The SAS’s upstart brother, the Commandos, move into the Special Forces big leagues

A decade-and-a-half after the Commando and Special Air Service regiments competed with each other for the most exciting and dangerous missions in Afghanistan, the lower-profile Sydney-based unit has adopted a new structure from its sometimes-bitter rival.

The 2nd Commando Regiment recently changed the names of its four companies to squadrons and each of their platoons to troops, according to five military sources, a sign of the unit’s evolution away from its infantry roots into the elite world of special forces.

The change, which the Defence Department refused to comment on, was made to align the commandos’ structure with similar foreign units such as Britain’s 22nd SAS regiment the US Navy’s SEALs, one source said.

In recent years the 2nd Commando regiment has stepped up training and joint operations with both foreign units, a cooperation that veterans said reflects respect among the famous forces for the Australian soldiers’ skills. The commandos’ use of regular infantry unit terminology created some confusion with its American and British counterparts, the source said.

The commandos became a separate regiment in 2009, headquartered at Holsworthy Barracks in Western Sydney. Since then they have been regarded by the Perth-based SAS as an upstart competitor, a rivalry that descended into open hostility during the war when the units sometimes refused to tell the other what they were doing.

“Deep internal tensions and a constant rivalry and antipathy” meant the relationship had “almost completely broken down”, psychologist Samantha Crompvoets wrote in a 2016 report for the army.

Fierce competitors

One of the army’s objectives since the war has been to improve their relationship. They now select recruits from a joint, three-week trial at the Bindoon Training Area north of Perth.

The latest selection course, considered the most gruelling in the army, ends today. Recruits for both regiments do some training together but mostly learn how to be Special Forces soldiers separately.

The regiments remain fierce competitors. Commandos, who have heavier weapons than the SAS such as mortars, regard themselves as a “strike” force capable of seizing land deep in enemy territory.

The SAS was created to conduct long-range reconnaissance and destroy enemy assets behind the front line, including aircraft. In recent decades both have trained in hostage rescue, one of the most difficult tasks of any military unit.

The use of squadrons and troops dates to the foundation of the SAS in 1964, and was copied from its British counterpart, which adopted the unusual terminology to hide the fact that it was an assault force.

The unique use of squadrons, sometimes called sabre squadrons, in the army added to the SAS’s mystique as a secretive and elite force deployed on the toughest and most-sensitive assignments.

When Australian diplomats evacuated their embassy in Kabul in 2021, undercover SAS soldiers protected them and helped destroy classified documents and equipment, according to a special forces source.

Of the four Victoria Crosses awarded in Afghanistan, two went to SAS soldiers, Mark Donaldson and Ben Roberts-Smith, and one to a commando, Cameron Baird, who died in the fight.

Still busy

Another significant distinction is that the lowest ranked SAS soldiers are called troopers rather than privates. The commandos aren’t shifting to troopers, a decision one regimental veteran said was due to a “desire not to change too many things at once”.

The new terminology was likely ordered by Maj-Gen. Garth Gould, a commando officer who has been in charge of all Special Operations for two years.

Last year he revealed Special Operations Command had just experienced its “busiest” year since the Afghanistan War.

During a private Canberra function in October, he reportedly told attendees that in Australia’s region the Army’s special forces had directed 80 declared and undeclared missions in the past year.

Military sources have confirmed that the tempo of operations for the SAS and Commando regiments remains high, with many secretive operations involving “littoral activities” occurring just north of Australia.