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Top Survival tips for Surviving an SAS Survival weekend.

We at SAS Survival have been running stag do’s and birthday parties for a long time now and we have noticed several recurring themes/traditions that crop up. Therefore we have devised a survival guide for would be participants to help them last the weekend.

1. If Miles Bennett turns up ignore his suggestions as to what bizarre things you could do to the stag. He has not mentally recovered from the bizarre things we did to him and now has a very twisted mind.

2. Always give a spontaneous round of applause at the end of Bill’s firelighting lesson – he is like a temperamental French chef who demands perfection. Anything less will have him sulking in his den for hours only to be tempted out with acorns and berries.

3. Shout ‘Run Forrest run!’ when anyone is sent on a little jog to hug the ‘Tree of Warmth/Love’

4. Don’t spend too long at the ‘Tree of Warmth/Love’ – you will end up sleeping alone!

5. Don’t be offended by Dave’s cheerful salutation, ‘You are all a bunch of c**ts and I hate you all!’ - usually directed at his fellow instructors.

6. Tell all the instructors how brilliant and useful Dave’s knot tying demonstration is – they all take the p**s - basically they are all a bunch of c**ts and he hates them all!

7. Be able to demonstrate a working knowledge of Borat sketches.

8. Don't stare at Andy 'Biscuits' Brown's receding hair line. He is very self-conscious about it and hopes that no-one has noticed it yet.

James Brooks 29th - 30th March 2008

Wrighty - failing to grasp the concept of camouflage and concealment

After years of running stag do’s with blokes it has been a dream of all SAS Survival instructors that one day an exotic bird will turn up – however James Brooks dressed as a parrot was not quite what we had in mind.

The guys turned up late on Friday night and were met with a nice hailstorm which left snowy residues into Saturday morning. These were soon washed away by the rain that set in for the day, turning areas of the site into boggy quagmires. So much so, it would probably have been more appropriate if James had turned up dressed as a duck.

Nevertheless our intrepid band were not to be put off and battled through the rains as we taught them basic survival skills and moved on to military skills. These guys were not to be put off by a bit of inclement weather, they were a gang of blokes who had known each other for a long time and also were intensely competitive. Having been split into two teams to practice ambushing and contact drills they tried their utmost to outdo each other, showing some excellent planning and communications skills.

Around the campfire in the parachute

We thought they might be up for doing a CTR on the Saturday evening but common sense prevailed and instead they sat around the campfire which was now relocated inside of one of the parachutes. Here they devoured their chips like ravenous wolves while their wet clothes steamed around the fire. Various drinks were produced and drinking songs and games started and it looked as if they were set in for the night but eventually they girded themselves for a trip to the pub – a trip which proved well worth it as they enjoyed a quite pint or two in the welcoming atmosphere, and took advantage of another opportunity to dry their clothes around the open fire.

Returning from the pub they spent the night in various shelters, many preferring to shelter in the ‘A Frame’ shelters that had been left over from one of our previous bushcraft courses. James elected to basha up and it must be noted here that he showed a hidden talent for shelter building; using various combinations of spare bashas he came up with some fantastic designs and we think he may have missed his vocation!

We have no idea what the locals must think!

Not that his shelter building would save him from the inevitable humiliation that gets inflicted on stags on our weekends. Thinking he may have got away with it, on Sunday morning he was pounced on by his mates, stripped and dressed in the parrot costume. Strangely enough this simple act totally dehumanised him and for throughout the following battle to rescue him he was simply referred to as ‘The Parrot’. Eventually ‘The Parrot’ was rescued and rejoined the fight, his fighting skills only hampered by the fact that he stood out like a… err… six foot multi-coloured parrot!

Well done to all the lads who despite the horrible rain on Saturday kept their spirits up and didn't moan at all! We would also like to give a special mention to ‘Trigger’ who, despite being the fall-guy for the group for the entire weekend, took all the stick with the grace and good humour of a true gent!

