From guardian.co.uk, Monday 15 July 2013 10.09 EDT
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There are growing calls for military chiefs to review guidance on strenuous training in hot weather as sources confirmed that two volunteers who died on the Brecon Beacons were taking part in the SAS selection process.
The two men were involved in a gruelling exercise in south Wales to prove their fitness to become SAS reservists when they were apparently overcome by the heat.
Mountain rescue teams helped service personnel evacuate the two men and as many as four others from the rugged mountains on Saturday afternoon, as temperatures soared to 30C (86F). A third man who was badly affected remains in serious condition in hospital.
The incident happened on or near the slopes of Pen y Fan, the highest mountain in southern Britain and venue for the notorious "Fan Dance", which involves would-be SAS members marching up the mountain, down the other side and back again while carrying a weighted pack and rifle – then doing the route in reverse in a set time.
Dyfed-Powys police and the Ministry of Defence are investigating the incident but there were already calls for military chiefs to look again at the stress and strains would-be special services members are put under during training.
Dan Jarvis, the Labour MP and a former member of the Parachute Regiment, called for the MoD to review its guidance on training in harsh conditions. He said: "I robustly defend the right of the army to conduct the most rigorous training. We have got to have people who are used to facing adversity.
"Having said that, there are very strict rules that apply when training is taking place in adverse conditions. Something has gone wrong. We need to get to the bottom of it." Jarvis said he had trained on the Brecon Beacons in hot and cold weather. "It is incredibly arduous," he said.
Simon Thomas, the Plaid Cymru assembly member for mid and west Wales, which includes the Beacons, said: "Our thoughts are with the families at this dreadful time, and we send best wishes for the recovery of the third soldier affected.
"The UK government plans to rely more heavily upon members of the Territorial Army in future and so they must receive the best training and the same duty of care. Lessons must be learnt as more information from this comes to light.
"The Brecon Beacons are a beautiful part of the country, but even the most hardy can get into trouble if they are not properly prepared for any eventualities there."
Philippa Tuckman, a specialist lawyer in military negligence at Bolt Burdon Kemp, said: "The MoD has a lot of guidance around climatic injuries and itself states that the majority of deaths caused by the climate could be avoided.
"The fact we have six people involved here, with two deaths and a serious injury, does seem to indicate that someone was not following these guidelines. The guidance is excellent but you have to get everyone to follow that guidance or it is just another bit of paper."
Under a 2003 MoD joint services publication, a set of rules with defence-wide applicability, strict guidelines about how to operate in extreme heat and cold are set out. If these are not followed soldiers can be left with debilitating, long-term injuries, said Tuckman.
"I see people whose careers are ruined, who are left unable to regulate their own body temperature, who have damage to their kidneys," she said. "Of course we have to train soldiers to be tough, but following your own guidelines is not going soft, it's being a responsible employer."
Police are taking the lead in the investigation into the deaths but defence sources said there did not appear to be anything suspicious. "The MoD can confirm that it is working with Dyfed-Powys police to investigate an incident during a training exercise on the Brecon Beacons on Saturday in which two members of military personnel died," the MoD said in a statement.
"The two servicemen's next of kin have been informed. More information will be released in due course but it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage."
A huge variety of British and overseas service personnel are tested and toughened up on the Beacons. Ken Jones, a former member of the special forces who now organises an endurance race in the peaks, said service personnel who trained there were pushed to breaking point. "They are out there carrying a third or half of their body weight. When it's hot it's impossible to get rehydrated. They have no time for recovery. They are working as hard as Olympic athletes but without the good food, the time to recover, the massage." Jones said both SAS and SAS reservists were undergoing selection in the hills at the moment.
The incident may have wider ramifications for the government's plans to beef up the TA's role. It is due to be renamed the Army Reserves and its numbers increased by 50%, to 30,000. The plan is that the reserves will be more integrated and play a bigger part in military operations as the regular forces face heavy cuts.
News of the deaths was met with shock in the nearby town of Brecon, which is home to the Infantry Battle School (IBS). The rough and remote terrain of the Beacons is used by the military for a wide range of exercises for various army personnel. Infantry regiments train at Sennybridge in the area, there is an army base in Brecon and the SAS has a base at nearby Hereford.
The men who died will now be the focus of an armed forces service taking place at St Mary's priory in Abergavenny on Sunday.
Matthew Dorrance, the mayor of Brecon, said: "This is incredibly sad. Our thoughts are with the friends and families of those that have lost their lives and with the person who has been injured. Everyone knows someone who works in the army. It's a major employer here and we're very proud of our military links, which go back many years."
Earlier this year, an army captain, Rob Carnegie, was found dead on the snow-covered Corn Du mountain in the park. It was thought he was attempting a gruelling march in freezing conditions during a selection process for the SAS.
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