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  • SBS Commander killed in accident

    The commanding officer of Britain's Special Boat Service commandos has died after a training accident in Norway.
    The Ministry of Defence said a board of inquiry would investigate the death of Lt Col Richard van der Horst.

    In line with standard policy relating to the special forces, the Ministry of Defence would only describe Lt Col van der Horst as a Royal Marines officer.

    Similar in status to the better-known Special Air Service, the SBS's most famous veteran is Lord Ashdown.

    Lt Col van der Horst was in his 30s and had been made an OBE for his service during the Iraq war.

    A spokesman said the MoD had conveyed its deepest sympathies to his family.

    Members of the Royal Marines are chosen to join the elite band of SBS members only after a gruelling physical and mental selection process.

    The focus of their operations tends to be from the sea but they also operate inland, and served in both Afghanistan and Iraq.


    BBC News Online
    Glaine ár gcroí
    Neart ár ngéag
    Agus beart de réir ár mbriathar

  • #2
    R.I.P. tough job they do, I'm surprised accident's don't happen more often
    Dr. Venture: Why is it every time I need to get somewhere, we get waylaid by jackassery?

    Dr. Venture: Dean, you smell like a whore

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    • #3
      R I P.

      Comment


      • #4
        Lt. Col. in his 30's?

        By "peace time" standards, isn't that fairly 'high speed', so to speak?
        V.sad (& unusual....) to lose a CO no less in a training accident, no?

        Comment


        • #5
          SBS leader dies in diving accident
          By Danielle Demetriou

          17 March 2005

          The commanding officer of the Special Boat Service has died after a diving accident in Norway.

          Lieutenant Colonel Richard van der Horst died in hospital after encountering difficulties during an amphibious assault exercise in the Narvik area of northern Norway.

          The accident happened when Colonel van der Horst was trying to exit a mini-submarine.

          He died on Monday in hospital with his wife by his bedside. The accident took place in an assault exercise last weekend.

          The details of what exactly went wrong during the exercise remained unclear and were expected to be subject to an investigation by authorities.

          Colonel van der Horst, who was in his early 40s, was made an MBE for his work with the British Special Forces in Iraq and had a distinguished career in the armed services.

          The British military rarely discloses information about the SBS, one of two special forces branches of the British military, which is recruited from the Royal Marines, alongside its sister army unit, the Special Air Service.

          Lord Ashdown, the former Liberal Democrat leader, was once a member. The SBS specialises in reconnaissance work, requiring expertise in swimming, diving, navigating and demolition.


          17 March 2005 12:04
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          The trick to pet names is a combination of affectionate nouns. Honeybun. Sugarpie. Kittentits.

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          • #6
            R.I.P. if they were doin entry and re-entry of a sub it is very dangerous, and has claimed most of their peacetime deaths, a good book, sorry the only book on the sbs is first into action, well worth a read.
            The trick to pet names is a combination of affectionate nouns. Honeybun. Sugarpie. Kittentits.

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            • #7
              Lt. Col. in his 30's?

              By "peace time" standards, isn't that fairly 'high speed', so to speak?
              Not for British Special Forces, I would imagine.

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              • #8
                Originally posted by Parts
                Not for British Special Forces, I would imagine.
                Probably did something superhuman/heroic in Desert Storm that got him on the fast track

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                • #9
                  Well one newsaper report puts him in his 30's, the other in his early 40's. So assuming he is (was) in his late 30's early 40's then it would not be too unusual in the BA (sorry RM) for him to be a Lt Col. Don't try and apply the Irish promotion ages to larger organisations, remember they have more scope for promotion.

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                  • #10
                    36 is a pretty standard age for half colonels in proper armies.
                    "It is a general popular error to imagine that loudest complainers for the public to be the most anxious for it's welfare" Edmund Burke

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                    • #11
                      Our army is particularly slow for promotions. I knew of a local guy who retired as a Major in the RIR some years ago...at 32.(Options for Change)


                      Catch-22 says they have a right to do anything we can't stop them from doing.

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                      • #12
                        Assuming that an officer is commissioned at 18 years of age ( the minimum age which you can be commissioned at in HM forces) it would not be impossible to be a Lt Col by your late 30`s.

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                        • #13
                          can anyone tell me what the typical age of each officer rank in the irish army is?

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                          • #14
                            can anyone tell me what the typical age of each officer rank in the irish army is?

                            do you mean mental or actual
                            Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
                            Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
                            The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere***
                            The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
                            The best lack all conviction, while the worst
                            Are full of passionate intensity.

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                            • #15
                              i mean actual. always wanted to know but could never find out.

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