Colin MacLachlan speaks to Dylan Blyth
“The army gives you a good grounding and a wide range of core skills”.
Sergeant Colin MacLachlan has had 17 years’ military experience, serving in both the Royal Regiment of Scotland (1 SCOTS) and SAS. He is now a public speaker, the well-known face of Channel 4’s SAS: Who Dares Wins and author of the upcoming book The Pilgrim: Soldier. Hostage. Survivor. I recently spoke with Colin, discussing what a military career is really like, his upcoming book, as well as his extensive charity work. This is a day in the life of an SAS soldier.
I begin by talking to Colin about his childhood. He grew up with an abusive parent, eventually prompting him to join the army. I ask why he specifically chose this career:
“The army was actually my mother’s idea”, Colin tells me, “and I could join at 15. I guess my options were limited and I didn’t really have any focus on what I wanted to do at that age. The army gives you a good grounding and a wide range of core skills”.
Colin served in the 1 SCOTS Regiment for a decade before deciding to apply with the SAS. I ask Colin why he decided it was time for the change.
“After around a decade with The Royal Scots, I wanted to be the best version of myself and the best at what I did”, he says. “Special Forces seemed the best fit”.
I continue by asking whether the move from army to SAS was a daunting one.
“Yes, when you look at the success rate of selection and some of the potential operations. But I never really dwelt on that, and just focused on myself, one day at a time”.
Colin was the first member of the 1 SCOTS to pass the SAS selection process since 20 years before – he defied two decades of tradition with strong focus, hard work and determination. I ask Colin how difficult the training and selection process of SAS recruitment actually is.
“It’s grueling”, he says. “It can help to have someone within the SAS, or with a recent knowledge, to let you know what’s in store. I [also] didn’t really have the sausage machine of successes like the Paras or Marines [who were also applying] had to draw on. I took that as an advantage. I was never phased with what was going to happen tomorrow because I simply didn’t know”.
“Selection is long”, he continues. “Six months. It is intense and there is a constant pressure. It’s about staying the course and being mentally robust; more than just being physically fit and a good soldier”.
Finally, a member of the SAS, I ask Colin what it felt like learning he had passed the selection process.
“As I said in the show [SAS: Who Dares Wins] it was ‘phenomenal’”, he says. “I should definitely be in the next Irn Bru commercial”, he adds, jokingly. “But that sense of euphoria is quickly overcome by a sense of reality as you are handed your beret and sent to your squadron at the bottom of the ladder. [You are] a small fish in big pond”.
Touching on the Channel 4 hit show, SAS: Who Dares Wins, a programme which pits ordinary people against the grueling SAS recruitment regime, I ask how accurately the 2015/2016 show reflects the selection process.
“It accurately reflected individual challenges and some of the characteristics required”.
“Bear in mind”, he adds, “that we had around a week with these guys, whereas selection is [normally] six months”.
I return to the SAS and ask Colin what, if anything, was the easiest/best thing about his job.
“There’s very little that’s easy about a job in the SAS. The best thing is without a doubt the operations you are involved in and the guys you serve alongside, and the banter that goes with it”.
Then I ask about the most difficult thing.
“Perhaps the time spent away. That can take a toll on family and social life”.
I ask Colin about the job of hostage negotiator/rescuer; how did he deal with the stress of a role which put him in charge, not just of his own life, but that of others’?
“That wasn’t my official role but there are people who do that solely”, he begins. “I’ve been fortunate/unfortunate enough to be on both sides of a hostage rescue so I know the stresses that come with both. It is far harder being on the rescuer end, knowing you are responsible for someone else, but I was also responsible for the guy I was captured alongside, and I always had that in mind”.
In 2004, while in Basra, Colin was taken hostage. He was held there until British troops arrived to rescue him. I ask how he dealt with the situation mentally, and how he continues to do so years later.
“You have to remember that we are all the gatekeepers of our own emotions and no matter what someone does to use physically we always have the potential to control how we feel. So no matter how much they broke me physically I was strong mentally”.
I continue by asking Colin what the most difficult mission he has taken part in is.
“Probably the one nicknamed Operation Certain Death”, he tells me.
Operation Certain Death, formally known as Operation Barras, took place on the 10th of September 2000 in Sierra Leone. The operation saw a Government sanctioned assault upon the ‘West Side Boys’ militia group, a brutal gang who had hostage five British soldiers of the Royal Irish Regiment. During the ensuing battle, at least 25 ‘West Side Boys’ were killed, alongside one British soldier. The five prisoners were safely extracted.
After 7 years of service, Colin left the SAS. I ask him why.
“I thought it was the right point in my career, after my capture in Iraq. I’ve enjoyed a very wide and varied career since leaving”.
Following this, Colin turned his talents to writing. He describes his upcoming book, The Pilgrim. Soldier. Hostage. Survivor., as “an autobiography which covers my troubled childhood, early army life, SAS Operations and subsequent career. [It is] a real rollercoaster”.
I ask Colin what prompted him to tell his story.
“We rarely keep diaries or memoirs anymore; everything is on social media these days. I wanted to log down my memories while they were fresh, upon leaving the military, and it was clear there was an appetite for others to read it”.
In the SAS, many skills and qualities are required. These are the three Colin believes are most important:
“Determination. Resilience. Integrity”.
Are these equally applicable to a writing career?
“Definitely. Any writer will tell you that at some stage one of these will have played a factor in anything they have written”.
After returning home, writing was not the only study Colin took upon himself. He returned to school and graduated with a first class degree in history. I ask Colin why this was important to him.
“It was a missing piece from my makeup and a fresh challenge for me. Prior to university I didn’t have a single O-Level but I knew I had the character to throw myself into it. Newbattle Abbey College gave me a chance and I grabbed it, and, “late, but in earnest”, I relished in academia and was inspired by History”.
Colin does a lot of charity work, and is currently ambassador for the Pilgrim Bandits as well as the Lee Rigby Foundation. Why is this particularly type of work important to Colin?
“I think any old soldier will tell you it’s a privilege to serve and I’m honoured to be an ambassador for these two great charities, and what they stand for is really important to me”.
“Pilgrim Bandits look to support amputees and injured veterans by empowering them and taking them beyond their perceived limits”.
“Lyn Rigby”, he continues, “has created a foundation which honours the families of those affected by being in the military, using her [own] experience, and they have set up lodges and support for those affected”. The Lee Rigby Foundation website can be found here:
Colin has set up his own charity called ‘Who Dares Cares’ (Registered Charity Number SC047018). The charity aims to provide a buddying system, in the form of a smartphone application, for soldiers and veterans, as well as a website providing support for all those across blue light services, including veterans. The charity Facebook page can be found here:
Though Colin left the military in 2005, I asked whether he would ever consider returning:
“I would definitely consider several roles within defence, even on a part time basis, if someone needed me”.
Colin also works as a public speaker. He can be contacted concerning this via his social media:
