Connor

I know they're not all equal because they specialise in different things, but are there any elite units that are relatively comparable to something like the SAS, Navy SEALs, 75th Rangers and so on? Also what is there selection like, how often do they see combat and what sort of combat? Do they often get sent to war zones?

I read some nasty things about their Officers, that many of them are assholes and that they're generally poorly led by their Officers. How well can they fight and how do other armies view them when fighting alongside them?

I've tried google but I've read so many mixed responses about them, but it's something I've been considering for a while.

So I'm aware that CD's mostly do bomb and mine disposal and such, but how often are they likely to see combat in places like Afghanistan and Iraq? I know they're very well trained but I read somewhere that roughly a little over 50 have served in the Middle East since the early 2000's. I know there aren't too many CD's to start with but that doesn't seam like a huge number. I was thinking about attempting to join, or at least join the Navy first and see how I go later down that track, but I was wondering how often they're likely to see combat, and when they do what do they do?

Also I've read that they do amphibious reconnaissance and surveillance and I was wondering how much of this they are likely to do? And that they're also tied to the 2nd Command Regiment through the Tactical Assault Groups. Would it be mostly the TAG trained CD's who see the most action and again if so, what sort of action?

Sorry for these questions, I've tried googling quite a bit but I can't get any clarification on a few things, any help would be appreciated.

I don't mean PMC's, I'm talking about actual guns for hire? Are there still groups out there like this? Do soldiers ever just head to Afghanistan, Iraq or Africa and just hire themselves out to anyone who will pay them enough? Does that sort of stuff still happen?

This isn't a "versus" question, I'm just trying to distinguish the differences between these three units. My understanding is that the Marine Raiders are similar to the Special Forces in that they both mostly conduct unconventional warfare, special reconnaissance and direct action operations. The major difference being that they have a stronger focus on amphibious operations as compared the Special Forces. And the Navy SEALs have an even stronger focus on amphibious operations but also focus more on direct action and reconnaissance.

Also what sort of reconnaissance do the SEALs focus on, as in more deep and long ranged recon or closer to the battlefield? Or is it both? Again I'm just trying to distinguish the difference because I'm fairly certain the Marines have both Marine Recon and Force Recon, one focuses on long ranged recon whilst the other focuses on recon more directly related to the battlefield.

I really need help with this, I just want it to go away. I am a very neurotic thinker, I can't help it, for some reason, my brain just seems to uncover every possible negative aspect about everything and I'm left feeling completely empty and pretty much either afraid or insecure of my own thoughts, I'm literally my own worst enemy. For example, and this may be a little confusing to understand, but basically, I like studying and reading about scientific things, like how the universe came to be and areas of physics. I love science and technology, but I had learning difficulties as a kid and I'm trying to catch up now in my early 20's. But every time I go to read or learn about new things, I become overwhelmed and whilst it fascinates me, it also makes me feel so insignificant and insecure, I feel helpless and terrified because all my brain can do is focus on all the negative aspects of basically being alive.

I want to change my point of view but it's not that easy, I'm so tired of being terrified to read new things or go out and experience things because all I can see is everything that may go wrong. Its almost as though my head just makes **** up to get all worried and upset about. There are many things I don't give a second thought to, they just pass through my head and it doesn't matter, but sometimes a thought will just be passing through and it's like my head just decides to think about it from a negative perspective, and it happens out of the blue. What can I do?

I'm curious to find out how they work(don't know if I will seen as how there's very little information about the SASR in general), and from what I understand, all members of the SASR are trained for the counter-terrorism role. Is it part of their initial training, as in is it something they have to learn prior to being considered combat ready or is it a part of their later training. If so, how long will they have to be a member for before starting their CT training? Just curious as to how the structure of the SASR Tactical Assault Groups work, thanks for any info.

As far as I have read, the Australian SASR TAG is the equivalent of the British SAS SP. Both are the counter-terrorism and special recovery units for the SASR and the SAS. But are they on par with one another in terms of training, overall quality and do they receive simile or the same types of assignments.

Cheers for any info.

I was just wondering if anybody knows how does an SASR, Commando or Clearance Diver get a crack at the TAG Teams? Can anyone apply after a couple of years, can they apply for either unit? What are the requirements for getting into each unit, do all SASR members go through TAG West?

Cheers.

I neither agree nor disagree with war, I simply haven't seen or come to understand enough about it, however, I do know that it has been around pretty much since the day man started growing his own crops and has virtually never stopped since. I also no that nothings happens for no good reason, and my little understanding of war leads me to believe that the reason it has never gone away is because its simply apart of who we are, like an expression or an emotion. What do you think?

