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Subject: from the horse's mouth
bob the brit    1/3/2007 12:37:49 AM
alright this should these numerous pecker competitions. Fact: every spec operator, upon entry, is informed that they are now a member of the finest fighting unit in the world (as i noted in a previous thread, it wouldn't be too good for troop morale if you were told otherwise) Fact: you are NOT told that you are the best at everything militarily, just what your skill is, either specialised or standard. Fact (well sensible opinion lets say): there is no such thing as one unit teaching every other spec unit in the world to do something, it's more a reciprocal SWAP!!! of information (eg. SBS showcases their proven way of successfully exfil'ing a sub-launched underwater delivery vessel and reconning & securing a beach to the SEALs and the SEALs showcase their method. what then often happens is a new method is created taking the finer points of each units' method. (NOTE: this is just an example, don't argue over it, that would be silly). Fact: when in the company of another spec unit, operators don't usually boast about being better than the other, if they do, they're f**king around and having a laugh (suprisingly on a much more mature level than many of the pecker contest threads on this site) allied special forces respect one another, if they didn't they likely would have been weeded out during the first week or so of selection/training. special forces don't need gung ho james bond types, you wouldn't believe how many turn up at the breacons in wales (which takes me to my next point)... you cannot say one selection process is harder than another by using initial numbers compared to final acceptance... why? because there is never any telling how many silly little maggots want to join a spec unit because they saw the embassy seige on BBC and think they're the next james bond. secondly, saying things like "SAS selection is tougher than BUD/S" is childish no matter how hard your mate Dave said the Pen Y Fan was. BUD/S and SAS selc' are too different in so many ways. I likely would have failed BUD/S all the underwater training would have done me right in (i have a minute fear of water) however, swimming lengths in BT, then swimming rivers in wales, and a small amount of underwater testing was my cup of tea, i handled it fine. so don't bicker about which selections are tougher, 'cause unless you try them all, you don't have a f**king clue. Fact (don't take this as a spark for arguement): for just about all of the major counter terrorist ops atleast one SAS operator has been present, but here's the real truth, they haven't told the spec unit involved how to run things, they've advised or absorbed (they see how the operation runs, take the info back to HQ, look at the pros and cons, discect the details and outcome... why? to learn from it), the Reg' will be one of the first spec units you'll find saying there are always things they can improve on and they always look for better ways of doing things.. i'm quite positive that all spec units have this attitude. p.s. too all of you in specific who say that the SAS is the best and better than any other unit in the world, you know who you are, STOP IT, A.) it's not appreciated, B.) if you're british, then it is very un-british of you, and C.) you don't have a bloody clue and you don't know what the SAS is all about p.s.s. to all those who read my dribble to the end, thank you, i hope (if you are not already mature enough to find these pecker comp's silly) you have absorbed a bit of what i have said.
 
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bob the brit       1/3/2007 1:31:46 AM

i'll take this silence as notice that my thoughts have been heard and absorbed... however i fear my efforts will not last long for as long as there are men with penises, there will be competitions as to whose is the biggest (and ofcourse the respective "my country's spec forces are better than your's)

alas i have yet to admit defeat to these silly pecker comps

 
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gf0012-aust       1/3/2007 2:02:14 AM

i'll take this silence as notice that my thoughts have been heard and absorbed...

 


I'll give you a tip - its been heard and said many times before.  However, the topic is just like biorythms, you can bet london to a brick that it will peak every now and then with regular depressing occurrence.
its fascinating to watch for about 5 nanoseconds.... esp when the fan clubbers start lecturing those who do actually have a clue.... (and that excludes me)
 
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GOP       1/3/2007 9:32:39 AM
Very good post. I am very glad that you came to this site (specifically this board), you can set some of these guys straight...I may even say something that is incorrect and you correct me. We need guys with real world experience on this board, it helps all of us wannabe's out.
 
"special forces don't need gung ho james bond types, you wouldn't believe how many turn up at the breacons in wales (which takes me to my next point)... you cannot say one selection process is harder than another by using initial numbers compared to final acceptance... why? because there is never any telling how many silly little maggots want to join a spec unit because they saw the embassy seige on BBC and think they're the next james bond."
 
Yeah, I can imagine. I know of a guy who, after hearing from a friend about how great the USMC was, decided he would try and be a Recon Marine. The decision was kind of made like this:  
 
Young, big headed USMC friend: Dude, the USMC is awesome...I mean, we get to shoot big guns, cuss alot, and we are always getting laid...but that's nothing compared to what Force Recon does!!!
 
Young, dumb guy I knew: Awesome...what's Force Recon?!?!?!?
 
Young, big headed USMC friend: they are the baddest sob's on the planet, that's who. They take all the bad-a** missions and do all the super-secret stuff like Delta force.
 
Young, dumb guy I knew: I am going to be a Recon Marine!!!
 
From what his girlfriend told me, his decision to be a Marine seriously went alot like that. He didn't even make it through boot, lol.
 
Now, I have to ask, lol...because all of the things that have been said on this board about them....Are Navy SEALs any good at their job? What, considering you have worked with them, would you say were their strength and weaknesses, etc? Were they loud mouth sh*theads who weren't any good at their jobs? Also, was their DA skills any good? Sorry, I had to ask that...I personally don't know any SEALs (or any SOF operators).
 
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bob the brit       1/3/2007 10:15:51 PM

Very good post. I am very glad that you came to this site (specifically this board), you can set some of these guys straight...I may even say something that is incorrect and you correct me. We need guys with real world experience on this board, it helps all of us wannabe's out.

