Senior SAS Personnel Targeted By "Bean Counters"

Nearly 40 of the most senior members of the Special Air Service have been told by the UK Ministry of Defence that they have to retire early. These highly experienced special forces soldiers should be paid extra to stay on until age 45, not pushed out the door by a bunch of penny-pinching bureacrats!

Britain's special forces have been dealt a devastating blow that has seen the number of elite Special Air Service (SAS) personnel on active duty slashed.

The move was condemned last night by leading SAS figures as "madness" which will result in the loss of some of the country's most experienced and senior special forces personnel.

The dozens of soldiers axed – who were informed last week – include some of the SAS's best men, whose efforts have been crucial in a series of successful missions to kill or capture senior Taliban commanders in Afghanistan.

This follows a decision by Whitehall officials to end a practice called "continuance", which allows special forces soldiers to serve up to the age of 45 – five years longer than their regular Army counterparts. As a result almost 40 men – the equivalent of half of one of the regiment's four squadrons – were informed last week that they will be forced to retire.

The move has provoked fury within the SAS. One regimental insider, speaking to The Independent on Sunday last night, slammed the decision as "madness" and said: "This is the work of bean counters who know nothing about military operations. It has hugely damaged morale within the regiment."

By: Shelldrake