Thanks to Ben and Jon for getting James along and good luck for Jon with ‘SUSO’ - the orange energy-drink as drunk by Bob Spour! (Find out more at www.sutsu.com!)

We would like to wish him all the best for his wedding and his married life thereafter.

Paul teaching a 're-org'

After the battle

- note sunshine!

Best wishes James

Stag Do for Andy Moulden 1st-2nd March 2008

Contacting the enemy!

We recently ran a stag weekend for Andy Moulden and to our complete surprise and amazement no one got dressed up in women’s clothing – well, not that we were aware of anyway.

The guys arrived late on Friday and were sheltered for the night in one of the parachutes and as far as we are aware, slept well, unlike the instructors who were up half the night securing their parachute which had slipped some moorings due to the terrible wind that had got up. (That is the last time Bob has curried eggs for teas!).

The first day of the course saw our stag party being changed from raw recruits to highly trained spec ops soldiers as they were taught the basics of camouflage and concealment, patrolling, contact drills and survival skills. By the end of the day they were up for carrying out a CTR (Close Target Recce) on the camp and despite a few close shaves here and there – Nick nearly

Andy captured

getting trodden on by a patrolling sentry – the team carried out the Recce and the hit in record time. However a moment of confusion did take place as one of the guys grabbed an enemy searchlight and began to head out of camp with it. Unfortunately for him the rest of his patrol thought he was enemy and began peppering him with pellets. The air was filled with yelps of pain as the pellets hit home accompanied by much swearing which caused a momentary ceasefire, the silence broken only by the sounds of his teammates sniggering in the undergrowth, rapidly followed by more firing, yelps and swearing (The guys had earlier mentioned they were fans of Jackass and Dirty Sanchez which explains a great deal!).

Day two continued with more of the same but, during the course of which Andy was captured by one of the teams and taken away for a spot of interrogation. However he eventually managed to escape and was rewarded with a go on Bob’s new Minimi machine gun. This was probably a good thing as it was undoubtedly in safer hands, (within five minutes of holding it Bob had managed to smash himself in the mouth with it). Charging through the woods Andy took full advantage of the opportunity to exact revenge upon his former captors.

Thanks to Ish and Miles Bennet who came down to help out and take some great photos. (Miles was one of our previous stags and despite some cruel treatment at the hands of his mates – including Ish – he has come back for more of the same. Well he is a Geordie after all!!)

We would like to wish Andy all the best in his future marriage.

Contact drills

Grabbing some food

The group at the end of the course

James Sibley's Stag Do 29th -30th Sept 2007

Dan applying the finishing touches to James's camouflage

One thing we love SAS Survival are people with a sense of humour and the guys who came down for James Sibley’s stag do, organised by his mate Attilla, had it in spades (mainly at the expense of James) and kept us chuckling away all weekend.

The course started with the usual overview of survival skills before moving onto patrolling and fieldcraft. It wasn’t long however, before we noticed that they had obviously read our FAQ on the front page of this website and decided they would feel more like SAS troopers if they sported a variety of fake moustaches.

And thus it continued. During the camouflage and concealment class, James’s mate Dan buddied up with him to apply his cam-cream and lo-and-behold poor James ended up with a word daubed onto his forehead which, for the benefit of our younger and more sensitive readers we cannot repeat here, but suffice it to say it had four letters and rhymed with the word ‘Pratt’. (Shortly afterwards during the unarmed combat session Dan got acquainted with the concept of Karma and got biffed in the nose. Fortunately the only pain he suffered was finding that all his mates stood round laughing while we took photos).

Dan - before the biff

During the biff (note mate laughing in background)

After the biff

On day two, when James was captured to be taken away for interrogation, his mates continued the tradition of providing ladies underwear for the stag to wear, this time in the shape of a French maids outfit, complete with fishnet tights. And when he was forced to strip out of his army gear and don the maids outfit they naturally gave him the encouragement that only mates could. Standing in the buff he was subjected to comments along the lines of, ‘Oooh! What a specimen’ (said with irony and a great deal of sarcasm), ‘It’s John Merrick’ (with reference to the hessian sack on his head), to which someone added ‘And there the resemblance to an elephant ends’, ‘Last chicken in Sainsbury’s’ (quality chickens that look like male genitalia are available at all major supermarkets), and a lengthy discussion of how proficient a sniper would need to be to hit a target so small. Things got worse when he was then crammed into the fishnet tights – the fact he had no underpants on making the whole thing too unpleasant for words.