 

"special forces don't need gung ho james bond types, you wouldn't believe how many turn up at the breacons in wales (which takes me to my next point)... you cannot say one selection process is harder than another by using initial numbers compared to final acceptance... why? because there is never any telling how many silly little maggots want to join a spec unit because they saw the embassy seige on BBC and think they're the next james bond."

 

Yeah, I can imagine. I know of a guy who, after hearing from a friend about how great the USMC was, decided he would try and be a Recon Marine. The decision was kind of made like this:  

 

Young, big headed USMC friend: Dude, the USMC is awesome...I mean, we get to shoot big guns, cuss alot, and we are always getting laid...but that's nothing compared to what Force Recon does!!!

 

Young, dumb guy I knew: Awesome...what's Force Recon?!?!?!?

 

Young, big headed USMC friend: they are the baddest sob's on the planet, that's who. They take all the bad-a** missions and do all the super-secret stuff like Delta force.

 

Young, dumb guy I knew: I am going to be a Recon Marine!!!

 

From what his girlfriend told me, his decision to be a Marine seriously went alot like that. He didn't even make it through boot, lol.

 

Now, I have to ask, lol...because all of the things that have been said on this board about them....Are Navy SEALs any good at their job? What, considering you have worked with them, would you say were their strength and weaknesses, etc? Were they loud mouth sh*theads who weren't any good at their jobs? Also, was their DA skills any good? Sorry, I had to ask that...I personally don't know any SEALs (or any SOF operators).


bare in mind GOP that my experience with the SEALs was quite a while ago... there is no telling where their strenghts and weaknesses lie today. however, there was the occasional loud mouthed shit head, there are in any unit (usually the ones that go on to write books about their experiences that end up in public scrutiny, names like "mcnab" and yorky come to mind) luckily the vast majority of operators were respectable men who were very proficient and skilled at what they were trained to do (and they'd always treat the loudmouths like the amateur idiots they were). the SEALs' main strength i find was that they made sure they fully understood things before acting (more trained impulse and instinct than act now think later) i was dissapointed with the way things were done concerning the upper chain of command lads, they'd expect too much from too few often, completely overloading one soldier with multiple tasks that ended up confusing the whole training exercise. some commanding officers appeared a tad stubborn completely bitching out soldiers for even the slightest cockups. i think main problem with those types was that they didn't believe in accidents (which unfortunately do happen to the most trained units, look at the embassy seige- charges either didn't go off (at the lightwell) or went off prematurly, one lad from red troop got caught up in the ropes abseiling) every one knows accidents happen (and often at the worst times). if by DA skills you mean direct action, then yes their DA skills were very good, they got tasked attacks over and done with quickly and efficiently, and suprisingly with very little "bloodshed" (it was only a training exercise) they were expert at disabling "enemy" soldiers from the game. now remember this was quite a while ago so i am in no way whatsoever qualified to talk about SEAL skills and weaknesses today. and my experiences were only with a small portion of the entire SEAL organisation
 
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Yimmy    bob the brit   1/3/2007 10:23:18 PM
Have you ever thought about writting a book about your experiences?

It must be very tempting, knowing that just having "SAS", and "ex-operator" in the title would ensure sales - make a fair bit of money from it.  Can always change all the names, and only say as much as you want to say, et al.

I don't mean to sound as though I would advocate writting such a book, but I think most of those on this forum will have read a few.

 
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bob the brit       1/3/2007 10:51:48 PM

Have you ever thought about writting a book about your experiences?

It must be very tempting, knowing that just having "SAS", and "ex-operator" in the title would ensure sales - make a fair bit of money from it.  Can always change all the names, and only say as much as you want to say, et al.

I don't mean to sound as though I would advocate writting such a book, but I think most of those on this forum will have read a few.


i've thought about it yeah, but have come to the conclusion that there are too many concerning the reg already. every time i go into Chapters (bookstore, i now live part time in canada). i've read a few myself (and was suprised why some of them were in the non-fiction history section- guess they don't have a "historical bulls**t" section in your average bookstore) some of them were laughable (seriously) others were as much to the true point as you could be. secondly i'm quite tied down with my current job at CSR. my grammar ain't too good either, some parts i don't want to remember, and even though i left before the official secrecy act came about, i still have a vast respect for those still serving, alot of my old CO's wouldn't be too happy if they saw a new book about the SAS written by Dereck Knight (my actual name by the way) and the things i wouldn't be scrutinized by the reg for saying have already been published quite a few times. for me my stories i think are best appreciated by my two grandsons (ofcourse i have to leave some details out as they're only young)
 
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bob the brit       1/3/2007 11:39:02 PM
i'm actually suprised more questions haven't been asked of me, are there other SF (ex or serving) current, there must be a couple atleast?
 
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GOP       1/3/2007 11:41:46 PM

i'm actually suprised more questions haven't been asked of me, are there other SF (ex or serving) current, there must be a couple atleast?


We don't want to use all your knowledge in one day...trust me, we will probably need your knowledge next time we get a "Who's better, Army Rangers or Australian SASR?" thread.
 
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bob the brit       1/3/2007 11:45:02 PM
rangers vs. sasr? well being my aussie bruv's in arms, sasr for sure, just kidding obviously
 
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gf0012-aust       1/4/2007 12:53:56 AM

rangers vs. sasr? well being my aussie bruv's in arms, sasr for sure, just kidding obviously



ex SAS?  , so you're familiar with the Ranger extract by NorForce a few years back?......
 
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