SAS's first civilian recruit tells of being remade into an elite killing machine

Saturday, 12 November 2016

A Special Air Service recruit who went straight from 'Civvy St' to the army's most prestigious unit says becoming a special forces trooper was the fulfillment of a lifelong dream.

The former private citizen, who can't be named, made it directly through the punishing selection process after entry was opened to non-Defence Force personnel in 2011.

Members of the New Zealand SAS perform a haka as the body of lance corporal Leon Smith was placed on a transport aircraft to fly back to New Zealand in 2011.

Now a Lance Corporal, he says he was 'by no means the most talented, strongest, or smartest applicant'.

'What I had was willpower. Allowing me to push past the pain of training or being told I couldn't. I choose to ignore rejection and failure, electing to pick myself up and carry on.'

SAS Lance corporal Leon Smith New Zealand was shot in the head during a raid on a compound in the Afghan capital Kabul in 2011.

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The trooper told how he was unsuccessful at his first attempt for failing to make the cut off time on day four of the training programme.

He returned the next year, this time committing '100 per cent every day', and made it through the initial selection process.

But passing selection was just the start of a three year process towards becoming a fully fledged member of the SAS.

He spent years honing his skills with the Commandos after his progress through to full SAS trooper was hindered by an injury, reaching the rank of Lance Corporal along the way.

The SAS training 'cycle' is broken into two parts - referred to as black and green. The Lance Corporal spent three years as a commando after completing black training, before completing the 'green' cycle and joining the SAS.

He described the final training programme as 'the hardest six months of my life'.

'I learnt how to survive off the land, parachute, operate heavy weapons, control small boats, climb, rig demolitions, and much more.'

The courses test applicants across land, air, sea, and trains them in weapon systems and patrol skills, including medical, communications, combat tracking and demolitions.

'It pushed me to my limit both physically and mentally and it is something I would never want to do again,' he said.

The first year in the elite unit, based in Papakura, south Auckland, was a 'rollercoaster' in which he became a father 'and fired a lot of weapons'.

'Everybody in the unit is striving to be the best; you will never see anyone being happy with mediocrity. It is an ethos driven internally and from the top down.

'This makes you want and need to perform to your best everyday,' he told the latest edition of Army News.

Operational details and the identities of the SAS members are a tightly guarded secret.

However, the unit's presence during the war in Afghanistan came under close scrutiny after New Zealand media ran a photo of Victoria Cross-winning soldier Willie Apiata there in 2010.

The next year the SAS lost two members during battles with the Afghan Taliban, Corporal Dougie Grant and Lance Corporal Leon Smith.

Deployments since then have remained secret, and in September the Government denied a report that New Zealand special forces were involved in combat roles in Iraq.

An NZDF spokesman said the number of SAS candidates remained the same regardless of increasingly volatile global events.

The next SAS training cycle is in April 2017, and nominations open on December 16.