Be honest, if you had a high powered Airsoft rifle and a mag full of BB's, you would wouldn't you?

Eventually, as James was taken away by his captors, they rallied round and decided the honourable thing to do would be to head off into the woods and rescue him. They managed to fight their way into the camp where James was tied up, his dress tucked into his tights at the back leaving his backside exposed, with only the fishnets offering any protection. During a lull in the fighting the temptation was too much for his supposed rescuer Dan who decided to give James a Forrest Gump wound. The pain caused by lots of plastic pellets bouncing off his butt-ocks at high speed caused James to tear free of his bonds, put his army gear back on over his dress, grab his gun and go on a rampage. It wasn’t long before a pellet pinged off one of Dan’s ears making it as red and painful as James’s bum. Karma had struck again!

Well done guys and thanks for keeping us all happy. Best wishes to James on married life.

The gang complete with SAS moustaches

James Sibley - also available as a French maid

Miles Bennett Stag Do – 25^th 26^th August

To misquote a certain Mr Churchill – ‘Never, in the field of SAS Survival stag-dos, has a stag been tortured by so many, with such little complaint’.

Our husband-to-be, Miles Bennett suffered the indignities of having his nipples tweaked, being duct taped to a garden chair and being threatened with being dragged nose-down across the field from the back of a car (and that was before we got our hands on him!). He was also stripped naked apart from boots, socks and an attractive duct tape thong, being dunked in a river and having his love-spuds nearly blown of with a BB grenade. However, Miles is a Geordie and even with having spent his recent years living in Kent, he hasn’t totally become a southern softie and despite a bit of colourful language he took it all in his stride.

Miles and his gang turned up on Friday night and quickly made themselves familiar with the local hostelry. Despite their revelries and an evening which included the nipple tweaking and duct taping to garden furniture, all were up as fresh as daisies on Saturday morning to commence training. Throughout the day they were taught various survival and military skills and after a dip in a part of the river now known as 'The Bennet Pool', culminated in a night time CTR and ambush. This involved observing some enemy troops, one of whom was Welsh, the other starting off with a Welsh accent but ending up as Borat! The intelligence they gathered concerned the arrival of a visiting female royal dignitary who was heavily involved in creating a top secret project for the enemy. After laying an ambush they managed to shoot their target, but were then hunted down by her bodyguards (a bald bloke and an old Geordie – both of whom incidentally, were eunuchs with dodgy sexual proclivities - according to the Welsh guards at any rate). There followed a heart thumping battle as the SAS team were hunted down in the searchlights and torches of the hunter force, the old Geordie an awe inspiring site as he began to have flashbacks to the battle fields of his youth, striding across the field with the nobility of a Highland stag.

Day two started with more lessons, but during the course of the morning Miles was ambushed by his mates. At this point, friends of the stag would normally produce some sort of humiliating costume for him to wear, but Miles’s buddies opted for the good old ’strip-him butt-naked’ approach. As an after-thought they improvised a fetching thong from duct tape, partly to pose an interesting removal of said duct tape dilemma for their victim, and partly to protect any passers by from being subjected to the site of his meat and two veg. However, the thong only made the grim spectacle more hideous and any members of the public who caught a glimpse will probably be having flashbacks of their own for years to come. Having being posed in the field in a ‘somewhere to park your bike position’ for a photo opportunity, Miles suffered a trip to the river, and a rather unpleasant testicle-BB grenade encounter (happily, none of the little balls that were flying around after the grenade went off belonged to Miles). Eventually – before the image of Miles tied up in the woods could burn itself into the retinas of any poor, unsuspecting, woodland creatures – he was rescued by his team mates. Without a second thought he ripped his thong off (making this our first SAS Survival ‘back, sack and crack!), grabbed his weapon and launched himself back into the battle in a way that made John Rambo look like a social worker.

