New hat badge for the SBS

[Sea Soldier]

Steve,

May be of interest to know,that most Recruits have at least two blue berets (one for day to day wear & one for best),the second being purchased from the Cash Clothing Store,by the end of training,both are so badly worn,they only deserve to be ditched ... in fact,we used to have a "ceremonial" burning of them,once Green Lids had been won !

Good luck at CTCRM ... just don't ask too many questions ,you'll get a bad name ... let someone else do that ... try to be the "Grey Man" ... (manages to do everything OK,without attracting too much attention to himself) .... unless of course,you want to be a "Superstar",but be advised being a "Ball of fire" all the way through training,takes a very special individual (I wasn't one,by the way),they tend to win the King's Badge & by God,do they deserve it !... You'll find life a lot more pleasant by being a Grey Man!

[Sea Soldier]

Owdun,

I'd expect nothing less from a Man of your calibre !

[Steve C]

Stay at the front of the pack, but not too far forward right? Thanks for the advice. I'm not that gobby in real life anyway, I just like to find holes in things that no one else sees, hence the questions.

Cheers....

-Steve C

[El Prez]

Steve, are you joining CTC on Monday?

[Steve C]

Yeah, hopefully anyway! Unless someone tries to hijack the plane/bus/train, in which case i'll be a few minutes late.

-Steve C

[El Prez]

Good luck, enjoy the experience, head up, lip zipped and smile!

[Steve C]

Would the DLs not get the wrong idea if I smile too much?
Thanks.

-Steve C

[harry hackedoff]

Don`t be shit and don`t shine. If you smile a lot at the training team they will think you`re simple and leave you alone.
It worked for Parry

Aye, Harry

[Steve C]

And Rob got to fly helis? Sounds like a good deal to me.

-Steve C

[Archie]

In the opening article of this thread, the author comments on credit for ops, I quote "Where its presence on the ground is overt, its operations are usually credited to the commandos and when it takes part in covert special forces operations the credit invariably goes to the SAS."

For as long as any of us can remember the actual members of our sweaty betty ranks have wanted to avoid all credit, backslapping and photo opportunities. To get sucked in to all the PR hype and corporate nonsense will only make life and ops even more difficult. Remember how it was after the Iranian Embassy siege, every sad muppet who ever owned a combat jacket turned up at the army recruiting offices wanting to join the SAS.

Forget the hype and the credit, the folk who want that are the MP's who sanction the gig, and they only want to know you when it all goes perfectly. Politicians simply do not care if their crass intervention jeopardises the future safety of operatives, they just want their name in the papers and the pastey face on the telly.

In case you didn't notice, I don't like politicians, they have killed too many friends of mine.

[Sea Soldier]

Arch,

Well said Mate ... my point precisely,as on P1 !
No disrespect to the Men who do a job I couldn't do,but S.B. should be seen (preferably not until the last second) & not heard.

The only people to actually like Politicians are the Politicians & hangers-on themselves ... for just so long as the one they like is doing them some good,once any particular "Politico" falls from prominence & therefore usefulness,the parasites who scavenged from the droppings,move on to seek a new host.
What price loyalty eh ?

[barryc]

Couldn't agree more with Archie's sentiments on publicity for special forces. Having left the Corps I missed the humour and banter (now available on this site) and joined B Sqdn 23 SAS(VR), a good bunch of guys, 98% ex-regulars and we did a good job and worked hard at it. Then came Princes Gate and all the attendant interest in the Regiment and everything changed for the worse. The routine was less relaxed and worst of all was the sudden influx of cowboy wannabe `men in black'. By the early 80's I had lost all interest an opted out. Leave SB alone, they know when a job is well done, and so do the enemy, so who else really needs to know?

I don't know about the current crop of SB guys but many friends (even signallers have friends) from the 60s and 70s would, I feel sure, feel that they were still marines first and SCs second. I have never felt that the loss of skills transfer that we used to have when an SC was posted to a Cdo (usually Recce Troop) has been a good side effect of the SBS being absorbed into the SF directorate.

[Guest]

well said archie, and if you do go back to NZ, stay tuned mate!!

[Archie]

On the subject of keeping a low profile, all the time the press get hold of our colleagues results and publish the glory that is our wonderful special forces, they only serve to fan the flames of radicalism by publicising the cause and creating martyrs. But of course that does sell newspapers.

A policy of "Get In, Get Done, Get Out, Say Nowt" would be much more in the real interests of us all, but of course it wouldn't work, no photo opportunity to be had, and less news sales.

Cynical, Moi, surely not.

[Ro55]

As Corporal Quinn put it on my PRMC the 'GREEN CLOTH OF DEATH'