THE KILLING HOUSE

At Stirling Lines in Hereford, the SAS's UK base, there is a long windowless building with a corridor running down the centre. On one side of the corridor there are a variety of different-sized rooms, while on the other side there are two large rooms. There are also video cameras and screens to allow interaction between different rooms and to record the action, the footage of which can later be used in debriefs. Each day the building is filled with SAS soldiers shooting off thousands of rounds of ammunition as they refine their weapons skills and reaction times. This is the 'Killing House', where the Regiment's men perfect their hostage-rescue skills.

At any one time there is an SAS 'Sabre' Squadron on 24-hour standby for anti-terrorist and hostage-rescue operations. The squadron is divided up into operational troops called Special Projects Teams. Each team consists of a captain and 15 soldiers, but for the purposes of an actual assault to free hostages it will be divided further into four-man assault teams. The amount of time a squadron will spend on hostage-rescue duties will depend entirely on the Regiment's commitments, but every six months is the norm. If the Regiment is stretched, though, then a squadron may face an interval of 18 months before assuming anti-terrorist duties once more.

Like everything in the Regiment, the course in the 'Killing House' starts with basics. Each man will learn how to enter a room and take out targets to his front - nothing complicated at this stage. Once he has mastered this the drills get more difficult. Multiple entries will be practised, whereby two or four men will burst into a room and clear it of targets. Once an individual has mastered working in a team, the team itself will practise clearing several rooms at a time, and then a whole floor.

ROOM-CLEARANCE DRILLS

As the men become more proficient, the number of targets in each room will increase. This sharpens reaction times - something that is vital to the success of a real operation. At first there will be just one room, but then the instructors will put three or more in one room. In another the terrorists and hostages will be mixed together. The SAS team will, in a split second, have to identify the terrorists and take them out, though making sure they don't hit any hostages. One favourite trick is to have three or more figures in a room with their backs to the assault team as it enters. Suddenly, all the figures move but only one will be armed. The SAS troopers have no time at all to shoot the armed target. As the course continues complications are added.