04-27-2006, 16:26
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#1
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Asset
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 5
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SAS Mental Endurance Handbook
The SAS Mental Endurance Handbook
By Chris McNab
I endorse this book for SF generally, and for younger SF students especially. The core theme of the book is how to develop mental strength and endurance for combat in elite units. Accordingly, it focuses on the mental, as opposed to physical, elements of preparing for combat, and provides brief tools and techniques for developing mental toughness in various situations. In my review of SF books this is one crucial topic which, to my mind, has not received nearly enough attention. Major Martin’s book did a fine job addressing this topic (especially chapters 5 and 6), but a more comprehensive treatment was desired: this book fits that need.
A brief word on its organization: though he clearly did his best to be systematic (with chapters that cover recruiting, building a team mind, leadership, SERE-topics, etc.) the book is less of a sustained argument carried out in steps, and more of a kind of piecemeal recipe-type book. It often has the following form: “If you are situation X, try Z”. As a result, the book is full of odd little facts and nuggets which can slip by if you’re not reading too closely. (For example, how to use your hand to estimate the distance of a flying jet; how to warm your fingers when you’re in the prone and cold; how the best leaders in garrison can differ strikingly from the best leaders in combat; why the Iraqis so severely overestimated the numbers of SOF troops facing them when they met in combat, etc.)
Since the core theme of the book is how to develop mental strength and endurance for combat, I’m going to proceed by first listing the causes of mental stress for elite units as described by McNab, and then I’m going to list the various tools and strategies he offers as ways to deal with that stress and build mental strength.
Some Unique Causes of Stress for Soldiers in Elite Units (24):
*High mobility –the speed of helicopters, planes, and other delivery systems is fast, can be disorienting, and can leave you deep in enemy territory surrounded by enemy troops (a very stressful situation).
*All-weather Warfare: means soldiers are fighting in the hottest, coldest, wettest, windiest, highest, sandiest, muddiest, and most dangerous terrain on earth (a lot of sources of stress here).
*Continuing War abilities: allow us to fight in low-light, low-visibility situations, which leads to long hours and sleep deprivation (another great source of stress).
*Use of high-tech stuff: demands a lot of concentration, knowledge, and attention, which can be another source of stress in combat situations.
*Intellectual demands of Special Operations: delicate political situations, subtle and vague ROE’s, shifting alliances and enemies, and ambiguous situations –all cause stress.
*Extended periods of boredom and inactivity, with no known timetables: can cause anxiety which can be problematic over time.
Techniques for Mentally Preparing for Combat and Battle-Proofing Elite Troops
*Emulate older warriors (in literature like The Iliad, etc.) (9)
*Make membership in the unit selective to get the best men for the job: fit, intelligent, good character, discrete, adaptable, trainable, have self-control, can be ruthless, and can resist physical discomfort. (Chapter 4)
*Make sure they are led by good leadership who have the qualities of loyalty, courage, integrity, respect, and self-denial (Chapter 6); for elite unit leaders, you have to have intense attention to preparation, and be so well trained you react instinctively (108).
*Go to a trauma ward for a few days and observe the operations (34)
*Keep a high level of physical fitness (34)
*Keep the unit small in number to create a sense of brotherhood (36) (which leads to unusually high levels of trust and faith in one another).
*When preparing for an operation, provide info/knowledge about the full range of the operation in order to lessen anxiety and confirm the reason behind the specific roles (34).
*Take steps to develop a ‘team mind’ through selection, training, rituals, shared experiences, and feedback; overall, you want a team with no bad apples who have character, maturity, humor, and are willing to contribute to something larger than themselves (Chapter 5)
*Use meditation and self-hypnosis for achieving composure in the face of anxiety (38) (brief comment: can you imagine jumping with a bunch of guys who had hypnotized themselves???)
*Also use mission focus and relaxation techniques to avoid anxiety (127).
*Plan and prepare for the specific mission as thoroughly as possible (119)
*Make bold, audacious plans so as to take advantage of complacent enemy: missions should be coherent, achievable, daring, and violent (120)
*Take steps to develop a ‘team mind’ through selection, training, rituals, shared experiences, and feedback; overall, you want a team with no bad apples who have character, maturity, humor, and are willing to contribute to something larger than themselves (Chapter 5)
*Lastly, one real key is training: to be good it needs two parts: first, from the standpoint of the instructors supervising the training it must be as realistic as possible, second, from the standpoint of the students they must be as motivated as possible. (53)
In style, the book is calm, mature, thoughtful, and frankly honest about the fundamental truths of combat. (That ruthlessness in action is a key characteristic of elite units –one which, of course, must be balanced by character; that in SERE-type situations it basically comes down to will and character, and that time is never on your side; and that the one with the stronger will can usually be expected –everything being equal—to winning the engagement.)
Another helpful feature is that the book also offers a number of other sources and references which one can pursue to gain a fuller grasp of a particular topic (books such as Warfighting, and War on the Mind.) Also, I am not sure what relationship McNab actually has with the SAS, but he has written a number of similar books on combatives, tracking, land nav, etc.