We would like say well done to his mates and especially to Miles for being such a great sport. Once we were happy that he hadn’t suffered any physical or emotional scars we giggled all the way home! We would like to wish him all the best in his future married life.

All the best Miles!

Stag Do - Jonathon Evans 14^th-15 July

Imagine you are sitting at home on a Friday, happily minding your own business, perhaps even contemplating a future life of married bliss. All of a sudden your brother turns up and whisks you away to a surprise stag do, not to some bar in Amsterdam where you will be treated to the company of foxy dancing ladies, but instead to some remote part of rural Wales where you will be sleeping outside in the pouring rain, running around with a rifle, dressed up as a Valkyrie and tortured by angry, shouty men. If you can imaging this, then you have imagined yourself inside the head of Jonathan Evans, soon to be happily married man, part time underpants model and now an SAS Trooper for the weekend.

Although the weekend officially started on Saturday, Jonathan’s brother Alisdair had arranged for the guys to travel down on Friday night and get settled in – get settled in to the local pub that is! We counted them all out, and thanks to the help of John and Alisdair’s older brother Andy – a veteran of many rugby tours - we counted them all back again

Saturday started with us taking the group through the basics of shelter building and fire lighting and then moving on to the military stuff including weapons handling, marksmanship, contact drills and camouflage and concealment (John went for a tiger stripe design and due to his fine bone structure looked exceptionally cool – the man is wasted modelling underpants). The day ended with section attacks and a CTR.

On Sunday morning the next item of clothing John found himself modelling was a Valkyrie costume and a hessian sack, as he was captured in an ambush whilst on patrol, and taken away for interrogation. He coped very well under close questioning confusing his captors with a very ingenious cover story - claiming he was Adolf Hitler on a deer hunting trip! (Actually being dressed as a Rhinemaiden did give a bizarre credence to his story).

Eventually John’s team managed to rescue him and he rejoined the fight with a vengeance. One could almost hear the strains of the Ride of the Valkyries as he charged into battle, his pigtails and purple dress blowing in the wind, the mere site of his horny helmet causing panic amongst his enemies.

We would like to wish John all the best in his future marriage.

Stuart Baty's Stag - Do 30th June - 1st July

We at SAS Survival are being constantly surprised at the imagination of our clients. On our stag-dos, we have noticed an increasing trend in bringing along fancy dress, or rather a ‘fancy dress’ for the stag. In Stuart's case it was a lovely fairy outfit, complete with magic wand. Not that he seemed to object too much (and none of us recall him taking it off at the end of the course!). Furthermore, one of his mates, Nigel, entered into the spirit of things by coming dressed up as a Grenadier Guards RSM. He looked so convincing that some of our ex-military bods began to nervously rub the-toe caps of their boots up the back of their calves to give them an extra polish. To complete the image he then produced a pipe. Standing in the pouring rain, he could have been an officer from the fields of Flanders, to an old colonial sweat in the middle of a monsoon.

Yes, indeed, an old colonial sweat in the middle of a monsoon, ‘monsoon’ being the operative word. As poor unfortunate people throughout the country are having their homes flooded out, the common theme on our courses weather-wise has been rain, rain, and more rain. One of the things we advise people to bring along with them on an SAS

Survival weekend is a sense of humour. Fortunately, the guys on Stuart’s stag-do had ‘sense of humour’ in abundance and boy did they need it. Despite being soaked through to the skin the lads maintained an exceptionally high state of morale throughout the weekend. A special Mention in Despatches must go to Andy Jarvis who despite looking like he had been dragged out of an oil slick in North Sea, had a grin from ear to ear all weekend. Even after being on the receiving end of some mickey taking during his Reaction to Effective Enemy Fire drills (Dash, Down, Crawl, Observe, Sights, Fire being renamed Dash, Down, Fall, Observe, Sights, Fire!), he managed to smile his way through it all, even managing to get a fire going so everyone could have a warm in the night. He also gave us a great testimonial (hope you are happy with the write up Andy - definitely best recruits ever, and all that!)

