SAS Veterans Re-Enlist To Fight ISIS
04.02.2016
Former members of the 22nd Special Air Service (SAS) have volunteered for re-enlistment back into the unit, it has been reported. [1]
According to the Mirror, around 30 SAS veterans, around half a squadron's worth, have been re-enlisted, with another 30 put on standby.
The volunteers include battle-hardened veterans who have valuable experience from operating in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere. Over the last 15 years or so, such men would have found lucrative employment in the private sector, working as private military contractors (PMC). According to the Mirror, PMC opportunities are not what they once were and that, along with the rising ISIS threat, is driving many ex-SAS operators to return to their old units.
Such men are welcome as long as they can still cut it in terms of skill and fitness. Due to its extremely high standards, 22 SAS has often struggled to maintain full strength.
The Mirror goes on to report that a number of the re-enlisted men may 'join a special reserve unit within 22 SAS', no doubt a reference to L Detachment.
The increase in manpower comes as Britain's Special Forces remain on high alert to counter the threat from ISIS. An element of the 22 SAS Special Projects (counter terrorist) team has been forward deployed to a secret base in or close to London for some time now to better respond to a Mumbai / Paris-style attack in the capital. The Mirror claims that Special Projects troops have been patrolling London streets in unmarked cars - although it doesn't expound upon what practical use this would be.