I'm 20 years old and interest in trying for the Australian Commandos through the direct entry scheme, my understanding is that the overall selection and training course is about 18 months, but I was just wondering about a few things. Firstly what level of aptitude are they after, my maths and english skills are about average and I completed year 10 with passes in both maths and english. I was just wondering how hard they were and what the most appropriate areas to improve upon are? Also what is the overall attrition rate of the Commandos and what is the hardest part of Commando selection and training? I'm very keen and really exited to give it go, what are the most important areas to work on aside from fitness and strength when it comes to selection and training? What should I be working on, what sort of personalities are they looking for, how do they look to challenge you and how should potential candidates look to overcome these challenges? Any help would be greatly appreciated thanks.

From what I understand CDT's go through a longer selection and training course than Navy SEALs, they also conduct high profile secret missions, so why aren't they considered special forces? How do they compare against the SAS and the Commandos? I know the SAS is more of a deep recognisance and surveillance unit and the commandos are more of an infantry unit like the U.S. Rangers. Obviously CDT's a water specialist, but I know they are trained to exceptional standards when it comes to land and CQB, but how do they compare in overall eliteness and capability to the SAS and the Commandos, cheers.

I m just curious, I always really liked the idea of being a Sea, Air and Land specialist. Just wondering if it ever happens or if it s even possible.

I have many idea, some are about making money, others are about achieve other goals, but coming up with crazy ideas isn't my problem, my problem is more so management of those ideas. I want to be able to successfully determine which of my ideas is worth investing my time in, and being able to see great potential in those ideas, and perhaps being able to see a greater variety of potential in my everyday life. I feel like opportunity is all around me, and I do my best to see it, but I can't see it all, and even if I do, I'm not too sure how to react to it, how do I fix this? How do I not only see greater potential, but actually sort through that potential, see whats worth my time, and then find a way to bring that idea to life? Sorry if I'm being too broad, I don't really know how else to ask this question.

Who do you think would win in:

1. H2H combat

2. At the shooting range

3. If they were all blindfolded and dropped off in the middle of the Siberian mountains or something, and they all had to hunt each other whilst surviving the environment

4. They all had to hunt down and kill each other in a densely populated city, they had to do the job without being detected by each other and also by the local authorities and intelligence agencies because they've all gone rogue or something

I have never really studied any martial arts, so I have no idea, but I really want to get into some stuff. Now I know when people go through those slower drills it's to master technique, build muscle memory and create tools to ad to your arsenal, this is great, and I know they have full speed sparing sessions, but because everyone has to either wear protective gear or just not be as aggressive as possible and often both, do you think this is what can often cause people to fail in the real world? When you train in sports, coaches always tell you, train how you play, I feel the same would be helpful in martial arts, the only problem, to train how you would fight in the real world would very possibly lead to you seriously injuring or possibly even killing other people within your gym or Dojo or whatever. So when everybody is holding back to a certain degree, do you think this can make us less effective in the real world? Also, I don't think this is the only reason why people get hurt whilst trying to defend themselves in the real world, but I do think it's a major one, what do you guys think?

I know most people understand that Boxing can be very effective for self defence, but is it underestimated? I'm a big believer in Newton's third law; "Every action has an equal an opposite reaction, in other words for every time we ad something, we must take something away. I feel this is very much the case in Boxing, most would say it's too limited, but unlike most Martial Arts, it can be be used in the real world just as you train with it, and it's easy to recall because the techniques aren't overly complex. Most systems and styles are very complex, and so they're hard to learn, and even after years of mastery, many of the techniques you learn are impossible to make work in the chaotic environment of a street fight. It's not that I don't think these techniques aren't worth learning and that having maybe a background of Kali or Silat to help with dealing with weapons and such, but I do think its always better to keep something as simple as possible as often as possible. What do you think?

There's a few things I don't understand about bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies; if it fluctuates in value the same way stocks do in the stock market, wouldn't that make it kind of pointless if you just wanted it as a way of buying things cheaper? Like I know when buying things with bitcoins it's way cheaper, especially small payments, but if you buy some bitcoins and they go down in value you've only lost money, so using it as your everyday currency is way too risky isn't it? Also because it can be mined like gold as goes up in down in value I know that makes it could for trading and mining, but can anyone make any serious money doing it? Like if your smart enough and work hard enough you can become very wealthy off the stock market, but it seams like there isn't any real money to be made on bitcoin or other digital currencies, and it's just too complicated and risky(especially due to the fact that it's apparently quite easy to steal bitcoins). So is it really worth getting into? Also would it be better if there was a digital currency that was't based on mining coins and just stayed reletively stable as far as the currencies value went, and if so, how would that be achievable?

I'm really interested in these three subjects, I think they're very important, but I'm not going to a college or university, I want to teach myself. What are the best books to read, I also like listening to podcasts while I'm at work, so any decent podcasts would be good too thanks.