You aren’t the only ones who will come to the party well armed. Insurgents with Stinger ground-to-air missiles. (Corbis)

Execution

It is two hours before dawn and the inside of the C-130J Super Hercules is loud. For the last hour before jumping the jumpmaster signals for all the men to switch to breathing pure oxygen. This is to reduce the risk of the ‘bends’ caused by nitrogen bubbles forming in the blood on decompression – a particular problem with HAHO jumping when a long traverse is made. You check that every man has switched.

Just over 30 miles from the target the red light comes on in the Hercules and you stand up. All the teams check each other’s equipment. They move to the exit door and watch the jumpmaster. The green light comes on and everyone jumps in teams of eight with a brief gap between each team. You jump last.

A few seconds out of the aircraft and the square canopies open in groups of eight. A little circling and you all set off flying further into Country P, still over radar. Each team leader navigating by the GPS on his chest mount.

Preparing to parachute for a night-time HAHO insertion. (DoD)

At 6,000ft you see the teams on your flank begin to veer away as each heads for its allotted position. Seconds later you begin to circle a few yards from the target and your team lands together with the Intel crew. Dawn is lighting the sky across the horizon. The other side of the Drop Zone, but out of your sight, the remaining teams touch down almost together and the men set about redistributing the equipment they are carrying back to what each man needs for the operation. Mainly ammunition and explosives. (On HAHO operations it is vital that each unit of man-plus-equipment weighs the same so that all operators in a team descend at the same rate.)

You press to speak on the radio, ‘All stations Alpha and Zulu this is Niner radio check over’. The replies come back smartly, ‘Alpha 1 Fives over, Alpha 2 Fives over...’ All the teams can hear you just fine. A nod and you lead Alpha 9 and the Intel crew of Zulu 7 towards the office block, a wooden shed some 40ft long. There are two guards sitting dozing, their backs against the wall. You all squat down against a low wall.

You use the radio again, ‘All stations Alpha confirm position over’. The replies tell you they are in position. Alpha 1 is watching the west road with Alpha 2 in reserve, Alpha 3 is watching the north road with Alpha 4 in reserve. Alpha 5 is in position to enter the missile hangar and Alpha 6 is ready to support them. ‘All stations Alpha stand by.’

You take a last look around and all seems quiet. ‘Alpha 5 move now, over.’ ‘Alpha 5 moving now, out.’ Alpha 5 are entering the missile hangar.

A nod to your sergeant and two shots from a silenced 9mm Glock SMG kill the guards by the office. Time to call in the Reapers. You switch frequency and call the Reaper controllers some thousands of miles away back in the USA. You are able to do this because your signal is relayed by one of the Blackhawks above. ‘Reaper 9er this is Alpha 9er fire now over.’ ‘Alpha 9er this is Reaper 9er firing now.’ Almost together 4 flaming trails mark the flight of Hellfire air-to-ground missiles from the Reaper Drones high above you down onto the accommodation blocks of the base. Each is totally destroyed by a deafening blast.

‘Ach, that’s the way you motherf**ker.’ A Glaswegian Scottish accent expresses satisfaction at the destruction of all the enemy troops without their firing a shot. ‘Shut your face’ – your sergeant has the interpersonal skills of a wolverine. You nod to the sergeant, he points to the Glaswegian and another man. They jog to the door of the office, open the door quietly and slip inside. Your sergeant and the remaining team members take up positions on either side of the building. An individual climbs out of a window and is shot silently from outside. Lights go on inside and you turn to the Intelligence officer, ‘All yours Jeff.’ The Intel captain leads his team into the building to look for incriminating paperwork or anything which might tie the missiles to Country P.

Suddenly a number of automatic weapons open fire from the direction of the missile hangar. ‘What the...’ You turn to look and can see bursts of fire inside the dark hangar. Your radio bursts into life, ‘Alpha 9er, Alpha 5, contact at the missile shed, looks like 30 or 40 men were sleeping there and we have woken them up. One man down, over.’

You reply quickly: ‘Stations Alpha 5 Alpha 6, this is Alpha 9er. Withdraw from the hangar and see if the enemy follow. Alpha 6 ambush them if they do, over.’ ‘Alpha 5 copy, out.’ ‘Alpha 6 copy, out.’

Jeff calls you: ‘Alpha 9er this is Zulu 9er over.’ ‘Alpha 9er send over.’ ‘Zulu 9er we have all the papers and photos we need from here. Am leaving the building.’

‘Alpha 9er copy, return my location out.’ You order the Intel crew to come back to your position by the office building then tell Alpha 5 and Alpha 6 they can head for the extraction site. ‘Alpha 5, Alpha 6, abort ambush at your discretion and RV extraction over.’

‘Alpha 5 copy, out.’ ‘Alpha 6 copy, out.’

Now you have the papers the missiles can be destroyed... ‘Reaper 9er this is Alpha 9er target missile shed, over.’ ‘Reaper 9er confirm target missile shed, over.’ ‘Alpha 9er confirm target missile shed, over.’ ‘Reaper 9er copy missile shed, out.’ A few seconds later two lances of fire streak down from the sky and the missile hangar erupts in terrific sheet of flame.

Extraction

‘All stations Alpha RV extraction, over.’ The Alpha callsigns reply that they have heard and will comply. ‘OK guys, let’s head for the extraction point.’ Time to call the taxis, ‘Heelo 9er this is Alpha 9er, extraction minutes 10, over.’ The Blackhawk commander comes back: ‘Heelo 9er Confirm extraction minutes 10 out.’ You set off at a brisk walk followed by your team and Zulu callsign.

SAS Operation Marlborough

Operation Marlborough was not as glamorous or newsworthy as some SF operations but it was planned and executed with such precision and elegance that it is certainly worthy of recording here as an example of how to do things properly.

In July 2005 British Agents working for MI6 discovered a plot in Baghdad, Iraq for several suicide bombers to detonate their explosive vests at various restaurants and cafes frequented by the Iraqi military. The terrorist base was quickly identified as a certain house near the targets and listening devices were placed in the walls to overhear conversations inside.

It was soon determined there were to be three suicide bombers cooperating in a synchronized attack. In addition, within their house was a bomb factory and an unknown amount of explosives.

Task Force Black, a joint US/British Special Forces unit comprising SAS, SBS (Special Boat Service) and Delta Force, was given the job of eliminating the terrorists and a plan was devised where the British SAS would kill the terrorists while British and US troops provided support and cut-off groups in case of unforeseen events.

To kill the terrorists four two-man SAS sniper teams would be deployed on rooftops surrounding the house and take down the bombers as they left the building. That is three snipers to shoot in the plan and one in reserve. Shooting the bombers outside the house would minimize the chances of collateral damage to civilians in the house, and perhaps neighbours, from the detonation of further explosives which would be likely to occur in the event the house was stormed.

The sniper teams were armed with the bolt-action Accuracy International Inc. Arctic Warfare Magnum rifle which fires the .338 Lapua Magnum (8.58mm x 70mm) round. This is a specialized rimless bottlenecked centre-fire cartridge developed for military long-range sniper rifles. And it knocks down targets like they have been hit by a train.