In the early 1970s the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Edward Heath asked the Ministry of Defence to prepare for any possible terrorist attack similar to the 1972 Munich massacre at the Munich Olympic Games and ordered that the SAS Counter Revolutionary Warfare ( CRW ) wing be established , in a little over a month the first 20-man SAS Counter Terrorist ( CT ) unit was ready to respond to any potential incident within the UK or abroad . Originally , it was known as the Pagoda Team ( named after Operation '' Pagoda '' , the codename for the development of the SAS CT capability ) and was initially composed of members from all squadrons , particularly members who had experience in the Regiment 's Bodyguarding Cell but was soon placed under the control of the CRW . Once the wing had been established each squadron would in turn rotate through counter terrorist training . The training included live firing exercises , hostage rescue and siege breaking . It was reported that during CRW training each soldier would expend 100,000 pistol rounds and would return to the CRW role on average every 16 months . The CRW initially consisted of a single SAS officer tasked with monitoring terrorism developments , but which was soon expanded and trimmed in size to a single troop strength ; British technical experts developed a number of innovations for the team , including the first " flashbang " or " stun " grenade and the earliest examples of Frangible ammunition
Munich massacre
Munich massacre
History of the Special Air Service