Selous Scouts The Selous Scouts was a special forces regiment of the Rhodesian Army , that operated from 1973 until the introduction of majority rule in 1980 . It was named after British explorer Frederick Courteney Selous ( 1851 – 1917 ) , and their motto was " pamwe chete " , which in the Shona language , roughly means " all together " , " together only " or " forward together " . The charter of the Selous Scouts directed them to " the clandestine elimination of terrorists / terrorism both within and without the country . " Historical context . The period during which the Selous Scouts were most active was during the Rhodesian Bush War or Second Chimurenga . This was a war of annihilation through terrorism and insurgency waged by black guerrillas ( ZANLA / ZANU and ZIPRA / ZAPU ) with the goal of ending white minority rule in Rhodesia , a colonial nation led by Ian Smith . Rhodesia at the time had the highest levels of wealth and one of the highest gross domestic product of any nation in Africa , and its white minority citizens enjoyed one of the highest standards of living in the world . However , it was a small nation of a few hundred thousand whites , principally farmers , and lacked access to the sea . As a land - locked nation , that had recently unilaterally declared its independence and broken away from the British rule , Rhodesia was quickly isolated by the Labour Government of the United Kingdom and the Democratic government of the United States . The Rhodesian military , comprising the Rhodesian Army and the Air Force , was considered formidable by many foreign observers , but the country ' s size — relative the larger black - governed nations surrounding it , a lack of support from crucial Western suppliers , and aid provided by the Soviet Union and China to guerrilla insurgents — put Rhodesia in a precarious situation . To deal with the rising insurgency , the Rhodesian government strengthened diplomatic and economic ties with the Republic of South Africa , as well as with Portugal , which controlled the neighbouring territory of Mozambique until 1975 . It concurrently began strengthening its paramilitary and counter - insurgency forces such as the British South Africa Police , the Rhodesian Light Infantry , the Rhodesian Special Air Service ( SAS ) , and the Rhodesian African Rifles . Ultimately , these efforts led to the creation of its counter - insurgency unit , the Selous Scouts . Created under the command of Lt . Col . Ron Reid - Daly , it was organized as a mixed - race unit , consisting of recruits of both African and European descent , and whose primary mission was operating deep in insurgent - controlled territory and waging war on the hostiles ' rear through irregular warfare including the use of pseudo - terrorism as a means of infiltrating the enemy . The Selous Scouts had many black Rhodesians in their ranks who were from 50 % – 80 % of its ranks , including the first African commissioned officers in the Rhodesian Army . Tactics . The Selous Scouts employed asymmetric warfare against their enemy , actions that ranged from the bombing of private houses , abductions , M18 Claymore mine attacks against military targets , sabotage of bridges and railways ( including steam engines ) , assassinations , intimidation , blackmail and extortion , to the use of car bombs in the attempted assassination of Joshua Nkomo . Intelligence gathering . Many times , due to their intelligence collecting , the HUMINT side of the Selous Scouts was more up to date than the guerrillas . The job of intelligence — and the task of the Selous Scouts as well as the special branches in general — was to find out the identity of the insurgents , their plans , their training locations , the parties involved in training them , the source and location of their supply routes , their sympathizers , and any other relevant information . The pseudo - operators gained entrance into the areas controlled by ZANLA / ZIPRA through memorization of dead drops , presenting the appropriate letter at the necessary time , and by use of the information given by their intelligence . Compartmentalization was key , and the need - to - know basis was strictly enforced . In order to gain entrance into the surrounding African countries they were required to use their callsigns and tribal spies for ZANLA / ZIPRA , in order to process and compile names so as to enable them to enter a country covertly or as “ illegals ” . While on a mission to assassinate Nkomo they had to observe operational security . This consisted of using code words to tell a handler when one was out of money or to warn the agent if the authorities were aware of his activities in Zambia . This message would tell the scout whether he had to leave Zambia the traditional route of using buses or cars or if he had to leave Zambia through the bush . Turning of guerrillas . Part of the problem in the early days of the Selous Scouts and Rhodesia , was that the security forces and the guerrillas had clearly defined roles . In the first days of the Selous Scouts in 1973 – 1974 , the objective of the government and the military was to kill or incarcerate as many guerrillas as they could , which was deemed good for public morale . There was no previously accepted convention that one could absorb “ real ” or “ tamed ” guerrillas within the ranks of an elite pseudo - guerrilla group , so as to be able to extract intelligence , be aware of how they dressed , behaved and thought , used callsigns or observed operational security . The thinking of the leadership of the Selous Scouts was that if a guerrilla — for example a regional or detachment officer of ZIPRA / ZANLA — were to be captured and turned , then the existing network already in place could be used in order to boost their numbers of kills as well as gather further intelligence . When the Scouts captured a guerrilla in the field they had to make a decision between three options : execute him immediately ; hand him over to others in a special division for trial and certain hanging under the Law and Order ( Maintenance ) Act ; or try to absorb him into the Selous Scouts . If the guerrilla were injured in a skirmish , the first thing would be to make sure that no one knew of his existence : neither the locals in the area nor anyone at