Air Service

Air service may refer to:

Special Air Service

The Special Air Service (SAS) is a special forces unit of the British Army. The SAS was founded in 1941 as a regiment, and later reconstituted as a corps in 1950. This special forces unit undertakes a number of roles including covert reconnaissance, counter-terrorism, direct action, hostage rescue and human intelligence gathering.

The corps presently comprises 22 Special Air Service Regiment, the regular component, under the operational command of United Kingdom Special Forces, and 21 (Artists) Special Air Service Regiment (Reserve) and 23 Special Air Service Regiment (Reserve), which are reserve units under the operational command of 1st Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Brigade.

The Special Air Service traces its origins to 1941 and the Second World War, and was reformed as part of the Territorial Army in 1947, named the 21st Special Air Service Regiment (Artists Rifles). 22 Special Air Service Regiment, part of the regular army, later gained fame and recognition worldwide after successfully assaulting the Iranian Embassy in London and rescuing hostages during the 1980 Iranian Embassy siege, lifting the regiment from obscurity outside the military establishment.

SAS

SAS or Sas may refer to:

Organizations

Military

Business

Special Air Service Regiment

The Special Air Service Regiment, officially abbreviated SASR though commonly known as the SAS, is an elitespecial operations force of the Australian Army. Formed in 1957, it was originally modelled on the British SAS sharing the motto, "Who Dares Wins", and draws on the experiences of Australian Services Reconnaissance Department, independent companies, Coastwatchers and M and Z Special Units during World War II. Based at Campbell Barracks, in Swanbourne, a suburb of Perth, Western Australia, the regiment is a direct command unit of the Special Operations Command. It has been involved in operations in Borneo during the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation, the Vietnam War, Somalia, Kuwait, East Timor, Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as many other peacekeeping missions. It also provides a counter-terrorist capability, and has been involved in a number of domestic security operations.

Role

Tasks and capabilities

A direct command unit of Special Operations Command, the Special Air Service Regiment (SASR) is a special forces unit of the Australian Army and "is tasked to provide special-operations capabilities in support of the Australian Defence Force. This includes providing unique capabilities to support sensitive strategic operations, special recovery operations, advisory and training assistance, special reconnaissance, precision strike and direct action". The SASR is primarily structured to conduct covert long-range reconnaissance and surveillance in small teams in enemy-controlled territory, while commando units are utilised to conduct raids in larger groups. In addition to warfighting during conventional conflicts, the regiment is also tasked with maintaining a specialist counter-terrorist capability. Other capabilities include training local or indigenous forces, recovery of Australian citizens and humanitarian assistance. The SASR is also trained in counter-insurgency operations.

Special forces

Special forces and special operations forces are military units trained to perform unconventional missions. Special forces, as they would now be recognised, emerged in the early 20th century, with a significant growth in the field during the Second World War.

Depending on the country, special forces may perform some of the following functions: airborne operations, counter-insurgency, "counter-terrorism", covert ops, direct action, hostage rescue, high-value targets/manhunting, intelligence operations, mobility operations, and unconventional warfare. The term “special forces” in the US refers to the US Army's forces while the term “special operation forces” refers to all units. In Russian-speaking countries special forces are typically called spetsnaz, an acronym for "special purpose". Likewise Russian speakers refer to special forces of other nations as spetsnaz, for example US Special Forces would be referred to as Amerikanski spetsnaz in Russian.

Capabilities

Special forces capabilities include the following: