A evening with Rusty Firmin - SAS

About this event

The iconic picture above shows Rusty's outstretched gloveless hands guiding the operation forward.

✅ Background:

"SAS Blue Team - back door Assault Team Leader, Iranian Embassy Siege, SAS B Squadron, HQ Squadron 23 SAS permanent staff instructor, 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery, security consultant, close protection operative, security manager and advisor, author, speaker and consultant."

Author of "Go! Go! Go!: The SAS. The Iranian Embassy Siege. The True Story." which was recently made into the major motion picture "6 Days", starring Jamie Bell.

✅ Here's the schedule for this fascinating evening talk:

1900hrs: Growing up

1915hrs: Basic training

1945hrs: 29 Commando Rgt (RA)

2000hrs: SAS selection

2030hrs: Interval/Book signing

2100hrs: The Embassy Siege

2130hrs: The Falklands War

2200hrs: Live Q&A with Rusty Firmin

Frank, insightful, funny and most of all honest, his talks are quickly booked up so get in touch to reserve your seat.

✅ We look forward to seeing you on Thursday, June 09th 2022 @ 7PM. £11 + booking fee

ALL PROFITS WILL GO TO HELP FOR HEROES

Bio:

Born and raised in Carlisle and adopted at an early age, Rusty lived with different relatives and attended many different schools until age 15 when he had to fend for himself. At the age of 17, he joined the 49 Field Regiment Royal Artillery and remained there for approximately four years. While there, he was made captain of the regimental football team and represented the Royal Artillery and British Army football team at top amateur level. He completed several tours of Northern Ireland as a patrol commander and was heavily involved in adventure training, completing the Italian Alps walk, French Pyrenees walk, and the Great Divide trail walk in Canada in successive years. Rusty volunteered to serve with 29 Commando Regiment Royal Artillery; completed the gruelling selection process, and at Lympstone received the coveted Green Beret. Within fifteen months of being in 29 Commando, Rusty was asked to become an instructor on the commando training wing. He applied to join the SAS and in 1977, completed the SAS selection course receiving the coveted beige beret and winged dagger in six months, assigned to B squadron.

In B squadron he faced the threat from Guatemala in the dirty jungle of Belize making three trips of duty. He visited the jungles of Malaya, Brunei, Borneo and Botswana. There were numerous desert training trips to the Middle East, four tours in Northern Ireland on both covert and overt operations, the Falkland Island conflict (image top right), four tours on the counter terrorist team and was heavily involved as a Blue Team leader as a lance corporal at the 1980 Iranian Embassy siege in London where he was directly involved with the incidents inside the embassy.

Between 1982 and 1990 Rusty took part in training operations around the world, most of a very sensitive nature. The types of training he did were Special Forces training, bodyguard training at presidential level and counter terrorist training to name but a few. He was a qualified paramedic, demolitionist, a colloquial Arabist and a Malay speaker. In 1990 he was ‘stood to’ for the Stanstead aircraft hijacking (Afghan terrorists seized a jet, flew it to Stanstead airport with 150 passengers aboard, after a few of days of intense negotiations all 150 passengers were released and 60 of them claimed political asylum in the UK). After 13 years with B squadron he went to HQ squadron 23 SAS as permanent staff instructor (PSI).

From 1992 until present Rusty has worked all over the world or ‘on the circuit’. His jobs included being a diamond mine security consultant located in West Africa, delivering armoured cars to the CNN news crew in Sarajevo during the war and carrying out close protection and surveillance jobs both as a team member or team leader. He was a security manager for the Mobil Oil Company in Algeria, and spent eight years working for Herbalife International of America as an on the road security adviser (58 countries in all at that time and close protection operative for Mark Hughes the only CEO and founder of the company).

TESTIMONIALS

Malcolm Dyer, Executive Member

Ascot Round Table

"His presentation was so exhilarating and unique that we were all just glued to our seats of the true account from the beginning to the end of the siege. Our audience was mixed from those of the age that recalled the ITN news of the event when the SAS stormed the embassy, to the young members that had no real knowledge until the evening. Rusty's delivery was just perfect to everyone present and the feedback was excellent. His passion and ability of a detailed talk on the background leading up to the signal GO GO GO gave us an appreciation and inspiration of why we are so proud to have the best exclusive Regiment in the world. An appreciation to Rusty from Ascot Round Table was a donation to the Pilgrim Bandits of which he is a worthy ambassador. We cannot express our thanks enough for his presentation and will be rebooking him in the very near future".

West Yorkshire Police

Alan Burns, Organised Crime Division

"Rusty Firmin is a legend amongst legends even within the SAS and I have had the privilege to stage numerous events featuring him, in which he detailed his pivotal role within Operation Nimrod - the iconic assault on the Iranian Embassy in 1980.His presentations are all the more enthralling as they include unrivalled details, the thoughts and feelings of what it is like to storm an "enemy" stronghold and is, as authentic as it comes. His style of presentation is delivered in a manner as compelling as any work of fiction but leaves the audience in no doubt that this is a man who has walked the walk. To put it simply Rusty tells it as it was.

Mark Brickhill, Managing Director

Goodyear Dunlop Tyres UK Ireland

"Your session was excellent - you both connected with the audience and delivered "complete the mission," "winning attitude," and "self motivation, accountability." The use of video at the start worked well for the 25s-35yrs. What then worked especially well were your challenges and push backs to the Lead Team and me. These created the perfect atmosphere for our Day2 Question Time and "Do Different" sessions".

Event Venue

Edgbastion Priory Club, Sir Harrys Road, Birmingham, United Kingdom