Physical Fitness Requirements from the South African Special Forces

South Africa Recces Physical Fitness Test

Recces, South Africas Special Forces, is a highly specialized department of their military. It is to note that they are not considered army, nor navy, but are directly under the supervision of the Joint Operations Division of South Africa.

They are trained in counter-terrorism, bush warfare, special reconnaissance, direct actions, unconventional warfare, etc..

Motto: "Iron Fist From the Sea"

Established in: "1972"

Only 8% of the recruits will consider themselves Recces at the end of the selection phase, part of one of the most elite units of the African Continent, deployed in various conflicts on the second-most populous continent on earth. They have to be a Citizen of South-Africa to join. They should not be older than 28 years of age. They need to pass a thorough medical check. The candidate can also not have committed any criminal offenses in the past, and need to speak English and Afrikaans.

South African Recces Workout

#	Exercises	Pass	Good	Great	Gold
1.	Pushups	+ 50 reps	+ 60 reps	+ 70 reps	+ 80 reps
2.	Sit-Ups	+ 67 reps	+ 75 reps	+ 83 reps	+ 90 reps
3.	175 M FiremenCarry	- 65 sec	- 60 sec	- 55 sec	- 50 sec
4.	5 KM Run	24:00 min	23:00 min	22:00 min	21:00 min
5.	Rope Climb	Pass/fail event
6.	Shuttle Run	- 95 sec	- 90 sec	- 85 sec	- 80 sec
7.	Wall Climb	Climb a 3 Meter wall. This is a pass / fail event.

South African Special Forces Test

This test involves 7 different exercises, which have to be performed back to back. There are no breaks allowed when performing the pushups, but there is also no time cap. Therefore you have to keep the same pace and not break pace. Sit-Ups are to be performed within 2 minutes. The distance of the shuttle run is 40x 6 meters. Besides those requirements listed, candidates will also undergo further testings in the water and a fast march/run of 15 km in 120 minutes, followed by some mental evaluations and a personal interview.

Physical Requirements - Other Units

All other available units, click here
S.A.S.	S.A.S.R.	Royal Marines
KSK	Seal Team Six	JakDo
GRUMEC	Delta Force	Sayeret Matkal
Para SF	JW Grom	Bordo Bereliler
MARSOC	JW Formoza	Kampfschwimmer
JTF2	CSOR	Navy Seals
NZ SAS	PJs	Army Rangers
G.S.O.F.	C.T.O.E.	Alpha Spetsnaz
A.R.D.	F.G.N.E.	GRU Spetsnaz
Col Moschin	Frogman Corps	Commando Marine
For MsigWarrior Blog, click here

Pre-Selection Phase Reeces

Pre-Selection Phase lasts 6 weeks and is held at the South African Special Forces School. This phase weeds out a lot of candidates. Candidates will go through Basic infantry training, to make sure that everyone has basic military skills. They will train almost every day for up to 20 hours a day. Their training consists of lots of physical training, mental training, classroom training, land navigations with heavy rucks, and academic testings. Candidates will not get a lot of rest, nor will they be feed to the maximum. During this phase, the cadre wants to ensure that the right-minded candidates are in this phase. Therefore they will also undergo lots of mental evaluations. This phase usually weeds out about 70% of the candidates. This whole training prepares the candidates to be able to undergo Selection, which is known to kill a lot of dreams.

Recces Fitness Test Video

Selection Phase Recces South Africa

The selection Phase only lasts a week but is gruesome. Candidates do not get any sleep, nor rest and receive no food. In this phase, the candidates are so thoroughly tested, that only a small amount of candidates will make it. They are breaking the candidates to a certain point, where they develop this inner fire and cannot be stopped by anything. They are monitored by psychologists and doctors to ensure that their safety is not in jeopardy, but also that they fit the right profile for a Recce.

Characteristics of a Reece

A Recce Operator in South Africa is a very self-motivated individual, who is highly self-disciplined and self-driven. He is a good operator, a good team player, who can adapt to any situation and acts decisive and calm under pressure. Those operators are exceptionally well trained and highly professional.

Recces Special Forces Test

Basic Training Recces Special Forces

Basic Training for the Candidates last 8 months. In this phase, candidates are specialized to be able to join the units right away. They are trained in parachuting, bushcraft, tracking and survival, mountaineering, demolitions training, recon training, advanced driving, amphibious operations training. and clandestine operations. They can also be further specialized in urban and rural recon, sniping, photography, climbing techniques, combat diving, and so on. Their training as Reeces never stop and once they have endured most of the basic training they can be considered "Recces" of South Africa, only after having spent one deployment behind enemy lines. Once this has been done, they are considered Recces, Special Forces of South Africa, Operator. Their training to this point took them over a year to complete.