[I would like to pre-phrase this by saying that I am no means an expert in this particular field, only what I have read online/in books.]
The United Kingdom Special Forces (UKSF) runs under the Ministry of Defense (MoD), which operates as a joint task force HQ with the director (known as the “Director Special Forces”) commanding:
22 Special Air Service (SAS)
Special Boat Service (SBS)
Special Reconnaissance Regiment (SRR)
18 Signal Regiment
Special Forces Support Group (SFSG)
Joint Special Forces Aviation Wing
The UKSF are elite, level one tier operators who are often deployed on high risk operations in arduous and challenging environments.
Unit breakdowns:British Army - 22 SAS is broken down into 4 squadrons: A, B, D and G. The Royal Signals provide personnel to the 18 Signal Regiment. 21 SAS is their reserves.
Royal Navy - SBS follows a similar pattern of four squadrons on a rotation: C, M, X and Z accompanied with their reserves. 40% of the UKSF come from the Royal Marines into the SBS.
Special Forces Support Group - formed of A, B, C, D, F, G companies plus a support company.
Joint Special Forces Aviation Wing - formed with No. 7 Squadron (Royal Air Force), No. 658 Squadron (Army Air Corps, British Army), Special Forces Flight 47 Squadron (Royal Air Force)
UKSF selection:The selection for any branch of the UKSF is standard, consisting of five ‘phases’ and held mainly for the main trio of the Special Forces (SAS, SBS, SRR). Pass rate is reportedly held at less than 10% and takes roughly six months to complete. Selection is held twice a year no matter the weather conditions, candidates are granted two chances before they are RTU’d.
The five ‘phases’ consist of:
Briefing (1 week)
Aptitude phase (4 weeks)
Jungle, TTP and SOP phase (9 weeks)
Employment training (14 weeks)
SERE training (4 weeks)
Misc. information:Where the SAS don the famous ‘sand beret’, the SBS don the ‘green beret’ and the SRR have the ‘emerald grey’ beret but often operate in plain clothing.
