Special Reconnaissance Regiment

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"SRR" redirects here. For other uses, see SRR (disambiguation).

Special Reconnaissance Regiment
Cap badge of the Special Reconnaissance Regiment
Active	6 April 2005-
Country	United Kingdom
Branch	Tri-Service
Type	Special Forces
Role	Special Reconnaissance
Size	One regiment
Part of	UK Special Forces
Garrison/HQ	Unknown

The Special Reconnaissance Regiment (SRR) is a Special Forces Regiment of the British Armed Forces, which conducts special reconnaissance, predominantly, but not exclusively, in a Counter-Terrorism posture. It was established on 6 April 2005 at RMA Sandhurst and is a component of United Kingdom Special Forces (UKSF) alongside the Special Air Service (SAS) and Special Boat Service (SBS), supported by the Special Forces Support Group (SFSG).

1 Formation
2 Regalia
3 Recruitment and Selection
4 History
- 4.1 Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes
- 4.2 Iraq arrests
5 See also
6 References

[edit] Formation

Thought to be based near Hereford^{[citation needed]}, the SRR is a Tri-Service unit^{[citation needed]} administered by the British army. The Regiment was established following a Strategic Defence white paper identifying a requirement for assets to engage in covert special reconnaissance and surveillance in support of military activities worldwide.

It is the newest Special Forces Regiment in the armed forces, announced by the then Secretary of State for Defence Geoff Hoon in 2004.^{[citation needed]} The Regiment was formed around a core of already existing assets, thought to be an allusion to Joint Communications Unit (Northern Ireland) (JCU(NI)^{[citation needed]}, known in popular culture as 14 Intelligence Company, which formed a similar role against Irish Republican and Loyalist terrorism in Northern Ireland since the 1970s.

Few details are publicly available, but it is believed that the unit is less than half the size of the SAS and that the Regiment's primary purpose is to release the other UKSF units from surveillance duties, allowing them to focus on conduct of offensive action.

[edit] Regalia

Personnel retain the uniforms of their parent organisations with the addition of the sand coloured beret and the SRR cap badge. The cap badge shares the Sword of Damocles or Excalibur in common with the other SF emblems, in the case of the SRR placed behind a Corinthian helmet surmounting a scroll inscribed RECONNAISSANCE.

[edit] Recruitment and Selection

Nothing has been released to the public domain regarding recruitment and selection, however predicated around the JCU(NI) model the Regiment recruits both sexes from thorughout the British armed forces.

[edit] History

UK Government policy is not to comment on Special Forces activities, and personnel are bound by the same confidentiality agreeement as other UKSF operators,^{[citation needed]} therefore no verifiable informaiton exists regarding the activities of the Regiment, however some media reports suggest involvement in high profile events.

[edit] Shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes

On 22 July 2005 Jean Charles de Menezes was shot by armed police officers on the London underground rail system, at Stockwell tube station.

Two media reports carry assertions by unattributed UK government sources that personnel of the Regiment were involved in the intelligence collection effort leading to the shooting<ref>The Guardian,4 August 2005,accessed 17 Oct 06</ref> and on the tube train whilst the offensive action occurred <ref>Sunday Herald, 21 August accessed 17 Oct 06</ref>

Defence sources refused to comment on this speculation.

[edit] Iraq arrests

On 19 September 2005 two british personnel were detained by Iraqi police in Basra and later released with the involvement of british forces.

Media reporting included unattributed comments which alleged a firefight with British personnel dressed in Arabic fashion <ref>The Scotsman 20 Sept 2005 accessed 17 Oct 06</ref> and that the two were members of the SRR.