Fairfax Media asked General Campbell what kinds of claims were being referred to the watchdog and whether these included unlawful killings and breaches of rules of engagement in combat, but he declined to say. Australian SAS Soldiers on patrol near Bagram, Afghanistan. Credit:Simon O'Dwyer But military sources have said that some of the stories causing concern involve fatalities. The review of special operations, which is made up largely of the famed Special Air Service Regiment and the 2nd Commando Regiment, is understood to cover a range of issues but is partly focussing on persistent, worrying claims about incidents on overseas operations going back 15 years. It is the first such wide-ranging review of special forces in the post-September 11 period, during which the SAS and commandos have been intensely busy, particularly in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2013.

The Inspector General, a position currently held by former naval officer Geoff Earley, is a statutory appointment outside the military chain of command that is tasked with examining and correcting failures of military justice. An Australian commando in Iraq. It is understood some within Defence have over time become concerned that the high-tempo, souped-up intensity of deployments have meant special forces regiments have developed their own, closed-off culture forged in the heat of operations. The review is understood to be considering whether systemic cultural problems have developed, including whether problems have become institutionalised as younger generations of soldiers move into the regiments. Angus Campbell Credit:Brendan Esposito

The review, which has been going on for more than a year, has been driven by the Special Operations Commander, Major-General Jeff Sengelman, who took charge of special forces in December 2014. The review is also considering broader issues such as training and selection, administration, technology and future direction of special forces. It's as though the older generation built up this reputation and now the younger generation are coming through and tearing it down. And while reviews are to some extent routine within Defence, this is the first broad review of special forces since 2001, when the current command structure was set up. Episodes that have angered the hierarchy include clownish behaviour such as having topless barmaids at the SAS Campbell Barracks in Perth and commandos making a film about their exploits in Afghanistan that included standing on top of battlements and bashing golf balls into the fields surrounding their bases.

In December 2013, an SAS soldier pulled a pistol on a female Australian spy during a drinking session in Kabul. And there have been troubling claims of vehicles hired for official purposes such as training in Perth being used for private trips and even being involved in accidents. One source who is tapped into the Special Forces community said: "It's been annoying the older guys for a while now. It's as though the older generation built up this reputation and now the younger generation are coming through and tearing it down." Some publicly known incidents remains unresolved, including the April 2013 incident in which SAS soldiers cut the hands off dead Taliban fighters for identification purposes. One soldier is still under investigation. Defence has denied any Australian involvement in an incident in Oruzgan province in 2006 in which a taxi was mistakenly fired upon, killing an Afghan civilian man, blinding a woman and seriously injuring a girl. But Fairfax Media reported in 2009 that Defence was in possession of material that showed Australian special forces involvement in the deaths.

Loading Special forces soldiers spent years carrying out so-called "kill-capture" missions in Afghanistan targeting Taliban leaders and bomb-makers in particular, and were central to many major combat offensives in the south of the country. Follow us on Twitter