The weekend followed the usual pattern of learning basic survival skills followed by more military, tactical skills, being gradually applied in mini-exercises. As the day progressed they began working together as a team showing a thoughtful, methodical way of dealing with the problems and little surprises that were thrown their way.

The day ended with us offering them the choice of going on a horrible, nasty, CTR (Close Target Recce) in the rain, or going to a nice warm cosy pub (with us keeping them company in case they got lonely). By this time however, they were hardcore and chose the CTR which was to be put on on a base, followed by them sneaking in and planting bombs under various specified targets. Unfortunately, one of their team was compromised on his way into the camp. The guys had to think on their feet as the enemy were now alerted to their presence and had sent a patrol out after them. At two o’clock in the morning they turned the tables on their pursuers and carried out a near perfect section attack on them. Considering they had only learned how to do this a few hours earlier, in daylight, this wasn’t a bad effort at all, splooshing around in the dark in the wee small hours of the morning.

After the C.T.R. they all settled under their bashas for the night, their heads full of Bob’s army stories (most notably the one involving sweets which cannot be repeated here, but suffice it to say that after hearing it, we’re surprised if any of them slept at all!).

Also, when we say all slept under their dripping wet bashas, we mean all except for Stuart's dad George, who reluctantly spent the night in a hotel. (Apparently he hated every minute of it, as the rooms were too warm, they didn’t have his favourite bath oils and there were only about three million channels on the telly).

Day two started with the guys being split into two teams. During the course of the morning one of the teams captured Stuart, and after dressing him up in the aforementioned tutu and wand, took him away to be interrogated. However, hot on his heels were his erstwhile comrades, who managed to rescue him back. Despite having the opportunity to get back into his D.P.M’s (camouflaged gear) he flouted all of the principles of camouflage and concealment, and heroically charged into battle in his fairy gear, his wand attached to his rifle as a makeshift bayonet.

Thanks to Dave Manning and his airsoft boys for playing the baddies so brilliantly (especially to Pete Bailey who, on our last course, copped half a mag of BB's in the nadgers at point-blank range, on full auto! Well done for coming back mate!). Also cheers to Stuart's brother Andy, who hatched the evil plot to get his brother along to one our weekends, and well done to all the guys, particularly for bearing up so well under the inclement weather.

All the best Stuart!

Stag do - Paul Jewison 3rd June

We at SAS Survival consider ourselves to be a fairly red blooded lot. So imagine our delight at the prospect of a leggy blond turning up who was going to be wearing fishnets and a ‘Barrack Babe’ Ann Summers outfit. Unfortunately, the delectable blond turned out to be Paul Jewison who came down to celebrate his stag do in style – by getting jumped on by his mates and being dressed up in girly gear.

The weekend started normally enough, the guys turned up a day early on Friday night and used the opportunity to install themselves in the local pub. The course proper started on Saturday morning with the usual shelter building and firelighting lessons before continuing into the more military based skills such as camouflage and concealment, patrolling, contact drills and pop up targets. The latter involved the teams patrolling in pairs along the side of a valley, whilst instructors popped up to ambush them so they could practice fire and manoeuvre drills. During the course of this we had an amusing moment, when Dave Manning lobbed a grenade at the patrol. Their immediate reaction was to ‘Run away!!!’ Unfortunately, they chose to ‘Run away!!!’ downhill, which, thanks to Sir Isaac Newton, was also the path the grenade chose to take. There was much hilarity as the pair tried, in vain, to outrun the ‘homing’ grenade happily bobbing along behind them.

