Meet Australia’s Deadliest Soldier

In episode two of Violent Times, our new show deconstructing Australia’s complex relationship with violence, we meet Commando Paul Cale. He is a founding member of the Second Commando Regiment; an elite branch of the Australian Defense Force who suffered more casualties than any other military unit through several tours of Iraq and Afghanistan.

Paul is a martial arts specialist with eight different black belts in various forms of combat sports. In 2013 Paul made headlines when he stormed an enemy compound and strangled a Taliban leader with his bare hands. The act earned him the nickname Killer Commando, and he has become known as Australia’s Toughest Soldier.

In the years since Paul has developed a new instinctive model for close quarter warfare titled Integrated Close Combat, a method that has been adopted by elite special forces around the world.

Check out the rest of the Violent Times series here.