| Britain has modified it's earlier plan to increase it's SAS commando force by 80 men. Britain will form a new organization in its Special Forces, the SRU (Search and Reconnaissance Unit). The new unit will have 200 personnel and is being formed around an existing (and little reported on) unit; 14 Intelligence Company. This outfit belongs to the army and was formed for counter-terrorism operations in Northern Ireland. The SRU will operate on a global scale, tracking terrorists wherever they may be. Currently there are 400 SAS commandos, and 200 SBS (similar to American SEALs) commandos. The SRU will be directed at counter-terrorism work, and will seek to recruit Moslems and Arabic speakers. While SAS and SBS are known mainly for their commando operations, a lot of what they do is collecting information, often by sneaking into remote or hostile areas and staying put for weeks, or months, at a time. In many respects, the British Special Forces are rather like secret agents who happen to spend most of their time in uniform, and have a license to kill. |