As long as you’re in reasonably good condition and have the drive to do so, almost anyone can become a soldier in the army, but it takes someone truly special to possess the mind and body to become a member of a special forces unit. Some armies round the world possess hundreds of thousands or even millions of troops, but often only a small amount of special forces, and not because they were short of recruits.
Becoming a member of an elite fighting group requires a level of fitness that most gym instructors wouldn’t even come close to, and a mindset so focused and dedicated that few people possess. The stages of training increase in intensity as the recruits progress through their course, so here are some of those stages and what it takes to make it through them.
British S.A.S – Stage 2 recruiting, Jungle training
For those who make it through the first stage of running around a mountain range for 3 weeks carrying heavy gear, the next stage takes them to the jungle for the same level of exhaustion, but this time in tropical heat with a number of added mental factors.
Recruits need to learn how to live behind enemy lines for weeks at a time while constantly moving around and trying to stay hidden. Wearing full gear and helmets in the middle of a rain forest while constantly moving around is hard enough, but on top of this they are expected to keep all their equipment in tip-top condition and regularly clean their rifles. The recruits are moved around at a moments notice, which is often timed so they become deprived of sleep. This stage sees the most recruits leave the selection pool, as the first stage can be passed by anyone fit enough, but it takes true focus and dedication to get through the jungle.
Russian Spetznaz
One of the most famous special forces units in the world, the Spetznaz are known for being one of the toughest fighting forces there is, as well as having some of the toughest training there is. The methods they use to train are considered to be illegal in the United States, as beating the hell out of the recruits on a regular basis would be considered assault.
Their training in general is similar to any other special forces group, with intense fitness and weapons training and learning how to operate various vehicles and pieces of equipment, but the thing that puts them on the list of harshest survival training is the “conditioning” the recruits have to go through.
Running to the top of a hill and back in full gear is much harder after a couple of drill instructors have kicked you in the stomach several times, or someone hits you with a stick every 50 meters. If you mess up in the army you’ll get shouted at and made to do exercises, but if you mess up in the Spetznaz the punishment will be more severe. Since its Russian special forces we’re talking about here it goes without saying that the exact training methods are top secret, but every now and then they like to show off how tough they are by releasing a video of recruits crawling through mashed up pig carcasses while machine gun fire blasts overhead.
Recruits can quit the program any time they like, which is exactly the point of the harsh training as the Spetznaz don’t just want fit people good with guns, they want rock solid fit people who are good with guns who wouldn’t bat an eye lid at the most stomach churning scenes.
Gurkha – Mountain training
In the small country of Nepal in one of the most unlikely areas of the world is a fighting unit that’s so efficient it even embarrassed the British army when they first fought. At the time Britain was firmly amongst the top of the most powerful armies in the world, but upon meeting the Gurkha’s they realised money and numbers wouldn’t work like before. They were so difficult to defeat that instead of trying to do so, the British struck a deal with them and have since fought along side them in many conflicts.
The reason they are such an effective force is because recruits have to possess a level of fitness that surpasses all other fighting forces. Every year close to 20,000 soldiers apply to the unit, but just over 200 will make it through. As part of the training the recruits are taken into the mountains and made to run around in full gear while being able to maintain a high level of focus and weapons accuracy. Deprived of sleep and always on the move, it takes a level of fitness that no regular civilian could ever match to make it through the fitness testing.
Another skill that the Gurkha’s need to possess is stealth, with a story i once read about a unit of British special forces hiding from them during a training exercise as an example. The British took their positions and tried to avoid capture for a certain time, after the time limit was up one happy soldier who was hiding in a bush stood up to walk back to camp to announce his success, only to find a Gurkha had crawled up behind him and tied his boot laces together.
To achieve such a level of stealth recruits are made to hide in the mountains and forests for weeks at a time, leaving no sign they were ever there, which includes taking their “waste” with them so no one finds it.
French foreign legion
The French foreign legion used to be a place were criminals and anyone on the run could go to for a new life and a new identity. If someone passed the training and served a term in the legion they would effectively walk out the other side with a completely new identity sanctioned and recognised by France, making it an attractive place to go for the anyone looking to disappear.
Today the legion is much more respectable when it comes to hiding the wrong type of person, as they would be more likely to turn over someone who committed anything serious instead of accepting them for training. As for training it all takes places in the desert, which is the original location the legion was intended to be used.
Lots of fitness training but this time in direct desert heat, and all the while with increasing aggression from the officers as the course goes on. The reason this unit makes the list of harshest training isn’t so much due to everything being done in the middle of the desert, but rather from the mental drain as the course goes on.
Starting off the officers act reasonably pleasant, even likable, but this is all part of the game to mentally beat the hell out the recruits. They pretend to be your friend and make you think they care, giving you plenty of sleep and being nice about small mistakes, but as the course goes on they get nastier and down right hostile. The level of sleep decreases and they give you fake rewards like extra sleep to lift your spirits up just so they can make you run 10 miles a few minutes after you doze off all happy.