They are fast. They are tough. Covered from head to toe with black. Hanging from the wall and climbing with rope stealthily
before unmercifully attack. Their arsenals were various, and their skills were formidable. And no, they are not ninja, although that description were close and even some people called them “shadow warrior”. They are the member of British special force known as
Special Air Service (SAS), a world famous fighting force, although less well known are the activities of one of its units: The
Anti-Terrorist Team. This particular unit was established in 1973 as an answer for the increasing activities of modern terrorism in the world.
Military Handbooks: SAS, written by Barry Davies, a former member of SAS, is a detailed, accurate, first-hand description of SAS, especially their Anti-Terrosist Team; history, training, operation model, special equipment, arsenal, and some of their most-famous operation including plane hijacking by Popular Front of the Liberation of Palestine in Dawson’s Field (1970), Mogadishu hijack (1977), Iranian Embassy siege in London (May 1980) which marked the beginning of this team’s myth, and gruesome, non-stop war in their own homeland with Ireland Republic Army (IRA) member as their everlasting foe. This unit started with 64 men split into 16-man teams ready to deal with any situation that may present itself. They were called SAS Sabre Squadron, their own Counter Revolutionary Warfare (CRW) Cell. No longer work with standard military cloth and arsenals, they used civilian attire and being taught with great variety of new weapons and sophisticate, new strategies for more covert missions. Surveillance and close quarter battle techniques were combined with high-speed driving. Thus their training centre called “the Killing House”.
In this book, you will find great description of their special equipments such as
Arwen (don’t confuse it with Lord of the Rings character, it is a 37mm gas-, smoke- and baton-round launcher essential as anti-riot weapon adapted for hostage rescue),
Fast Rope Insertion/Extraction System (basically a rope manufactured from high-tensile multifilament nylon, with eight nylon rope loops incorporated in the last few meters),
Para Hawk (propeller-powered platform which uses a parachute as a wing),
Rip ammunition (specially designed to dislodge a door, it cartridges contain micronized CS, insertion powder, and non-toxin powder which in turn produce CO2), and special weapons such as
Heckler & Koch MP5,
SIG Sauer P226,
Remington 870 Combat Shotgun,
Browning Hi-Power pistol, and many more. Descriptions of rapid entry techniques, abseiling, delivery and assault systems included.
Also, you will find that the SAS soldiers can be found all over the world, as a result from great demand for their counter-terrorist expertise, both from British agencies and foreign states. They train anti-terrorist teams of friendly nations in the skills of hostage-rescue and anti-terrorism; in countries such as Saudi Arabia (completed with British political interest that has something to do with their oil), Brunei, Malaysia, Colombia, and German. The author himself was helped to train the Saudi anti-terrorist team during his time in SAS. Details of many successful operation also included, completed with maps, diagrams, over 160 exciting photographs and revealing of SAS surveillance secrets (not including secret that why SAS members mostly wear moustache; they just said that it is their trademark).
At the last chapter, the author described his meeting with his former enemy, Andrawes, but formerly known as Souhaila Ansari. A member of Palestinian terrorists who was shot by SAS members (including the author) during Mogadishu hijack at 1977 causing her feet crippled. She was 23 years old back then. Her sentence was 20 years in Mogadishu jail, but she only served a year before being pardoned andfound refuge in Norway. The author described their heartfelt meeting, 18 years later, as a reflection for him to go deeper into a mind of terrorists, and a wider reflection about modern terrorism. He also looks at three major terrorist groups to show why anti-terrorist units will remain an integral part of government’s arsenal in the future.
Very good book recommended for all of military fans.