How I went straight from Civvy St totheSAS
AN SAS recruit who helped pioneer a new route which allows civilians to train for and enter the army’s most prestigious unit says becoming a special forces trooper was the fulfillment of a lifelong dream.
The former private citizen made it directly through the punishing selection process after entry was opened to non-Defence Force personnel in 2011.
Now a lance corporal, he says he was ‘‘by no means the most talented, strongest, or smartest applicant’’.
‘‘What I had was willpower. Allowing me to push past the pain of training or being told I couldn’t. I choose to ignore rejection and failure, electing to pick myself up and carry on.’’
The trooper told how he was unsuccessful at his first attempt for failing to make the cut off time on day four of the training programme.
He returned the following year, this time committing ‘‘100 per cent every day’’, and made it through the initial selection process.
But passing selection was just the start of a three-year process towards becoming a fully fledged member of the SAS.
He described the final training programme as ‘‘the hardest six months of my life’’.
‘‘I learnt how to survive off the land, parachute, operate heavy weapons, control small boats, climb, rig demolitions, and much more.’’
The courses test applicants across land, air, sea, and trains them in weapon systems and patrol skills, including medical, communications, combat tracking and demolitions.
‘‘It pushed me to my limit both physically and mentally and it is something I would never want to do again,’’ he said.
The first year in the elite unit, based in Papakura, south Auckland, was a ‘‘rollercoaster’’ in which he became a father ‘‘and fired a lot of weapons’’.
‘‘Everybody in the unit is striving to be the best; you will never see anyone being happy with mediocrity. It is an ethos driven internally and from the top down.
‘‘This makes you want and need to perform to your best everyday,’’ he told the latest edition of Army News.
Operational details and the identities of the SAS members are a tightly guarded secret.
However, the unit’s presence during the war in Afghanistan came under close scrutiny after New Zealand media ran a photo of Victoria Cross-winning soldier Willie Apiata there in 2010.
The next year the SAS lost two members during battles with the Afghan Taliban, Corporal Dougie Grant and Lance Corporal Leon Smith.
Deployments since then have remained secret, and last month the Government denied a report that New Zealand special forces were involved in combat roles in Iraq.
The next SAS training cycle is in April next year, and nominations open on December 16.
‘ It pushed me to my limit physically and mentally and is something I’d never want to do again.’