Could you pass these four Royal Marine Commando entry tests?

A new BBC programme shows the unrelenting training that Royal Marine Commandos have to go through - but would you be able to pass the four tests at the end of it all?

In the four-part series, Commando: Britain’s Ocean Warriors viewers get a behind the scenes glimpse at what life is like in training for one of the world’s best military units.

According to the show, it’s the “longest infantry training in the world” and puts Commando hopefuls through their paces for eight months. Each year 26,000 people apply but only around 400 actually go on to succeed.

In the show, we see recruits as they prepare for the four final tests that take place over one gruelling week and must each be passed.

The first is known as the Endurance Course – recruits have to navigate a 6.5-mile track with a time limit of 73 minutes. It is designed to test their stamina, nerve, speed and marksmanship.

Ricky, a Falklands veteran, explained: “The first test: two-and-a-half miles of cross country – undulating ground, wading through bogs, crawling through tunnels, you’re freezing cold, you’re soaking wet – followed by a four-mile run, with a shooting test at the end of it, which must be passed.

“You’ve got to keep pushing yourself.”

Royal Marines Commandos Ocean Warrior'syoutu.be

The second test is the 9 Mile Speed March. The hopefuls have to work as a team and complete a 9 mile squadded run as a troop within and hour and a half.

Ricky said: “It’s a collective test, in time, in step with each other. You need those other guys around you, and they need you as well.

“You’re getting from A to B, fit to fight at the end, that’s what the 9 Mile is designed for.”

Test number three is the one-mile Tarzan Assault Course, where the bodies of the Commando hopefuls are tested to their limits.

The recruiters have just 13 minutes to navigate obstacles such as “The Deathslide”, “Commando Crawl”, “The Net”, “Rope Bridge” and “Jacob’s Ladder”. Finally, there’s a rope climb up a 30ft wall.

The unforgiving test is responsible for more serious injuries than any other. Recruits have to finish the course within the time limit and complete every obstacle in order to pass, or they fail the entire Commando course.

Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter

“It’s high intensity military agility at speed, at height, ground, crawling, climbing, everything else.

“You can’t pace yourself, you’re overcoming lots of different types of obstacles as quickly as you can to maintain the momentum of battle,” Ricky said.

The final test of the hellish week is the 30 Miler, which is also the longest test they will face. It’s designed to “weed out the weak when they’re at their lowest ebb”.

While carrying 30lbs of equipment on their backs, the recruits negotiate 30 miles of varying terrain across Dartmoor. They have less than eight hours to complete the final test.

Ricky explained: “Some of that is through bogs, crossing rivers, up and down hills, over undulating ground. It’s endurance of the highest level.

“To keep going, hours and hours and hours on end. You’ve got to navigate as well, it goes part and parcel with everything that we do in the Royal Marines.

“So much is riding on that test. Once you’ve passed it successfully, it is so special. You’ve earned your green beret, believe me. You really have.”

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.