Overall, this is an excellent introduction to some of the challenging mental elements of SF and SF-type missions, while also outlining some strategies for dealing with those challenging elements. Less-experienced readers will find the introduction very helpful; more experienced readers may find it fruitful as something to check against their own experiences.
__________________
"Those with the heart and the brain to get past this /
Can spot a pathetic without even asking"
-Philip Hansen Anselmo
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Themistocles is offline
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04-28-2006, 00:27
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#2
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Guerrilla
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Texas
Posts: 181
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Looks like something I want to check out. Thanks.
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TFM is offline
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04-28-2006, 06:41
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#3
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Guerrilla Chief
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Philadelphia
Posts: 704
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Good Information
I have a long way to go even before selection let alone Qualification and I am a fairly new member here. I have been here long enough to "see" all the guys ask the dumb question to the QP's in an effort to gain some magical insight on "How to pass selection, how to pass Robin Sage or how become a Green Beret." My only concern with these self help type books is this..When you're reading them you ain't ruckin!!!!! Seems to me the non-Q'd buyers of these books are many of the same people you see at GNC buying fat buring pills and creams to make their belly shrink then walk over to Ben And Jerry's to stuff some cherry garcia down their neck. Many of them are looking for the magic bullet, the Holy Grail or some easy way out. The best way to prepare (IMHO) is hard work with a laser beam focus on the basics: Land Nav, APFT and rucking. Get your boots and your ruck the way you want them, follow a challenging PT improvement program that gets you nauseous at least 4-5 times a week, read Get Selected a few times for pointers and hope you don't get injured. As far as preparing for combat stress within an elite unit....I am sure the QP's won't forget to teach you a few relevant points some where along the way.
In reading over this relpy it seems I don't like the book or post but I do. I think its great information. But for someone that has not gone to selection yet the 7 meter target is all that matters.
Last edited by Five-O; 05-01-2006 at 04:27.
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Five-O is offline
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04-28-2006, 20:36
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#4
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Operator
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Over Here and down a bit.
Posts: 101
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Why is it when the put the initials SAS in a title it sells 1000 x more than it would if they werent there?
The Author is Chris McNab ?
Anyone heard of Andy McNab and Chris Ryan ?
Or am I just being silly....
__________________
"This is the work of the SAS"
"How can you tell?"
"Body Count.”
-=Ultimate Farce=-
(Ultimate Force (Farce) is a TV show for those who havent seen it)
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zeroalpha is offline
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04-28-2006, 23:58
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#5
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Free Pineland
Posts: 24,832
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by Themistocles
The SAS Mental Endurance Handbook
By Chris McNab
I endorse this book for SF generally, and for younger SF students especially. The core theme of the book is how to develop mental strength and endurance for combat in elite units. Accordingly, it focuses on the mental, as opposed to physical, elements of preparing for combat, and provides brief tools and techniques for developing mental toughness in various situations. In my review of SF books this is one crucial topic which, to my mind, has not received nearly enough attention. Major Martin’s book did a fine job addressing this topic (especially chapters 5 and 6), but a more comprehensive treatment was desired: this book fits that need.
A brief word on its organization: though he clearly did his best to be systematic (with chapters that cover recruiting, building a team mind, leadership, SERE-topics, etc.) the book is less of a sustained argument carried out in steps, and more of a kind of piecemeal recipe-type book. It often has the following form: “If you are situation X, try Z”. As a result, the book is full of odd little facts and nuggets which can slip by if you’re not reading too closely. (For example, how to use your hand to estimate the distance of a flying jet; how to warm your fingers when you’re in the prone and cold; how the best leaders in garrison can differ strikingly from the best leaders in combat; why the Iraqis so severely overestimated the numbers of SOF troops facing them when they met in combat, etc.)
Since the core theme of the book is how to develop mental strength and endurance for combat, I’m going to proceed by first listing the causes of mental stress for elite units as described by McNab, and then I’m going to list the various tools and strategies he offers as ways to deal with that stress and build mental strength.
Another helpful feature is that the book also offers a number of other sources and references which one can pursue to gain a fuller grasp of a particular topic (books such as Warfighting, and War on the Mind.) Also, I am not sure what relationship McNab actually has with the SAS, but he has written a number of similar books on combatives, tracking, land nav, etc.
Overall, this is an excellent introduction to some of the challenging mental elements of SF and SF-type missions, while also outlining some strategies for dealing with those challenging elements. Less-experienced readers will find the introduction very helpful; more experienced readers may find it fruitful as something to check against their own experiences.
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Your opinion might carry a bit of weight if you have completed the SFQC and been on a few missions.
Till then, the value of such a book review means little here.
TR
__________________
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." - President Theodore Roosevelt, 1910
De Oppresso Liber 01/20/2025
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The Reaper is offline
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04-29-2006, 05:30
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#6
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Operator
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Over Here and down a bit.
Posts: 101
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No. Its callled the $A$ theory.
__________________
"This is the work of the SAS"
"How can you tell?"
"Body Count.”
