SAS in merger with its Royal Navy rival

SAS in merger with its Royal Navy rival By Andrew Gilligan and Tom Baldwin

THE Special Air Service and its marine counterpart, the Special Boat Service, have effectively merged much of their work in a far-reaching reorganisation of Britain's special forces.

Personnel in the SBS, previously reserved for amphibious operations, have already been widely used in the same way as their SAS colleagues in Bosnia and Iraq, and are now deployed in Northern Ireland. SBS and SAS recruits are chosen at the same joint special forces selection course in the Brecon Beacons, South Wales. After selection, all but a few weeks of training is done jointly with the SAS at its Hereford base.

The two units maintain their separate cap badges and nominally have separate commands. However, in practice, both are under the unified command of the Director Special Forces, a senior Army officer. SAS troopers and SBS commandos now operate alongside each other on exercises and operations, according to Ministry of Defence sources.

The changes aim to make SAS and SBS personnel interchangeable for most - although still not all - tasks. SBS men now receive air and parachute training and SAS members have some maritime instruction. However, SBS retains its maritime specialisation and performs the most exacting water-borne tasks on its own.

The two special force services have become more integrated despite distinct differences in ethos, which remain. The SBS has not experienced the avalanche of often unwelcome publicity given to its Army counterpart and is still little known outside Britain. With a motto of "Not by strength, by guile," the SBS is more self-effacing than the "Who dares wins" troopers from the SAS. The most famous ex-member of the SBS is Paddy Ashdown - who saw service in the Far East in the 1960s. Yesterday the Liberal Democrat leader declined to comment on the merger. A senior officer said: "The changes are about making the most effective use of the special forces element we have. Their skills are too useful for us to be wasted by over-specialisation."

MoD sources describe the change as one of degree, saying that the dividing line between SAS and SBS has never been rigid. But the near-complete integration of training and selection procedures underlines the importance of the changes. The move is expected to herald proposals in the Government's strategic defence review for mergers in the Army, Navy and Air Force as a way of cutting costs and making them more flexible.

Gordon Brown, the Chancellor, is keen to trim the Armed Forces' budget to raise extra money for health and education. Pressure has increased on the MoD following the outcry against Treasury plans to cut social security payments.

Members of the defence review team, which include businessmen and bankers, have been encouraged to "think the unthinkable". A suggestion understood to have been canvassed in meetings is that all three Armed Forces be merged into a single fighting force.

Although defence ministers are adamant that such an operation would be impractical and unpopular, they may yet be persuaded to end the triplication of many bureaucrats and military staff in the MoD itself.

Other proposals include unifying the Army and the RAF's helicopter operations and the creation of an integrated commando force composed of Royal Marines and members the Parachute Regiment, as well as more use of RAF Harriers on Navy aircraft carriers.