FEW DARES WINS

UK’s special forces need 200 more soldiers as recruitment crisis bites

BRITAIN’S elite special forces are 200 soldiers short after recruitment plunged 20 per cent.

The lack of “good quality” soldiers has hit the SAS, SBS and SRR, the Special Reconnaissance Regiment.

Hardest hit is the Special Boat Service, down in numbers by around 100. The SRR needs 60 and the celebrated Special Air Service – motto Who Dares Wins – is 40 light. Each unit normally has 340 to 400 soldiers.

Senior defence sources say the SBS and

SRR are now classed as being “over-stretched” with troops deployed in Afghanistan, Iraq, the Baltic States and Africa. The shortage is being linked to cuts and a recruitment and retention crisis affecting the rest of the armed forces.

The Army is down in size from around 150,000 in 1990 to 78,000. Despite that reduction, the SAS and the SBS have remained the same size.

A military source said: “The talent pool is shrinking. A lot of guys who built up experience in Iraq and Afghanistan and who would often see the special forces as the next step have left.

“In the last 25 years the SBS has increased in size and the SRR has been created but the Army has shrunk around 40 per cent. So there are fewer quality people coming through. But we have been down this road before and it hasn’t had an impact on our operational commitments. It means that everybody has to work harder to get the job done.”

Twice-a-year selection courses are tough and an average pass rate of 10 per cent has led to as few as eight recruits.

One serving member of the SAS said: “Life is tough. You spend a lot of time on operations, overseas exercises and on courses. It is unrelenting.”

Special forces earn about £30 extra a day but experienced operatives can earn far more in private security. The MoD does not comment on special forces.