Five recruits made to the final instalment of SAS Australia but who was selected?
In tonight’s test, the final five SAS Australia star recruits had to:
- Escape captivity and evade capture by the Hunter Force.
- Be subjected to painful stress positions and disturbing repetitive noise.
- Display resistance to interrogation by specialist defence personnel and maintain a cover story.
- Survive The Final Sickener – a three phase operation which included a 3km artillery resupply carrying heavy sandbags and ammunition containers; an arduous casual evacuation through unforgiving terrain; and an uphill 4km sprint to an extraction point.
After two weeks of brutal physical and psychological training, the final five recruits – James, Merrick, Molly, Nick and Sabrina – were just holding it together physically and mentally as they entered the final stages of SAS selection.
After unsuccessfully trying to evade a hostile Hunter Force, the recruits were held captive and subjected to painful stress positions and disturbing noises, all designed to break their mental resolve ahead of facing interrogation.
Physically and mentally worn out, and suffering in the near freezing temperatures, Molly tearfully decided to VW – “I just can’t stop shivering, I’m in so much pain right now.”
The remaining four recruits then embarked on The Sickener – a final gruelling task which pushed them beyond any limit thought possible, to determine who would pass or fail selection.
After surviving 21 punishing tasks, 11 VWs and two recruit culls, the last four recruits made it all the way to the end of the course where the DS had to decide – who would we want on our team, standing by our side in a warzone?
Chief Instructor Ant Middleton asked James to hand in his number, telling him it’s “just not your time” and it “just wasn’t enough” but he should hold his head up high.
Merrick, Nick and Sabrina passed selection, the hardest thing they will ever do –
Nick: “… just an amazing experience, I feel like I’ve learnt a truckload, a lot about myself too, definitely bullet proof for life for sure.”
Sabrina: “To embark on this and to pass selection and for them to embrace me as one of their own, I’ll never be able to explain how much this means to me.”
Merrick: “To pass it and to get through it and survive it is one of the greatest achievements I’ve ever had in my entire career. F#$% yesssssssss!!!!!!!!!!”