The day ended with a CTR, and an assassination on an enemy baddie, due to be played by Bill. However, due to Bill’s illness (more of which anon), Boppa, who along with his brother Jas, had been Bill’s bodyguard, was promoted to boss of the baddies. He played the part like a pro, and much to everyone’s amusement lorded it over Jas who was now tasked to be his bodyguard. Ill though he was, even Bill couldn’t help laughing to himself as he lay listening in his bivvy bag.

Day two started with a fiendish ‘snatch’ by Dave and his Airsoft team. Paul was ambushed and a momentary cease fire was called. During the lull in the fighting, he was put into the aforementioned skimpy gear and whisked away to be interrogated. It wasn’t long however before his team were on their way to recapture him and having fought their way through various ambushes managed to relocate him and get him back into his DPM’s. (We do not know what happened to the Ann Summers gear but it disappeared mysteriously!).

After a short break there followed another mini-mission whereby the teams were split into three and briefed to locate and capture a jerry can. They had then to take it to a designated area. After a sneaky river attack Paul’s team managed to capture the can and headed off for the FRV (Final Rendezvous). However the other teams had ambushed the location and the troops became mired in a particularly boggy area of the woods. (Thankfully this was not the bog Bill had used the night before! - More of which anon!). Eventually Paul’s team managed to get through and win the day.

There is a footnote to the weekend’s events, and those of you with a copy of Sir Edward Elgar’s ‘Land of Hope and Glory’ may wish to insert it into your CD-ROM Drive and press ‘Play’ now. We at SAS Survival would like to mention the sterling heroism of Bill deTorre, who after a recent trip to Egypt had returned with a stomach bug with volcanic properties. Now Bill is not a man to give up easily, and carried on throughout the weekend like the square jawed hero that he is, even taking a BB in the gob whilst storming an enemy position. It was only on the night of the CTR that things finally got the better of him and he had to relinquish his post. The following morning our brave hero had gone and all that was left was a note, the contents of which brought tears to the eyes of those that read it. In the manner of Captain Oates of the ill fated Scott of the Antarctic expedition ("I am just going outside and may be some time"), Bill had left the camp, (no doubt with tears in his eyes too). He had sacrificed himself for the good of his comrades and the local wildlife. We hope he has gone to a land where there are holes in the ground a-plenty, and toilet paper grows on trees. Men like Bill made the Empire what it is, God speed my friend, God speed.

(Historians and archivists may like to know that the last note of Bill deTorre has been kept for posterity in the SAS Survival museum. Readers may also like to know that a comic strip recreating Bill’s heroic exploits is under discussion. Entitled ‘Bill of the Nile’, it will be hand drawn by that renowned war artist – Bob).

Stop Press -The code breakers at SAS Survival HQ have recently picked up what seems like an encoded message possibly from Bill. The signal was weak but we think the original message is as follows: - ‘Go and screw your shelves you bar stewards and stop taking the fish out of me and my bowls!’

Best wishes Paul!

Mike Peers 40th Birthday 15th October.

Mike Peers recently celebrated his fortieth birthday and by means of a treat his wife booked him and his friends on a weekend with SAS Survival. However this was no ordinary wife – she had gone to the trouble of creating a pack for all the group along the lines of, ‘You have been selected to join the worlds most elite fighting force…’, and came with mission briefs and locations – well a list of local hotels anyway.

The weekend began with the basics of shelter building and how to use the contents of the Combat Survival Tin. This was followed by instruction on fire lighting and included a demonstration by Bill on how to use rubber strips to light fire. Em then took the group on a walk around the fields and woods pointing out various natural foods that were available. This was followed by a tasty soup of freshly picked mushrooms and nettles with a secret ingredient added by one of the team – chicken paste from the rat pack!

Patrolling and contact drills were next on the agenda and once the instructors were happy the group were competent they were given a night exercise to do. This involved putting a CTR (Close Target Reconnaissance) on a target who would then be assassinated. This was a difficult task in the dark but the group managed to take the target out and despite coming under enemy fire managed to escape back to their ERV (Emergency Rendezvous).

