Australian SASR Selection documentary

Just finished viewing the last part of a 2-part documentary on the most recent SASR Selection course. By coincidence I knew 2 people undertaking the course, one of whom I know was badged ...

You can watch the documentary in streaming format from here

filupe (Di Dez 14, 2010 11:40 am) wrote:Just finished viewing the last part of a 2-part documentary on the most recent SASR Selection course. By coincidence I knew 2 people undertaking the course, one of whom I know was badged ...

You can watch the documentary in streaming format from here

Thanks to SBS 'geoblocking' the docu in my region I had to 'source' it elsewhere.
I found it facinating to see these guys 'suffer' and know that we are only shown a tiny bit of this selection course.

Would love to give it a try on 'The Wanderer'.

Congrats to your mate for being badged.

Part one uploaded on youtube by someone , waiting for part 2 ~~~

watched it on sbs ages ago, very interesting what men will push themselves just to be in a elite group
the most disturbing part of the selection is that the instructors can simply kick you out just because you simply dont 'fit in'
might give the selection a try when i enlist in the australian army

congrats on you mate being badged, may he have a fruitful career

Not as good as the original SASR selection documentary from the 80s. Forget what its called but watched it the other day. If you watch it they use some cool cams including trial dpcu with very short brim trial kepis, rhodesian cams, erdl, rdf dpm etc and of course original jg.

lammasulyon wrote:watched it on sbs ages ago, very interesting what men will push themselves just to be in a elite group
the most disturbing part of the selection is that the instructors can simply kick you out just because you simply dont 'fit in'
might give the selection a try when i enlist in the australian army

They can afford to be picky .. if you're doing an OP with 4 blokes for weeks at a time, any 'quirk' that an individual may have will be magnified many times over. A sense of humour (even a macabre one) in stressful situations will do much to make it that much more bearable. I've been told of instances where have DS selected people that 'fit in' better than others who are marginally fitter.

Years ago an Australian-Asian managed to get badged, the same selection course described in the book, 'The Amazing SAS', by Ian McPhedran. Yes, I had another mate on that one as well ... Anyway, when it came to eating offal and such, he tucked in quite happily as he'd been used to eating similar things occasionally at home with his family.

wow, thats an eye opener, me myself is very used to eating offals, its a normal part of our culture

its good to know that even Asians can make it into the SASR; over here in Sydney, many regard us inferior

one part of the documentary i don't understand is the part the bloke was invited to help a 'tribesman' to capture a command post. The candidate comes up with a plan but the tribesman got angry and tell the candidate to leave, saying 'Australia is not my friend'. Does he lose points for this failure? If the guy is satisfied with the the candidates plan, do they actually carry the plan out?

@ Martin:
The 80's docu you're talking about is called "The battle for the Golden Raod". Wish I could find it somewhere to watch.
Beside this in, one of the issues of the Army Time there was an article about a professor from Sydney being about to release a historical docu on the SASR. Anyone heard of that already?

I guess the task with the "tribesman" and the command post to be captured, can never be accomplished to the full satisfaction of the staff. Even though you come up with a brilliant plan, and the bloke shown really hadn't had a good one afaIr, staff will still critizise it just to put more psycological pressure on your shoulders.

Feindflug wrote:@ Martin:
The 80's docu you're talking about is called "The battle for the Golden Raod". Wish I could find it somewhere to watch.

Yes, that's it, watched it last week but on DVD. Isn't it for DL somewhere?

Much better documentary than the recent one, and a much tougher course 1980s style...

lammasulyon wrote:
its good to know that even Asians can make it into the SASR; over here in Sydney, many regard us inferior

At different times, I have met Asians from 1 RAR and 3 RAR. I think there are less Asians represented per capita, certainly in the regular forces, probably a bit better in the reserve forces. I think the military road has never been a particularly 'asian' calling, certainly not in Australia - most opting for more 'professional' careers.

Surprisingly, Asians have had a long but largely unknown history in the Australian Army, some managing to join the 1st AIF despite restrictions. Some of the more well known being Billy Sing, the sniper at Gallipoli, and Jack Wong Sue, a 'Z Force' commando in WWII. An article on Asians in the Australian Army appeared in the first issue of 'Army' magazine from the early 90's.

lammasulyon wrote:
one part of the documentary i don't understand is the part the bloke was invited to help a 'tribesman' to capture a command post. The candidate comes up with a plan but the tribesman got angry and tell the candidate to leave, saying 'Australia is not my friend'. Does he lose points for this failure? If the guy is satisfied with the the candidates plan, do they actually carry the plan out?

I think this was more an exercise in thinking tactically and instinctively given the 'behind-the-lines' scenario that SF operators would normally face. One of the increasing dilemmas of modern special forces is the increasing need to balance both 'direct action' and 'hearts-and-minds' roles - the execution and objectives of which can occasionally clash.

@ filupe

very true indeed

finally i saw the red auscam and series 1 dpdu opfor camo in moving image !!

Feindflug wrote:
The 80's docu you're talking about is called "The battle for the Golden Road". Wish I could find it somewhere to watch.
Beside this in, one of the issues of the Army Time there was an article about a professor from Sydney being about to release a historical docu on the SASR. Anyone heard of that already?

Jens,

Just came back from a course at Infantry School at Singleton and they had both the 'Golden Road' doco and the other you were referring to, actually titled, 'The Australian SAS - The Untold History' (8 DVDs!) at the base library there.

Cheers,

AL

no found on youtube...