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Training Video: SAS Patrol – Behind Enemy Lines

H/T to commenter ‘Submariner” for reminding me about this video.

I originally posted it HERE – ‘Useful Patrol Training Video’ with the following comment:

This is a useful training video. It has applicability to an SHTF or Resistance scenario if you are operating in a small team. It is made with the participation of some genuine SAS veterans, old school style (Mac was the first man into the Iranian Embassy in 1982 and died in 2011 since making this TV Series). There are various tips and lessons you can take out of this. Take some, leave some as they are applicable to your situation.

Just bear in mind that the equipment and technology is somewhat dated and some current capabilities are either not used or mentioned i.e. night vision equipment, FLIR/TI etc. The basics are however very good and would be amended by factoring in the modern capabilities with the relevant impacts on your operating SOPs.

The basic principles never change, just the specifics and the technology. Basics, Basics, Basics.

Disclaimer; I skipped through the medical parts and did not fully watch them. Current TC3 (Tactical Combat Casualty Care) protocols are a good place to start for your combat lifesaver training.

Submariner reminded me about this in relation to comments on the recent ‘Combat Patrol – Photos‘ Post when discussing clothing color and utility on this past weekend’s Combat Patrol Class:

“We discussed the use of camo and solid colors. We also discussed the use or carriage of stuff that may not look as military, such as hunter camo, solid colors, and even just a spare light jacket in civvy colors. Hunter camo and Carhartt in general fits in around WV. Now, given the equipment we are wearing, I don’t have any time for an argument that camo itself is bad. But there is scope for multipurposing clothing or having a set in your ruck of overclothes. Leave the patrol in over watch, put the civvy gear on, you and a buddy go meet the ‘agent’ carrying concealed handguns and wearing civvy looking clothes.”

Here is the video. Just remember, it is a TV show!:

 

Live Hard

Die Free

Max

10 responses to “Training Video: SAS Patrol – Behind Enemy Lines”

    • There is some discussion of Thermals use…I cant remember in detail how in-depth it was..Might have been the Arctic episode though..

      Bergmann

  2. wearing full military uniform is a mistake in tshtf in my opinion. yes, if in the deep woods where zero population exists(wherever that is), but if anybody sees a bunch of guys hiking thru the woods all in army camo, one of two things will likely happen. one, they will call regime forces hoping to get favor among them, and you are in deep pooh. two, they don’t like the military any more than you and they fire you up on the way to your objective, compromised and in deep pooh. don’t be in the deep pooh. if there is more than s slight chance of running into civies, go gray. carhart work clothes etc. develop a cover story (we’re going to town to look for work). believe me there are more people in the woods than you think, and multiply that as people try to hunt and find wild edibles to eat, etc. yeah, great, west-by-god-va is deserted but the bad guys aren’t there either. you’ll have to venture into more built-up areas to find them other than the odd domination patrol. let’s say you’re captured in army/marine uniform. an o6 has authority to hang you for treason as a spy, or for desertion as an awol, during martial law. non- military attire gives you that slight benefit of the doubt. in bosnia groups switched allegiances daily, so better to look generic than high speed. there were plenty of uniformed guys but many more in jeans and a camo field jacket with their gear in the pockets and a folding stock akm that could be hidden in a second under said jacket. just saying. your mileage may vary, some assembly required, batteries not included.

    • Just a note: in the video they are SAS guys on a military mission, hence full uniforms. SHTF clearly you can wear what you want. Camo is definitely not out, given that if you are out there you will have at least LBE and weapon – hard to not appear as a fighter when doing so, whether you are wearing military camo, earth tones or hunter camo. The point was intended to be that you can have under or over-layers, mix and match, so you can adjust your profile to appear less of a fighter. Perhaps leaving LBE/ruck and rifle with the security party while you go forward with concealed handgun and civvy-looking clothing when appropriate.
      I think any team moving with LBE and rifles, if seen, will appear as a ‘military’/fighter group whatever they are wearing.
      As for the rural strategy comments, I refer you to this post: https://maxvelocitytactical.com/2013/11/strategy-ruralurban/

  3. Max –

    Thanks for posting these videos. They are goldmines of goodness.

    On populated/urban areas:

    There are options for running low profile – a light belt line or chest rig, under a cover layer, with an SBR/bullpup/folding stocked rifle under the cover layer or in a bag.

    Some of the newer plate carriers have velcro and buckles up front to slap a chest rig onto in a hurry and go from low profile (concealed plate carrier) to higher profile as needed.

    Not ideal, you can’t really carry enough for a sustained firefight or to ‘survive’ off of…but if you are operating in populated areas, a more combat effective option than relying solely on a concealed handgun.

    That said, for the given scenario – adding an entirely separate firearm and load carrying line to the pack for just that relatively low-risk stage of the mission would be unfeasible.

    Were low profile urban ops a primary part of their mission, I’m sure the SAS guys have the proper equipment for the task. Helps to have options.

    The buddy pair that went in for the contact did have two snipers watching their backs…

    …and really, were it an actual SAS op versus a TV show, the informant would probably use a dead drop to pass the information versus a face to face meeting.

  4. Max

    Is there any chance that you put out a SUT video some day? Even a low production value bush league one would be of great value in understanding the finer points of SUT that are easily misunderstood in written form. Another option would be to do a video series on your Youtube channel on SUT in small 5-10min blocks when you find it convenient to do so. You could also instead post the vids on this website if you feel Youtube is too NWO. You could even have people pay a small fee for lifetime access to make it worth your time. This would really help grow the non-tacticool knowledge base, just a thought.

    • RE: MV Videos

      Speaking for myself I would not put out any videos, not out of any OPSEC reasons, but because many would view them and then assume they do not need any training.

      If anything perhaps MV might produce not a training vid but rather info shorts like commercials just to get prospective students off the couch and into Hampshire County WV.

      This is Max’s show and I am not in any way telling him how to run it.

      Looks like he is doing just fine!

  5. Glad you added the caveat about TCCC, this part is 10 years out of date and does not reflect what we do and teach now. Doing “The right thing at the right time” has changed somewhat. Even the Brits have reluctantly adopted our current practices.
    The tactics are spot on.