Day two began with the teams being split into two opposing forces. During the course of the morning Mike was captured and taken away for interrogation. He proved to be a very capable and switched on bloke and after several failed attempts to escape, he eventually managed to get back to his own side. His team then launched an attack on the enemy base and despite a solid defence they managed to winkle the defenders out. This victory was short lived however as the enemy forces managed to regroup and with a devious pincer movement managed to put the defenders in a hopeless position.

Well done to everyone on the course – we can assure Mike’s wife they all passed the test with flying colours.

Many happy returns Mike!

Stag-do for Karl Gallagher 3rd Sept.

It is nice to know that when some people have spent some time in the service of their Queen and country there is an irresistible urge to get the DPM’s on again and take to the field. So it was that we hosted a stag do for ex-soldier Karl Gallagher and his mates – some of whom were also ex-military.

Despite some pretty persistent rain on day one, the group quickly gelled together excellently and with a fine example of teamwork had managed to put up an a-frame basha.

As was one of our Special Forces Survival weekends so we concentrated on basic survival techniques particularly snares. It was a pleasant surprise to find some of the participants had some knowledge of trapping already and it gave us an excellent opportunity to swap ideas.

We concluded the first day’s instruction with patrolling and weapons skills and after fish and chips the group adjourned to the pub.

The second day saw everyone rousing for breakfast. Here, special mention must go to Karl’s dad Mick – also and ex-soldier - who managed to show the younger lads that there was still plenty of life in the old dog yet, and the zest with which he threw himself into the course made him one of the stars of the weekend.

The day continued with the group splitting into two groups to practise more infantry skills. During this phase one of the groups turned traitor and snatched Karl, taking him away for interrogation. With great cunning he managed to convince them he would defect to their side. Shortly thereafter he managed to lob a grenade into the group creating various startled expressions, and in the confusion manage to escape back to his original team. Using intelligence he had gathered they managed to hunt down their enemy and attack their harbour area. They then withdrew drawing the enemy into a well laid ambush.

Well done guys and good luck Karl – we wish you a life of wedded bliss.

Karl

Mick

Stag do - Steve Snowden 15th-16th July.

During one of the hottest weekends in the summer heatwave we hosted Steve Snowden’s stag party. Despite the heat they soon got down to being formed into an elite fighting unit by setting up a defensive harbour area in the woods It was apparent they were going to be a good team as they worked together excellently to establish their position. After setting up home, it was time for a quick bite to eat (rat packs!) and then it was straight into weapons handling, patrolling, map reading and camouflage and concealment. Following another quick break they were then taught how to patrol as an infantry section and how to mount a section attack. They were then split into two teams to practise jungle patrolling and ambushing. Finally they were given a quick overview of unarmed combat and then it was fish and chips followed by a quick visit to the local pub before the business of war started in earnest on the following day.

Day two saw our special forces teams really getting down to business, as one of the teams launched a surprise ambush and in a spectacular snatch, Steve was whisked away to be interrogated. However, Steve was as cunning as a fox and after lulling his guard into a false sense of security managed to break free. Unfortunately in the dense forest he didn’t get far, but it wasn’t long before his team came to rescue him. There followed a tense game of cat and mouse as each team tried to hunt down the other resulting in some frantic fire fights.

To finish off the day Steve then lead the entire group in section attacks on the instructor’s team. Steve led them with a cool authority and the attacks were pressed home with great effect.

The debrief was followed by people throwing themselves in the river to cool off!

We would like to thank Steve, Kev and Bill who came down to give us a hand playing baddies.

SAS Survival would also like to wish Steve and his wife a blissful future!

The team after a dip in the river.

All tied up and no place to go! Good luck Steve!

