United Kingdom Special Forces
The United Kingdom Special Forces (UKSF) is an umbrella directorate overseeing the special forces units of the British Armed Forces. The head of the UKSF is the Director of Special Forces (DSF), who is often eligible for COBRA meetings.
It is a separate organisation from the rest of the British Special Operations units.
Special Forces units
Special Air Service
The SAS is the main Special Forces organisation of the British Army and one of the most famous military organisations in the world, because of its outstanding success in many world wide operations. The SAS was formed in 1941 to conduct raids behind German lines in North Africa, and today serves as a model for similar units fielded by many other countries. The regular army SAS Regiment is the most secretive in the British Army, but attracts a disproportionate amount of media coverage. There is one regular army regiment and two Territorial Army (TA) reserve regiments in the SAS:
- 22nd Special Air Service Regiment
- 21st Special Air Service Regiment (Artists) (Volunteers)
- 23rd Special Air Service Regiment (Volunteers)
Special Boat Service
The SBS is the maritime focussed special forces unit. Formerly recruiting solely from the Royal Navy and Royal Marines, the SBS now accepts applications from all branches of the armed forces.
There is the regular SBS and an SBS Reserve (SBS(R), which provides individual reservists to serve with the regular SBS.
Special Reconnaissance Regiment
The SRR is a Special Forces Regiment of the British Army, specialising in counter-terrorist surveillance.
Support units
Special Forces Support Group
The SFSG is a unit of the United Kingdom Special Forces whose primary task is to provide large scale infantry support for the SAS and the SBS. Because of the initial similarity to the US Army Rangers, the unit was dubbed the British Rangers.
Combat Support Services
See also
- Structure of the British Army
- British Army
- Parachute Regiment
- 3 Commando Brigade
- Royal Navy
- Royal Marines
- Modern equipment and uniform of the British Army
- Special Operations units of the United Kingdom
- United States Special Operations Forces
External Links
- http://www.special-forces-adventure-training.co.uk External source of special forces procedures & techniques and special forces team building for UK business