the security base . While still wounded the guerrilla would be brought into the Selous Scouts ' fort and given the best medical attention . With the realisation that his life was being saved , a feeling of gratitude would normally follow . The next step was to send a former guerrilla or " tame terr " to visit him in the hospital . A conversation would be initiated and eventually steered round to a reminder of hardships in the bush , and of the probability of a trial and hanging under the Law and Order ( Maintenance ) Act without his compliance . He would next be examined by the Selous Scouts only , in order to ensure loyalty ; if passed , he would be given a lump sum of money as well as a regular paying job for joining . Additionally , and where possible , the guerrilla ' s family would be moved into protection where they would receive free rations , housing , education , and medical care . In most cases the guerrilla chose to side with the security forces . The Selous Scouts had to make a final , difficult decision on whether to allow the turned guerrilla into their group or not . This decision had largely to do with their gut feeling of how the guerrilla presented himself : was he trustworthy or was he just biding his time ? A fail - safe to test his loyalty was to hand him his weapon back , without prior knowledge that his ammunition had been rendered harmless . This was only temporary though , as the “ tame terr ” would soon become an integral member of the unit . Other tactics . The pseudo - operators also took measures to weaken popular support for the guerrillas ; in one case , for example , a group of pseudo - operators pretending to be guerrillas accused eight of the most enthusiastic guerrilla supporters in the Madziwa region of being police informers and beat them up before leaving . Detractors cited events like this as the difference between anti - terrorism and counter - terrorism . The camouflage used by reserve members of this unit as pseudo - forces were captured Warsaw Pact clothing originating from various countries and specified for certain operations . The regiment achieved many of its objectives ; its members were acclaimed trackers , and the unit was responsible for 68 % of all guerrilla deaths within the borders of Rhodesia . However , its commanding officer , Lt . Col . Reid - Daly , had a poor relationship with many of the Rhodesian Army commanders ; in addition , from 1978 there were persistent rumours that soldiers in the regiment had been implicated in ivory poaching in the Gonarezhou National Park and that an ivory processing " factory " existed at Andre Rabie Barracks near Inkomo Garrison . The friction between the army command and Reid - Daly peaked on 29 January 1979 , when a bugging device was found in Reid - Daly ' s office . This compromised ongoing Selous Scout operations , and therefore it became necessary to call them off . The Selous Scouts numbered only about 500 . When they would " turn " guerrillas they would be known as " tame terr " . This figure would rise to 1000 " tame " terr if one counted the active and inactive members . According to a Combined Operations statement , they inflicted 68 percent of the nationalist guerrilla fatalities between 1973 and 1980 . while losing fewer than forty Selous Scouts in the process . Composition . The regiment was proposed by members of the British South Africa Police Special Branch , and many of its earliest recruits were policemen . The Selous Scouts differed from C Squadron 22 ( Rhodesian ) SAS , in that it was formed specifically to take part in tracking and infiltration operations , where soldiers would pretend to be guerrillas — or pseudo - operators . These tactics were used very successfully in the Mau Mau Uprising . In addition , the regiment also recruited from enemy forces ; captured guerrillas were offered a choice between imprisonment , trial and possibly execution or the ability to join the Selous Scouts . This concept was initially highly controversial within the Rhodesian government ; the idea of " turning " captured guerrillas instead of punishing them was unpalatable to some . However , supporters of " turning " , who succeeded in implementing their plans , portrayed these operations as an aspect of counter - insurgency similar to the law enforcement use of informants and ' sting ' methods to penetrate and disrupt criminal and subversive organizations . In order to keep knowledge of their existence as restricted as possible , " turned " guerrillas were paid from Special Branch funds which were not accountable to government auditors , and volunteers for the unit were not told of its actual function until they actually joined it ; in some cases , where captured guerrillas had already entered the judicial system , the Selous Scouts would fake their escapes without informing the Criminal Investigation Department . In order to prevent the regular army or police from firing at the regiment while it was operating , authorities would declare " frozen areas " , where all Army and Police units were ordered to temporarily cease all operations in , and withdraw from , without being told the actual rationale . Many commanders felt that the initiation of " frozen areas " ceded control to the enemy and reduced the initiative of the security forces . Notable features . People of many different races and countries of origin were employed in the Selous Scouts , including Australian , British , South African , American , and various African countries . The regimental badge signifies the osprey , a fish - eating bird of prey that found in small numbers in many parts of the world . The nicknames of the Selous Scouts were : Selection and training . The Selous Scouts acted as a combat reconnaissance force , with the mission of infiltrating Rhodesia ' s tribal population and guerrilla networks , pinpointing rebel groups and relaying vital information back to the conventional forces earmarked to carry out the actual attacks . Members of the regiment were trained to operate in small under - cover , clandestine teams capable of working independently in the bush for periods of weeks and of passing themselves off as rebels . The Selous Scouts were an entirely volunteer force . On one occasion , 14 out 126 candidates – less than 12 percent of the