The Special Reconnaissance Unit, also known as 14 Intelligence Company, was the successor to the
Military Reaction Force (MRF).[5] Selection to 14 Intelligence Company was available to all serving members of the British armed forces and to both sexes. For the first time, women could become members of a UK Special Forces unit. Candidates were required to pass a rigorous selection process, designed to select only those individuals possessing the highly specialized qualifications needed to deal with the stresses of undercover covert operations. In one selection course, out of 1000 applicants, only 17 were ultimately deployed to Northern Ireland.
Wilson briefing
"Special Reconnaissance Unit" is the term appearing in official documents from the 1970s. An April 1974 briefing for Prime Minister
Harold Wilson states:
The term "Special Reconnaissance Unit" and the details of its organisation and mode of operations have been kept secret. The SRU operates in Northern Ireland at present under the cover name "Northern Ireland Training and Advisory Teams (Northern Ireland)" – NITAT(NI) – ostensibly the equivalent of genuine NITAT teams in
UKLF and
BAOR.[6]
Structure
Authors claiming to be former members of the unit describe an organisation[7][8][9][10][11] with a depot in Great Britain and four operational detachments in
Northern Ireland.
Selection and training of personnel from all arms of the
British Armed Forces was conducted in a number of locations in Great Britain. Candidates, both male and female, volunteered for special duties for periods of 18–36 months, before being returned to a parent unit. Trained surveillance operators could volunteer for re-deployment after a period with the parent unit, with potential opportunities to serve in command, staff or training roles within the organisation or higher command structure.
Weapons issued
While the unit was active, there was a wide variety of firearms utilized by the unit.[4]
14 April 1974 – Captain Anthony Pollen was shot dead by the IRA in
Derry while carrying out undercover surveillance on a demonstration in the
Bogside area.[17]
14 December 1977: Corporal Paul Harman was shot dead by the IRA in west
Belfast. Harman was undercover when he stopped his red
Morris Marina on Monagh Avenue. An IRA unit approached the car and shot him in the head and back and torched the car.
11 August 1978: Lance Corporal Alan Swift was shot dead while undercover in the
Bogside area of Derry City. Two IRA members fired into the corporal's car with automatic rifles.
6 May 1979: Sergeant Robert Maughan was shot dead outside a church in
Lisnaskea
21 February 1984: Sergeant Paul Oram was killed in an incident in mainly nationalist
Dunloy,
Ballymoney when he and a colleague were surprised during the night by an IRA unit operating in the area. Oram and his colleague drew their pistols and engaged the men, striking Declan Martin (18) and Henry Hogan (21).[18] Oram was killed almost instantly. According to his colleague, the two IRA members fell to the ground and were still alive, but he killed them as, in his opinion, they still constituted a threat.[19] Oram's colleague was seriously wounded but team-members stationed nearby assisted, and he survived.