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Special Air Service
The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. It was founded as a regiment in 1941 by David Stirling, and in 1950 it was reconstituted as a corps. The unit specialises in a number of roles including counter-terrorism, hostage rescue, direct action (military), direct action and special reconnaissance. Much of the information about the SAS is highly classified information, classified, and the unit is not commented on by either the British government or the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom), Ministry of Defence due to the secrecy and sensitivity of its operations. The corps currently consists of the 22 Special Air Service Regiment, which is the regular component, as well as the Artists Rifles, 21 Special Air Service Regiment (Artists) (Reserve) and the 23 Special Air Service Regiment (Reserve), which are reserve units, all under the operational command of United Kingdom Special Forces (UKSF). Its sister unit is the Royal Navy's Special Boat Servi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Special Reconnaissance
Special reconnaissance (SR) is conducted by small units, such as a recon team, made up of highly trained military personnel, usually from special forces units and/or military intelligence organizations. Special reconnaissance teams operate behind enemy lines, avoiding direct combat and detection by the enemy. As a role, SR is distinct from commando operations, but both are often carried out by the same units. The SR role frequently includes covert direction of airstrikes and indirect fire, in areas deep behind enemy lines, placement of remotely monitored sensors, and preparations for other special forces. Like other special forces, SR units may also carry out direct action and unconventional warfare, including guerrilla operations. In intelligence terms, SR is a human intelligence (HUMINT) collection discipline. Its operational control is likely to be inside a compartmented cell of the HUMINT, or possibly the operations, staff functions. Since such personnel are trained for intell ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The UK includes the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland, and most of List of islands of the United Kingdom, the smaller islands within the British Isles, covering . Northern Ireland shares Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border, a land border with the Republic of Ireland; otherwise, the UK is surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, the North Sea, the English Channel, the Celtic Sea and the Irish Sea. It maintains sovereignty over the British Overseas Territories, which are located across various oceans and seas globally. The UK had an estimated population of over 68.2 million people in 2023. The capital and largest city of both England and the UK is London. The cities o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of SAS Operations
The following is a list of known Special Air Service (SAS) operations. Second World War Operations The Special Air Service began life in July 1941, the brainchild of Lieutenant David Stirling of No. 8 (Guards) Commando. His idea was for small teams of parachute trained soldiers to operate behind enemy lines to gain intelligence, destroy enemy aircraft and attack their supply and reinforcement routes. The SAS carried out this role until the end of the war serving in a number of theatres and campaigns. By the end of the Second World War on 8 May 1945, the SAS had suffered 330 casualties, but had killed or wounded 7,733 and captured 23,000 of their enemies. North Africa * Operation Squatter, 16/17 November 1941, unsuccessful raid on forward Axis airfields in North Africa, in support of Operation Crusader * Operation Green Room * Operation Bigamy, September 1942, diversionary raid on the Port of Benghazi in support of Operation Agreement 13/14 September 1942 * Operation Palmyra M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Government
His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.Overview of the UK system of government : Directgov – Government, citizens and rights Archived direct.gov.uk webpage. Retrieved on 29 August 2014. The government is led by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minister (Keir Starmer since 5 July 2024) who appoints all the other British Government frontbench, ministers. The country has had a Labour Party (UK), Labour government since 2024 United Kingdom general election, 2024. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Classified Information
Classified information is confidential material that a government deems to be sensitive information which must be protected from unauthorized disclosure that requires special handling and dissemination controls. Access is restricted by law or regulation to particular groups of individuals with the necessary security clearance with a need to know. A formal security clearance is required to view or handle classified material. The clearance process requires a satisfactory background investigation. Documents and other information must be properly marked "by the author" with one of several (hierarchical) levels of sensitivity—e.g. Confidential (C), Secret (S), and Top Secret (S). All classified documents require designation markings on the technical file which is usually located either on the cover sheet, header and footer of page. The choice of level is based on an impact assessment; governments have their own criteria, including how to determine the classification of an inf ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Direct Action (military)
Direct action (DA) is a term used in the context of military special operations for small-scale raids, ambushes, acts of sabotage, and similar actions. United States The US Department of Defense defines direct action as "short-duration strikes and other small-scale offensive actions conducted as a special operation in hostile, denied, or politically sensitive environments and which employ specialized military capabilities to seize, destroy, capture, exploit, recover, or damage designated targets." Direct action differs from conventional offensive actions in the level of physical and political risk, operational techniques, and the degree of discriminate and precise use of force to achieve specific objectives. The US military and many of its allies consider DA one of the basic special operations missions. Some units specialize in it, such as the Navy SEALs and 75th Ranger Regiment The 75th Ranger Regiment, also known as the United States Army Rangers, Army Rangers, is th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hostage Rescue
