The Australian Commandos, the 1st Regiment, and the 2nd Regiment are considered Special Forces of Australia with the SASR. They both specialize in Counter-Terrorism and Special Operations and can be used domestically as well when regular and federal police cannot handle the situation.

Motto: "Foras Admonitio"
Translation: Without Warning

Established in: "1997"

The motto for the 1st regiment is Strike Swiftly. They are a combination of full-time and reserve Special Forces Soldier. They have been established since 1955. The structure for the 1st Regiment was changed in 1991 and the 2nd regiment was changed in 2009.

To join, one cannot be older than 52 years and not younger than 18. Most Candidates are in-between age range 22 to 32. One must be an Australian Citizen. Residents can try to apply for a waiver but would need to apply for citizenship as fast as possible.

Special Forces Pre-entry Fitness Assessment

Before been screened for the PFA, the Pre-Selection Fitness Test, the candidates will be thoroughly medically checked and psychologically checked. Once and if they are admitted to Pre-Selection, they will be tested with the Beep test (shuttle run) to level 10.1, 40 push-ups, 60 sit-ups, and 7 pull-ups. However, to ensure to make it through the test and have better chances to get through Selection, one should aim to accomplish the fitness test listed here, which seems to be the older version of the test, and could be also part of the initial first day of Selection. The pushups are cadence pushups. These are not regular pushups. Those are timed pushups, one pushup every 2 seconds, therefore hold at the top. Chin-Ups are also cadence. A candidate also needs to ruck run either a 5 K (3 miles). The weight to ruck is about 10 KG (22 lbs) and the max time for the 2 miles in 16 minutes. They then ruck with a ruck of 40KG (88 lbs) (old test) or 90 minutes, where candidates are expected to carry about 30 kg (66 lbs) and walk at least 10 KG (6.25 miles).

Australian Commando Selection

The Commando Selection Course lasts 19 days. The 2nd Regiment Course lasts 6 weeks. It is supposed to train the candidates to understands the demands of operations in the field. At this point, the candidates are judged heavily on teamwork, as well as an individual effort. They will undergo intensive physical training, ruck a 20km march with 30 KG on their backs, and a 4 KG heavy rifle in 3 hours and 15 minutes. Failure means automatic removal from the course. They will undergo 3 days of cross-country land navigation exercises. The last 72 hours of the Commando Selection Course, also called Demarcation is considered the hardest phase of selection. Candidates do not receive a lot of food and will be sleep-deprived, only receiving water in that time. They will go through Water Exercises, then will be told to get ready for some other exercises and then in a change of heart, be redirected to the water, to undergo some more exercises. This is done to test their mental toughness over and over again. This is followed by foreign weapons adaptability, field exercises with the gas masks, physical training. They then have to sort the white rice from the brown rice. This is followed by another Physical Fitness Test for Pushups and Running.

"An Australian Commando is a special forces operator, who provides a range of unique mission capabilities beyond the scope and range of other convention ADF Forces".

More information Commando

Before even being screened for Pre-Selection, a candidate will undergo 80 days of army training, where necessary skills and qualities are trained to the candidate. It will provide a base for future training. A candidate who is deemed suitable, will go through another 74 days of training, called The IET "Infantry Operations - Basic Course", where candidates will be trained in basic infantry tactics and handling of special infantry weapons and equipment. If they are considered suitable again, they will go through SFSPC, Special Forces Selection Preparation Course, which lasts 8 weeks. This is an enhancement course to develop the soldier skills in every sense. It makes the candidate ready for the next phase, and weeds out the ones that don't need to be there. What follows is the Pre-Selection Phase.