisation

[riggerrob 558]

More of a philosophical point: if you don't kill the occasional soldier in training, you never fully prepare them for war.

Any military course should be cold and wet and windy and involve long hikes across rough terrain, scary things jumping out of the bushes, loud explosions, sleep depravation, bad food combined with too little food, etc. That is the only way to separate the warriors from the wannabees.