Stag-do for Andy Sims 27th - 28th May

Recently we held another stag weekend for Andy Sims. The participants arrived on Saturday morning in what can only be described as wet, horrible rain. However, they were determined this would not break their spirits, and began preparing their harbour area, digging shell scrapes and putting up bashas. Once their homes for the weekend had been squared away, they were given lessons on how to use the ration packs by Andy (time for a well earned, warming brew!) marksmanship by Paul, map reading and navigation by Bob and camouflage and concealment. Eventually the weather did relent, and the sun came out in all its glory. Karl then took our trainee SAS troopers through infantry drills. This included formations, setting up fire teams and culminated in the team storming an enemy position. Two of the team had the heroic job of ‘posting’ grenades and riddling the enemy trench with automatic fire. Karl was very impressed with the speed at which they picked up the training – and as a former Paratrooper this is a compliment not to be taken lightly.

As night fell, our fledgling SAS patrol were ready for their first mission, and were tasked with putting a Close Target Reconnaissance (CTR) on a suspected enemy base which had been set up in their area of operations. All went well until the team were ‘compromised’ and soon the air was filled with green tracer rounds and explosions. Under the expert guidance of Karl they finally managed to 'bug out' of the area.

The sunshine stayed with us on day two, as did the hostilities. The enemy troops, bent on revenge, attacked the SAS patrol and captured one of their men (James Mack). Fortunately for them, ‘Mack’ was made of stern stuff and did not utter a single word under interrogation!

Finally the SAS, under the leadership of Paul, fought their way through various ambushes and enemy patrols to where he was being held, and liberated him. Still under enemy fire they managed to fight their way out of the area even managing to set up a quick ambush on some of the pursuing enemy.

SAS Survival would like to say well done to the lads as they performed admirably, particularly in light of the rain on Saturday morning, and cheers to Jon Badley for getting the lads down to do the course. We would also like to thank the guys from Airsoft Armoury in Cannock (and their team Worcester Mad Dogs – WMD) who supplied the weapons and pyros and who played excellent baddies! Many Happy returns to Dave Manning whose birthday it was this week! You can find their websites here - http://www.airsoftarmoury.com/ and here http://www.teamwmd.co.uk/

The 'SAS' with Team WMD and SAS Survival Instructors

We would like to wish Andy Sims and his fiance all the best for their wedding day and a happy future together.

All the best Andy!

Stag-do for Steve Ludnow 6th - 7th May

The first day of our two day event was to teach our raw recruits the skills they would need in the event of any combat situation arising. Mac and Dai instructed them in patrolling, ambushing, anti-ambushing skills and contact drills, whilst Bob, Andy, Em, and Dave took them through camouflage and concealment, unarmed combat, sentry stalking, map-reading and navigation, and how to use ration packs! They were a bunch of quick learners and by the end of the day managed to navigate their way to the bar whilst avoiding being ambushed.

The glorious weather we had on day one continued into day two, but in spite of this, things were soon to take a sinister turn. As the teams were reviewing their training they came under attack from rebel forces. In the ensuing battle Steve was taken prisoner and whisked away to be interrogated. Despite the fiendish attempts of the rebels, Steve manfully refused to divulge any information and still kept enough of his wits about him to glean valuable information about his captors. This information would prove useful as Steve managed to escape and reach friendly patrols that had been sent out to search for him. Using the intelligence from Steve, they decided to wipe out the rebel base. Patrolling through the forest they were met with counter patrols and ambushes, but after a series of vicious firefights they achieved their objective and won the day!

Bob, Mac and the rest of the team at SAS Survival were very impressed with the way the participants picked up the skills and the spirit with which they entered into the weekend. Well done all!

SAS Survival would like to give a big thanks to the team at Airsoft Armouries in Cannock who supplied the kit for the weekend, did a brilliant job of playing rebel troops and literally made the weekend go with a bang! Anyone interested in getting involved with Airsoft can find their site here - http://www.airsoftarmoury.co.uk/

Also we would like to thank Jay-Jay’s army surplus store in Brecon for supplying equipment, and also Tim and Ian who gave us a hand getting the marquee up!

Finally, we would like to wish Steve and his future wife all the best for the big day and many years of happiness together!

The stag party with the Airsoft Armoury team.

Good luck Steve!