Special Air Service

The elite strike troops of the Australian Defence Force first saw action in Malaysia in 1965.

They fought in the Vietnam War and from 1978, after the Hilton Bombing during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Sydney, they began anti-terrorism duties.

In the 1980s the SAS Regiment was readied for use in evacuating Australians from Fiji during the military coups there.

The SAS has lost 41 men in training accidents, the worst being the 1996 Blackhawk Disaster where 18 men died during a night helicopter exercise.

In recent campaigns the SAS has been restricted to search and rescue operations, but this time around the gloves have come off and they will take their share of full combat seek-and-destroy raids.

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