Tracing its origins back to the famous WWII North African army unit, the Long Range Desert Group (who we will be doing a series on in the near future), and including stints serving with the British Special Air Service, the NZSAS has become a premier combat unit and strategic asset of the New Zealand Defence Force. The NZSAS has been deployed operationally to the Pacific, Afghanistan, and South-East Asia, and have received many honours and awards, including Corporal Willie Apiata who was awarded the Victoria Cross, a medal that recognises extreme valour in the presence of the enemy.
The training of an NZSAS soldier is intense. It teaches the soldiers to have the self-confidence and skills to step into the unknown in any situation and provide an effective response. They “train hard to fight easy” becoming highly-skilled and hardened warriors, yet remaining mentally agile, that must maintain a sound moral basis. At their core they have to motivate themselves to push through whatever they face; they rely on their own drive, and they rely on their fellow NZSAS soldiers to do the same.
An NZSAS soldier is a breed of its own, and one who is highly respected by all of the New Zealand Defence Force. The Regiment is a place where those who dare, win. So from all of us here at the National Army Museum Te Mata Toa, happy birthday to the exceptional soldiers, past and present, of the New Zealand Special Air Service. You are elite, premier, the first among equals, and you have a task that matches your drive to be challenged and to make a difference.
Learn about the ingenuity, adaptability, and resilience of Major John McNutt through these items we have in the collection from his SAS survival training in the 1990s.
Did you know the NZSAS used ‘stealth’ kayaks? Our NZSAS soldiers can parachute in, ride in, blend in, and even paddle in, behind enemy lines!
Address:
Corner State Highway One
and Hassett Drive
Waiouru, New Zealand
All rights reserved — National Army Museum Te Mata Toa