Trident-za
01-14-2004, 03:07 PM
There is a little-known "special forces" unit in South Africa with the above name. I worked with them back in the early 90's while I was in the military and was most impressed with their skill and dedication. Recently, there have been several documentaries on local TV about their selection and training - primarily aimed at boosting the number of people who apply for the unit, I think (current strength is under 100 operators).
Having spent some time in a semi-elite unit, and knowing various SF people from the UK and RSA, I was quite shocked at this police unit's selection process. It really was the proverbial eye-opener. Their selection is divided into 5 phases. They have a pre-selection course of 2 weeks. This particular group started with 76 recruits.
First phase is short - only 86 hours, but during this time the recruits do not sleep for 1 second and get no food. They also do SERIOUS physical excertion - they must walk at least 250km through the bush in this phase(apart from other PT), carrying different things at different times e.g. a piece of railway sleeper attached to a "ball" of steel by a chain (must be carried for 30km) and the so-called "string of chocolate boxes" (ammo crates filled with cement and joined by 1m lengthes of chain, 5 boxes per string - which are carried for 15km+). No sleep, no food, lots of exertion - for 86 hours.
A rude introduction to the course, but nothing too over the top - I recognized a big percentage of the course from my own days in the military :) The next phase, however, seemed a bit tougher. Phase 2 (6 weeks) is supposedly the "weapons phase". Recruits are introduced to the various weapons of the unit (from 9mm pistol up to RPG-7) and have to pass stringent marksmanship tests for each weapon. PT is a huge part of this phase, however. They spend many many hours a day running or walking carrying ALL their weapons at the same time. Average sleep per night for this 6 week phase is 3.5 hours.
(Some numbers for you - 57 people started phase one, 14 completed it. At the start of phase two these 14 joined the survivors of a previous phase 1 course. At the end of phase two, only 2of the original 14 had passed all the weapons training, and not given up to get some sleep - so far, 2 out of 76).
Phase 3 was a shocker, never seen or heard of anything like it. In fact, a good percentage of it just seemed insane - designed to create deaths. Phase 3 is the "rural survival" course. It involves the normal tactical training, weapons firing lanes, survival, anti-tracking etc. etc. Can't remember how long it lasts (12 weeks, I think). However, their are two final "tests" to this phase. The first test, the recruits are given a map reference 40km away from the start point - the aim is to get to this point without being captured. They have a 40 minute head-start and the "pursuit group" are badged operators, working with helicopter support. It's difficult to explain, but having viewed the video footage I was really impressed by the idea - setting them up as the "bad guys", so in future they would know what to expect from the bad guys. Needless to say, the 40km distance did not include anti-tracking procedures etc. They had been on the move (without food) for a LONG time before finally being captured.
The "reward" for failing the test was 3 days with little food and almost no water in the bush, alone. Nice warm up for the last test - the Kalahari walk. For people not from southern Africa, the Kalahari is a desert - not pure sand, but very little vegetation and no water. Lots of wildlife, including Kalahari lions. The test? Wearing T-shirt, shorts and boots and carrying a rifle, walk to a point 150 km away - in your own time, no cut-off time. The catch? You are issued with only 4 litres of water. This struck me as completely insane. If you haven't ever experienced the Kalahari heat, it can't be described.
Anyway, every single recruit who made it this far completed this test (much to my amazement, there were no deaths). One recruit pulled a muscle in his groin 40km from the end point, and he had run out of water. The instructors just left him, although they monitored his progress form time to time with a helicpoter - he could either continue/give up/ die. He took nearly 24 hours to complete the final 40km, but he finished.
The final phases were typical urban training and parchute training. I was just stunned at the brutality of phases 2 and 3. The final pass rate of the original goup was 2 out of 76.
All this for a "police unit"?? By the way, the entire selection process lasted 9 months - and I'm not at all suprised that they have fewer than 100 badged operators currently on duty. I can now understand why I was so impressed with these guys - not just hardcore, but seriously skilled.
Having spent some time in a semi-elite unit, and knowing various SF people from the UK and RSA, I was quite shocked at this police unit's selection process. It really was the proverbial eye-opener. Their selection is divided into 5 phases. They have a pre-selection course of 2 weeks. This particular group started with 76 recruits.
First phase is short - only 86 hours, but during this time the recruits do not sleep for 1 second and get no food. They also do SERIOUS physical excertion - they must walk at least 250km through the bush in this phase(apart from other PT), carrying different things at different times e.g. a piece of railway sleeper attached to a "ball" of steel by a chain (must be carried for 30km) and the so-called "string of chocolate boxes" (ammo crates filled with cement and joined by 1m lengthes of chain, 5 boxes per string - which are carried for 15km+). No sleep, no food, lots of exertion - for 86 hours.
A rude introduction to the course, but nothing too over the top - I recognized a big percentage of the course from my own days in the military :) The next phase, however, seemed a bit tougher. Phase 2 (6 weeks) is supposedly the "weapons phase". Recruits are introduced to the various weapons of the unit (from 9mm pistol up to RPG-7) and have to pass stringent marksmanship tests for each weapon. PT is a huge part of this phase, however. They spend many many hours a day running or walking carrying ALL their weapons at the same time. Average sleep per night for this 6 week phase is 3.5 hours.
(Some numbers for you - 57 people started phase one, 14 completed it. At the start of phase two these 14 joined the survivors of a previous phase 1 course. At the end of phase two, only 2of the original 14 had passed all the weapons training, and not given up to get some sleep - so far, 2 out of 76).
Phase 3 was a shocker, never seen or heard of anything like it. In fact, a good percentage of it just seemed insane - designed to create deaths. Phase 3 is the "rural survival" course. It involves the normal tactical training, weapons firing lanes, survival, anti-tracking etc. etc. Can't remember how long it lasts (12 weeks, I think). However, their are two final "tests" to this phase. The first test, the recruits are given a map reference 40km away from the start point - the aim is to get to this point without being captured. They have a 40 minute head-start and the "pursuit group" are badged operators, working with helicopter support. It's difficult to explain, but having viewed the video footage I was really impressed by the idea - setting them up as the "bad guys", so in future they would know what to expect from the bad guys. Needless to say, the 40km distance did not include anti-tracking procedures etc. They had been on the move (without food) for a LONG time before finally being captured.
The "reward" for failing the test was 3 days with little food and almost no water in the bush, alone. Nice warm up for the last test - the Kalahari walk. For people not from southern Africa, the Kalahari is a desert - not pure sand, but very little vegetation and no water. Lots of wildlife, including Kalahari lions. The test? Wearing T-shirt, shorts and boots and carrying a rifle, walk to a point 150 km away - in your own time, no cut-off time. The catch? You are issued with only 4 litres of water. This struck me as completely insane. If you haven't ever experienced the Kalahari heat, it can't be described.
Anyway, every single recruit who made it this far completed this test (much to my amazement, there were no deaths). One recruit pulled a muscle in his groin 40km from the end point, and he had run out of water. The instructors just left him, although they monitored his progress form time to time with a helicpoter - he could either continue/give up/ die. He took nearly 24 hours to complete the final 40km, but he finished.
The final phases were typical urban training and parchute training. I was just stunned at the brutality of phases 2 and 3. The final pass rate of the original goup was 2 out of 76.
All this for a "police unit"?? By the way, the entire selection process lasted 9 months - and I'm not at all suprised that they have fewer than 100 badged operators currently on duty. I can now understand why I was so impressed with these guys - not just hardcore, but seriously skilled.