-=Ultimate Farce=-
(Ultimate Force (Farce) is a TV show for those who havent seen it)
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zeroalpha is offline
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04-29-2006, 08:34
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#7
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Free Pineland
Posts: 24,832
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I think I saw a new "SAS Buns of Steel" workout video in a store the other day.
You never know. Kind of like the Official SEAL Knife.
TR
__________________
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." - President Theodore Roosevelt, 1910
De Oppresso Liber 01/20/2025
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The Reaper is offline
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04-29-2006, 09:12
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#8
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: LA
Posts: 1,653
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Quote:
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I endorse this book for SF generally, and for younger SF students especially.
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LOL - Ringing endosement.
I recommend:
Astrophysics Of Gaseous Nebulae And Active Galactic Nuclei by Donald E. Osterbrock and Gary J. Ferland (Hardcover - Sep 21, 2005) (Shipping weight: 2.8 lbs.)
Buy 20 of them and put them in your rucksack and start walking. It will do you more good than the SASsy book.
__________________
Somewhere a True Believer is training to kill you. He is training with minimal food or water, in austere conditions, training day and night. The only thing clean on him is his weapon and he made his web gear. He doesn't worry about what workout to do - his ruck weighs what it weighs, his runs end when the enemy stops chasing him. This True Believer is not concerned about 'how hard it is;' he knows either he wins or dies. He doesn't go home at 17:00, he is home.
He knows only The Cause.
Still want to quit?
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NousDefionsDoc is offline
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04-29-2006, 09:38
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#9
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Free Pineland
Posts: 24,832
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by NousDefionsDoc
LOL - Ringing endosement.
I recommend:
Astrophysics Of Gaseous Nebulae And Active Galactic Nuclei by Donald E. Osterbrock and Gary J. Ferland (Hardcover - Sep 21, 2005) (Shipping weight: 2.8 lbs.)
Buy 20 of them and put them in your rucksack and start walking. It will do you more good than the SASsy book.
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Classic!!
LMAO!
TR
__________________
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." - President Theodore Roosevelt, 1910
De Oppresso Liber 01/20/2025
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The Reaper is offline
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04-29-2006, 19:48
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#10
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Operator
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Over Here and down a bit.
Posts: 101
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Quote:
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*Make bold, audacious plans so as to take advantage of complacent enemy: missions should be coherent, achievable, daring, and violent (120)
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Ok, That kinda proves it really. I wonder how much action the Author has actually seen.
Quote:
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*Plan and prepare for the specific mission as thoroughly as possible (119)
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I love that bit ^^^... the guy is a EXPERT.... I would have NEVER thought about doing that. Im going to try it next time... see what happens...
__________________
"This is the work of the SAS"
"How can you tell?"
"Body Count.”
-=Ultimate Farce=-
(Ultimate Force (Farce) is a TV show for those who havent seen it)
Last edited by zeroalpha; 04-29-2006 at 19:52.
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zeroalpha is offline
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04-29-2006, 19:55
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#11
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: LA
Posts: 1,653
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Thermistocles, do you favor expansion of the Navy to meet the Persian threat?
__________________
Somewhere a True Believer is training to kill you. He is training with minimal food or water, in austere conditions, training day and night. The only thing clean on him is his weapon and he made his web gear. He doesn't worry about what workout to do - his ruck weighs what it weighs, his runs end when the enemy stops chasing him. This True Believer is not concerned about 'how hard it is;' he knows either he wins or dies. He doesn't go home at 17:00, he is home.
He knows only The Cause.
Still want to quit?
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NousDefionsDoc is offline
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04-29-2006, 23:28
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#12
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Guerrilla
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: The state that can't count it's ballots.
Posts: 429
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by NousDefionsDoc
I recommend:
Astrophysics Of Gaseous Nebulae And Active Galactic Nuclei by Donald E. Osterbrock and Gary J. Ferland (Hardcover - Sep 21, 2005) (Shipping weight: 2.8 lbs.)
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Heh, hell if you have a copy send it my way, cause I'd like to read it! 
__________________
"Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" Then I said, "Here am I. Send me".
-Isaiah 6:8
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Spartan359 is offline
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04-30-2006, 17:31
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#13
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Apr 2006
Location: Fort Bragg, NC
Posts: 74
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Haven't read the book, but if my memory serves me correctly, wasn't McNabb one of the SAS operators captured and held as a POW during Desert Storm?
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shortbrownguy is offline
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04-30-2006, 17:46
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#14
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Free Pineland
Posts: 24,832
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by shortbrownguy
Haven't read the book, but if my memory serves me correctly, wasn't McNabb one of the SAS operators captured and held as a POW during Desert Storm?
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That was zeroalpha's point two days ago above.
TR
__________________
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat." - President Theodore Roosevelt, 1910
De Oppresso Liber 01/20/2025
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The Reaper is offline
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05-01-2006, 00:00
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#15
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Dec 2004
Location: CO
Posts: 333
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The guy who wrote B20 was Andy Mcnabb. Is this the same guy? It's not really important I guess but I was just curious.
SFC W
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uboat509 is offline
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