World’s Best soldiers Special ForceS: protecting, Building, teaching, and Fighting Air Force Army rAngers elite Forces selection escApe And evAsion green Berets mArines nAvy seAls UrBAn WArFAre pArAchUte regiment World’s Best soldiers World’s Best soldiers by C. F. Earl Mason Crest Publishers Copyright © 2011 by Mason Crest Publishers. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the publisher. MASON CREST PUBLISHERS INC. 370 Reed Road Broomall, Pennsylvania 19008 (866)MCP-BOOK (toll free) www.masoncrest.com First Printing 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Earl, C. F. The world’s best soldiers / by C.F. Earl. -- 1st ed. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-4222-1846-4 ISBN (series) 978-1-4222-1836-5 1. Special forces (Military science) —Juvenile literature. I. Title. U262.E17 2011 356’.16—dc22 2010024705 Produced by Harding House Publishing Service, Inc. www.hardinghousepages.com Interior design by MK Bassett-Harvey. Cover design by Torque Advertising Design. Printed in USA. With thanks and appreciation to the U.S. Military for the use of information, text, and images. Contents Introduction 6 1. Elite Units in History 9 2. U.S. Airborne Forces 21 3. The Israeli Parachute Corps 33 4. Spetsnaz 43 5. The British SAS 53 6. The Australian SAS Regiment 65 7. Weapons and Equipment 77 Find Out More on the Internet 91 Further Reading 91 Bibliography 93 Index 94 Picture Credits 95 About the Author and Consultant 96 IInnttrroodduuccttiioonn e lite forces are the tip of Freedom’s spear. These small, special units are universally the first to engage, whether on reconnaissance missions into denied territory for larger conventional forces or in direct action, surgical operations, preemptive strikes, retaliatory action, and hostage rescues. They lead the way in today’s war on terrorism, the war on drugs, the war on transnational unrest, and in humanitarian operations as well as nation building. When large-scale warfare erupts, they offer theater commanders a wide variety of unique, unconventional options. Most such units are regionally oriented, acclimated to the culture and conversant in the languages of the areas where they operate. Since they deploy to those areas regu- larly, often for combined training exercises with indigenous forces, these elite units also serve as peacetime “global scouts,” and “diplomacy multipliers,” beacons of hope for the democratic aspirations of oppressed peoples all over the globe. 6 Introduction 7 Elite forces are truly “quiet professionals”: their actions speak louder than words. They are self-motivated, self- confidant, versatile, seasoned, mature individuals who rely on teamwork more than daring-do. Unfortunately, theirs is dangerous work. Since the 1980 attempt to rescue hostages from the U.S. embassy in Tehran, American special opera- tions forces have suffered casualties in real-world opera- tions at close to fifteen times the rate of U.S. conventional forces. By the very nature of the challenges that face special operations forces, training for these elite units has proven even more hazardous. Thus it’s with special pride that I join you in saluting the brave men who volunteer to serve in and support these mag- nificent units and who face such difficult challenges ahead. —Colonel John T. Carney, Jr., USAF–Ret. President, Special Operations Warrior Foundation