Is there any other reason the SAS get more notice and recognition than the SBS other than the embassy siege?

Question

Is there any other reason the SAS get more notice and recognition than the SBS other than the embassy siege?

Answer 1

SevN has it about right and anyone adding an 'e' to his avatar in the right place might work out why!!

The SBS has always been a far more secret organisation because of the nature of their task.

Apart from the Comacchio unit and their oil rig interdiction activities almost nothing about SBS operations is allowed out!!

There are several books by ex SAS that refer to the 'Increment' a collection of special forces operators that worked for MI6/SIS which try to claim it was run by the SAS but the truth is that the majority were SBS personnel.  The increment has now been absorbed into SIS.

But with all that said there is very little difference in either units expertise or professionalism.  There are different strengths and responsibilities and that in part explains why the SAS operate in Iraq and the SBS in Afghanistan!

Answer 2

It's not just for embassy siege, It's also for the SCUD hunting during the first Gulf War ( you never heard about Bravo Two Zero?), for Operation Flavius in 1988, Gorazde in 1994, operation Barras, 2000.

Of course mass media focus on the units who are more notice then other just for audience but it doesn't matter that the other units are less skilled or they don't do special ops around the world; on the contrary the less are known the more are active; for examble Italian, French and Israeli special forces.

Answer 3

It is a quite deliberate policy by the MOD and British government.

The SAS although a secret organisation is allowed to be the focus of press attention.

The SBS have an entirely different role which is little understood in the real world just as the recently formed Special Reconnaissance Regiment is hardly known and super secret.

In the Falklands war the reporting of the SAS was allowed almost without restriction but when mention was made of the SBS headquarters in one of the papers a government blackout on what could be reported about them was imposed resulting in the press having to fall back on supposition about their involvement!!

It gives the SBS an edge by being kept out of the public eye!

Answer 4

The largest reason,

Is the SAS has a far longer history.

The SAS has its orgins from the Desert Patrol during WW ll.

Then you factor in the Iranian Embassy, which received worldwide press coverage.

If not for that, no one would really know anything about the SAS today.

And lets face it, no one really knows anything about the SAS, SBS, Delta Force today.

What little that is published, is carefully vetted beforehand.