From The Independent · · 3m
Why SAS soldiers are breaking decades of silence
Former special forces operatives are speaking publicly about their work in Northern Ireland, breaking a culture of secrecy that has defined the regiment for decades.
In brief
Former special forces operatives are speaking publicly about their work in Northern Ireland, breaking a culture of secrecy that has defined the regiment for decades. Former SAS soldiers are publicly discussing their Northern Ireland operations after the government breached its contract to protect them from legal…
The Big 4 rule
SAS soldiers are taught Resistance to Interrogation training that restricts what prisoners of war should divulge: name, rank, number and date of birth only.
Why the Big 4 works
Psychologists call the disorientating shock of capture a powerful process that breaks defences. Kindness from captors loosens tongues more than coercion, so teaching silence has logic.
Opsec runs deeper
The SAS culture of operational security goes far beyond interrogation training. Tactics, technology and techniques stay secret. Even within the regiment, soldiers do not discuss operations with those who do not need to know.
A way of life
Two troop commanders shared a cottage at the foot of the Black Mountains for two or three years. When one returned from months away, tired, thinner and browner, the other never asked where he had been or what he had done.
Northern Ireland operations
The author was selected to run the SAS Troop in Northern Ireland but was diverted to war in the Gulf. When he rejoined his men in Northern Ireland, not a single soldier asked where he had been or what he had done.
Breaking the silence
The SAS: The Shadow War series features nearly twenty former SAS and fourteen Company soldiers speaking candidly about their work in Northern Ireland, remarkable given decades of immersion in operational security culture.
The original contract
The SAS and government had a simple contract: soldiers risk their lives doing secret work, then guard secrets with silence. In return, the government owns what was done and has their backs in perpetuity.
The contract is broken
Former SAS soldiers are now trudging to courts in Northern Ireland, dragged there by Republican activists. Judges with no security understanding hear cases paid for by taxpayers and watched with shameful indifference by ministers.
Why they are speaking
Former SAS soldiers feel they have no alternative but to speak out. The government has breached the contract by failing to take ownership of what was done in its name and protect them from legal action.
The genie escapes
If ministers will not honour the contract, they cannot expect former SAS men to keep silent. Once the floodgates open, many secrets may emerge that ministers may wish had remained secret.
“Once the genie is out of the bottle, it is difficult to coax back in.”
The essence
Former SAS soldiers are publicly discussing their Northern Ireland operations after the government breached its contract to protect them from legal action, breaking decades of operational silence.
