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Special Air Service facts for kids

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Special Air Service
Active 1 July 1941– 8 October 1945
1 January 1947– present
Country United Kingdom
Branch British Army
Type Special Forces
Role Special operations
Counter Terrorism
Size Corps of three units (overall 500 active soldiers)
21 S.A.S
22 S.A.S
23 S.A.S
Part of United Kingdom Special Forces
Garrison/HQ Regimental headquarters: Hereford
21 S.A.S: London
22 S.A.S: Credenhill
23 S.A.S: Birmingham
Nickname(s) The Regiment
Motto(s) Who Dares Wins
Colors Pompadour blue
March Quick: Marche des Parachutistes Belges
Slow: Lili Marlene
Engagements Second World War
Malayan Emergency
Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation
Dhofar Rebellion
Aden Emergency
Northern Irish Troubles
Falklands War
Gulf War
NATO intervention in Bosnia
Operation Barras
War In Afghanistan
Iraq War
Operation Ellamy
Commanders
Colonel-Commandant General Charles Guthrie
Notable
commanders
Colonel David Stirling
Lieutenant-Colonel Paddy Mayne
Brigadier Mike Calvert
Major-General Anthony Deane-Drummond
General Peter de la Billière
General Michael Rose
Lieutenant-General Cedric Delves

The S.A.S. or Special Air Service, is a Special Operations Organisation of the British Army. It was founded in 1941 to attack behind the German line of defence in North Africa, in World War II. They are one of the best schooled unites in the world, what makes them very valuable. There are about 500 active SAS soldiers.

The SAS is a very secret organisation, its members often do not tell anyone except close family that they are in it. The British Ministry of Defence (MOD) rarely speaks of the SAS and mission details are never released until after a set amount of time.

The Badge of the organisation is a knife with wings. It shows the motto: Who Dares Wins.

Current SAS roles include:

  • Gathering intelligence behind enemy lines.
  • Destroying targets far behind enemy lines.
  • Protecting The Royal Family, and important government members.
  • Training special forces of other nations.

The SAS is thought of all over the world as one of the best, if not the best Special Operations organisations. This is mainly because of the intense training they are put through. The hardest part of this is intense interrogation (questioning while under torture) which the trainees must go through.

The SAS is respected worldwide and used to train many other Special Forces Units. Several special operations units are modeled after the SAS. For example, the U.S. Army's Delta Force was founded due in large part to Charles Beckwith, a U.S. Army special operations officer, serving as an exchange officer with the SAS. He felt that the U.S. Army was vulnerable in not having a unit comparable to the SAS.

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See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Servicio Aéreo Especial para niños

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