total applicant pool – passed the selection process . As Lt . Col . Ron Reid - Daly stated : . . . a special force soldier has to be a certain very special type of man . In his profile it is necessary to look for intelligence , fortitude and guts potential , loyalty , dedication , a deep sense of professionalism , maturity – the ideal age being 24 to 32 years – responsibility and self discipline . . . The person that the Selous Scouts were looking for was a mix between the soldier who can work in a unit and a loner who can think and act on his feet . Selection was rigorous , and even tougher than the Rhodesian Special Air Service course . When volunteers arrived at Wafa Wafa , the Selous Scouts ' training camp , on the shores of Lake Kariba they were given a taste of the hardships they would have to endure . On reaching the base ( which was a 25 - kilometre run away from the drop - off point ) they saw only a few straw huts and the blackened embers of a dying fire . There was no food issued . The objective of the training at this point was to narrow the list of potential recruits by starving , exhausting and antagonizing them . This was successful , with 40 or 50 men out of 60 usually dropping out within the first two days of training . The selection course had a total duration of 17 days . From dawn to 7 am , recruits were put through a strength - sapping fitness programme . After they had completed this , they trained in basic combat skills . They were also required to traverse a particularly nasty assault course several times in the course of the training program . The course was designed to overcome their fear of heights . When darkness fell , they began night training . In the first five days of the course , no food was issued , while for the rest of the period only rotten animals were allowed . At the end of training , they had to carry out an endurance march of 100 kilometres . Each volunteer was laden with 30 kilograms of rocks in his packs . These rocks were painted red , to ensure that they could not be discharged and replaced at the end . The final stage of this march was a speed march , and had to be completed in two - and - a - half hours . For those who survived these days there was a week of leave ; they were then taken to a special camp for the " dark phase " of their training . At this camp , they learned to act and talk like the enemy . The base was built and set out as a genuine rebel camp , and the instructors were on hand to turn the recruits into fully - fledged members of the enemy groups . In this phase recruits were taught to break with habits such as shaving , rising at regular times , smoking and drinking and to adopt a guerrilla lifestyle . The recruits were in the field on patrol with the Selous Scouts only a week after the completion of their training . Notable operations . Operation Long John was launched on 25 June 1976 against two guerilla bases located in Mozambique . While on Operation Prawn inside of Mozambique , the objective of which was sabotaging the railways of FRELIMO , they had difficulties at first setting the charges . So they decided to kill a guerrilla and dress him up as a Rhodesian security force member and then throw bogus documents everywhere . The FRELIMO patrol took the bait and left the scene , and then the charges were placed and detonated and the operation was a success . Apart from their internal security of Rhodesia , some notable operations outside of Rhodesia ’ s borders struck fear into the enemy . A particular mission took place was first thought to be a flop in Francistown , Botswana . Numerous suitcase bombs were planted by the Selous Scouts in order to liquidate ZIPRA command ; the ones that did go off , went off too late and one failed to explode outside of a house . The Botswana authorities thought that ZIPRA ’ s explosion was due to their improper handling and care of the bombs . As a result , Botswana banned the importation of suitcase bombs within the country supplied by the Russians to ZIPRA , which undoubtedly saved the lives of Rhodesians . Nyadzonya was a cross border operation that took place in Mozambique in August 1976 . It involved ten trucks and four armoured cars disguised as FRELIMO vehicles with 84 Selous Scouts . They first cut the telephone lines to the town and drove on to the guerrilla base . They opened fire on the guerrillas at close range , killing between 1 , 028 and 1 , 184 . The scouts did not sustain any fatalities . Captured ZANLA documents revealed that many of those killed in the raid were either trained guerrillas or were undergoing guerrilla instruction . As a result of their pseudo - operations , ZANLA were getting into firefights with other members of their guerrilla organization who assumed that they were the Selous Scouts . This invoked fear within the enemy and led to their command and communication structure being disrupted . Additionally , this meant that groups entering Rhodesia for the first time found difficulty linking up with the other members of the group ; this led to a demoralisation effect since each guerrilla had to be extremely cautious about whomever he met . Operational success . By 1974 , the Selous Scouts had captured or killed 100 guerrillas . By the end of 1976 they killed 1 , 257 guerrillas that year alone . On the other hand , the other security forces of Rhodesia combined had killed only 400 . Dissolution . Following the dissolution of the regiment in 1980 , many of its soldiers travelled south to join the South African Defence Force , where they joined 5 Reconnaissance Commando . Those that remained formed 4th Bn ( HU ) R . A . R . which was placed on " immediate standby " for most of its short service . The battalion covered the areas to the north of Andre Rabie Barracks , as far as Miami / Mangula in the east and as far as Kariba in the north . The unit existed from 23 April to 30 September 1980 when it changed its name for the final time and became as it is today , 1st Zimbabwe Parachute Battalion / Group . Namesake . The name Selous Scouts was also given to the short - lived Southern Rhodesian Armoured Car Regiment , a unit in the Army of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland between about 1960 and 1962 that drove Staghound armoured car s and Ferret armoured car s .