Selous Scouts - Selection and Training

Selection and Training

The Selous Scouts acted as a combat reconnaissance force, with the mission of infiltrating Rhodesia's tribal population and guerrilla networks, pinpointing rebel groups and relaying vital information back to the conventional forces earmarked to carry out the actual attacks. Members of the regiment were trained to operate in small under-cover, clandestine teams capable of working independently in the bush for periods of weeks and of passing themselves off as rebels. The Selous Scouts were an entirely volunteer force. On one occasion, 14 out 126 candidates – less than 12 percent of the total applicant pool – passed the selection process.

As Lt. Col. Ron Reid Daly stated:

...a special force soldier has to be a certain very special type of man. In his profile it is necessary to look for intelligence, fortitude and guts potential, loyalty, dedication, a deep sense of professionalism, maturity – the ideal age being 24 to 32 years – responsibility and self discipline...

The person that the Selous Scouts were looking for was a mix between the soldier who can work in a unit and a loner who can think and act on his feet.

Selection was rigorous, and even tougher than the Rhodesian Special Air Service course. When volunteers arrived at Wafa Wafa, the Selous Scouts' training camp, on the shores of Lake Kariba they were given a taste of the hardships they would have to endure. On reaching the base (which was a 25-kilometre run away from the drop-off point) they saw only a few straw huts and the blackened embers of a dying fire. There was no food issued. The objective of the training at this point was to narrow the list of potential recruits by starving, exhausting and antagonizing them. This was successful, with 40 or 50 men out of 60 usually dropping out within the first two days of training.

The selection course had a total duration of 17 days. From dawn to 7 am recruits were put through a strength-sapping fitness programme. After they had completed this, they trained in basic combat skills. They were also required to traverse a particularly nasty assault course several times in the course of the training program. The course was designed to overcome their fear of heights. When darkness fell, they began night training. In the first five days of the course, no food was issued, while for the rest of the period only rotten animals were allowed. At the end of training, they had to carry out an endurance march of 100 kilometres. Each volunteer was laden with 30 kilograms of rocks in his packs. These rocks were painted red, to ensure that they could not be discharged and replaced at the end.

The final stage of this march was a speed march, and had to be completed in two-and-a-half hours. For those who survived these days there was a week of leave; they were then taken to a special camp for the dark phase of their training. At this camp, they learned to act and talk like the enemy. The base was built and set out as a genuine rebel camp, and the instructors were on hand to turn the recruits into fully-fledged members of the enemy groups. In this phase recruits were taught to break with habits such as shaving, rising at regular times, smoking and drinking and to adopt a guerrilla lifestyle. The recruits were in the field on patrol with the Selous Scouts only a week after the completion of their training.