A hostage is a person seized by an abductor in order to compel another party, one which places a high value on the liberty, well-being and safety of the person seized—such as a relative, employer, law enforcement, or government—to act, or refrain from acting, in a certain way, often under threat of serious physical harm or death to the hostage(s) after expiration of an ultimatum. The ''Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition'' defines a hostage as "a person who is handed over by one of two belligerent parties to the other or seized as security for the carrying out of an agreement, or as a preventive measure against certain acts of war." A party who seizes one or more hostages is known as a hostage-taker; if the hostages are present voluntarily, then the receiver is known as a host. In civil society, along with kidnapping for ransom and human trafficking (often willing to ransom its captives when lucrative or to trade on influence), hostage taking is a criminal activity ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Counter-terrorism
Counterterrorism (alternatively spelled: counter-terrorism), also known as anti-terrorism, relates to the practices, military tactics, techniques, and strategies that governments, law enforcement, businesses, and intelligence agencies use to combat or eliminate terrorism and violent extremism. If an act of terrorism occurs as part of a broader insurgency (and insurgency is included in the definition of terrorism) then counterterrorism may additionally employ counterinsurgency measures. The United States Armed Forces uses the term " foreign internal defense" for programs that support other countries' attempts to suppress insurgency, lawlessness, or subversion, or to reduce the conditions under which threats to national security may develop. History The first counterterrorism body to be formed was the Special Irish Branch of the Metropolitan Police, later renamed the Special Branch after it expanded its scope beyond its original focus on Fenian terrorism. Various law e ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Corps
Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was formally introduced March 1, 1800, when Napoleon ordered General Jean Victor Marie Moreau to divide his command into four corps. The size of a corps varies greatly, but two to five divisions and anywhere from 40,000 to 80,000 are the numbers stated by the US Department of Defense. Within military terminology a corps may be: *an military organization, operational formation, sometimes known as a field corps, which consists of two or more division (military), divisions, such as the I Corps (Grande Armée), , later known as ("First Corps") of Napoleon I's ); *an administrative corps (or Muster (military), mustering) – that is a #Administrative corps, specialized branch of a military service (such as an artillery corps, an armoured corps, a signal corps, a medical corps, a marine corps, or a corps of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Stirling
Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Archibald David Stirling, (15 November 1915 – 4 November 1990) was a Scottish officer in the British Army and the founder and creator of the Special Air Service (SAS). Under his leadership, the SAS carried out hit-and-run raids behind the Axis lines of the North African campaign. He saw active service during the Second World War until he was captured in January 1943. He spent the rest of the war in captivity, despite making several attempts to escape. Stirling left the Regular Army in 1947. He founded the Capricorn Africa Society, which aimed to fight racial discrimination in Africa, but Stirling's preference to a limited, elitist voting franchise over universal suffrage limited the movement's appeal. He subsequently formed various private military companies and was linked with a failed attempt to overthrow the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in the early 1970s. He also attempted to organise efforts to undermine trades unionism and to overthrow the Br ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Special Forces
Special forces or special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equipped forces using unconventional techniques and modes of employment". Special forces emerged in the early 20th century, with a significant growth in the field during World War II, when "every major army involved in the fighting" created formations devoted to special operations behind enemy lines. Depending on the country, special forces may perform functions including Airborne forces, airborne operations, counter-insurgency, counter-terrorism, foreign internal defense, Covert operations, covert ops, Direct action (military), direct action, Hostage crises, hostage rescue, high-value targets/Manhunt (military), manhunt, intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance, intelligence operations, Mobility (military), mobility o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mark Carleton-Smith
General Sir Mark Alexander Popham Carleton-Smith, (born 9 February 1964) is a senior British Army officer who served as Chief of the General Staff from June 2018 to June 2022. He previously served as Director Special Forces and commanded 22 Special Air Service Regiment. Early life and education Born on 9 February 1964 at Bielefeld, West Germany, to Major General Sir Michael Carleton-Smith, he began his education at Cheltenham College Junior School, before attending Eton College, an all-boys public school. In 1982, he went to Hatfield College, Durham, to pursue an Army-sponsored degree in Politics and Modern History. He graduated from Durham University with a lower second class Bachelor of Arts degree in 1985. Military career Carleton-Smith was commissioned into the Irish Guards on 3 September 1982, before going up to Durham, graduating as BA. He was promoted to lieutenant on 6 September 1985 (with seniority from 9 April), then to captain on 9 April 1989, and then to majo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
