Over the years, many have signed up for the South African Special Forces
selection course but only a select few have ever passed. The gruelling
course pushes recruits to their physical and mental limits.
Those who make it through selection still have to complete a demanding
year-long training cycle before they can join the ranks of this elite
unit. In A Breed Apart, former Special Forces operator Johan Raath
offers a rare insider's view on the training he and other young soldiers
received in the mid-1980s. Drawing on the reminiscences of his fellow
Recces, he describes the phases of selection and training, and offers
valuable insights into what makes a successful operator.
The courses in the training cycle show the range and standard of Special
Forces training, including weapons handling, bushcraft/survival,
parachuting, demolitions and urban warfare, as well as seaborne and
riverine operations. For Raath and his cycle buddies, the training cycle
culminated in an operation in southern Angola where the young Recces saw
action for the first time.
Much of what Raath underwent still forms part of present-day Special
Forces training. Comprehensive and revealing, this book shows why these
soldiers truly are a breed apart.