WHO DARES APPLY; SAS advertise in bid to get new recruits.Byline: By Chris HughesBRITAIN'S most secretive se·cre·tive adj. Having or marked by an inclination to secrecy; not open, forthright, or frank. See Synonyms at silent. se military unit - the SAS (1) (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, www.sas.com) A software company that specializes in data warehousing and decision support software based on the SAS System. Founded in 1976, SAS is one of the world's largest privately held software companies. See SAS System. - have broken cover to launch a recruiting drive. The first step to joining the military elite is simple - just fill in a form or pick up a phone. Shortages of specialists have forced the cloak-and-dagger regiment to advertise openly for new recruits in the Ministry of Defence's in-house magazine Focus. The pounds 10,000 ad is aimed at getting applicants from Army, Navy or RAF personnel with electronic communications skills - much in demand for the war on terrorism Terrorist acts and the threat of Terrorism have occupied the various law enforcement agencies in the U.S. government for many years. The Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, as amended by the usa patriot act . Special Forces top brass fear the Special Air Service and Special Boat Service do not have enough members with those skills. The ad, which gives an internal phone number for applicants, offers an extra pounds 3400 a year for successful candidates. Any serving member of HM Forces with a communications qualification can apply for service as a SFC SFC abbr. sergeant first class - Special Forces Communicator. The physical requirements are basic Army personal fitness - 60 press-ups and 60 sit-ups, each within two minutes, and a 1.5-mile run in less than 10 minutes - as well as combat fitness. That means walking eight miles with a 45lb pack plus weapons and water in two hours. The ad reveals that four briefing courses for prospective applicants are run annually. These are five-day courses on which would-be recruits are assessed in all areas and given clear direction towards a training programme in order to improve their chance of success. Last night, an MOD spokesman denied there was a Special Forces shortage. He said: 'This is a means of showing where parts of the Armed Forces would welcome applications - in this case from people with communications skills.' #MORE than a third of Britain's Armed Forces would struggle to deploy on operations within the time set by military planners,the National Audit Office warned yesterday. The Navy was particularly hard hit with little more than half the fleet able to deploy in time. The NAO NAO National Audit Office (UK government) NAO North Atlantic Oscillation NAO National Astronomical Observatory (Japan) NAO North American Operations NAO non-asbestos organic said that was the result of a decision by the MoD to run down the readiness of the Navy to concentrate on bringing the Army level up. But they warned that unless the problem was addressed, it could hit the ability to mount operations CAPTION(S): MILITARY ELITE: Special Forces |
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