Central Florida police officer Charles M. Grist is one of the few Vietnam veterans to have served as an enlisted soldier in the Iraq war. In 2004, he volunteered to be the sergeant-in-charge of the protective service detail for an Army Reserve general in Baghdad.

Grist and his unit, the C.O.B.R.A. Team, were based inside Baghdad's Green Zone, but their travels with the general led them along the deadly roads of Baghdad, to the throne of Nebuchadnezzar in Babylon, and through the picturesque hills of Kurdistan. It was a fast-paced life of high adventure, filled with convoys, mortar or rocket attacks, and the constant threats of ambushes or improvised explosive devices.

As a Vietnam veteran, Grist knew that Operation Iraqi Freedom would be his last war. He used his daily journal to record his team's wartime experiences, to document the events that shaped Iraq in 2004, and to preserve the heroic deeds of some of the Army Reserve and National Guard warrior-citizens with whom he served. That journal became the basis for this book.

Originally published in 1911. Author: Major A. C. Lovett Language: English Keywords: History Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. Obscure Press are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.

Hilton Owens, Sr., one of the first African American special agents in the Internal Revenue Service, offers a unique glimpse into the intriguing world of undercover IRS operations. Owens chronicles his story, and those of fellow African American special agents William E. Mannie and Frederick L. Sleet, in "Three of the First. " The agents' survival was solely dependant on their wits and, on occasion, their government-issued .38s. The first years were rough, and early undercover operations seemed destined to fail. The agents drove their own cars, carried no fake IDs, and had to rely on winnings at the gambling establishments they infiltrated to fund their shoestring investigations., Despite the obstacles, however, they successfully toppled several large illegal gambling operations. Throughout their careers, the three men faced challenges related to family, politics, and race, but all three advanced up the career ladder, eventually gaining supervisory positions. With their knowledge and experience, they assisted in formalizing undercover operations for the IRS. "Three of the First" introduces three IRS pioneers who will be remembered as important figures in both black history and government service.

The explosion of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in December 1988, should never have happened. Wallis, who has extensive, direct, personal knowledge of aviation security matters gained from his position at the crossroads of security information and the industry's endeavors to combat aviation terrorism, had warned the industry one year before the bombing that the interline element of baggage represented the prime opportunity for terrorist activity and had urged the adoption of passenger and baggage matching, a system that he had helped to develop. Mandated by the FAA for use at high risk airports, it was the feature missing from Pan AM's activity at Frankfort, an omission so cruelly exploited by the bombers. Wallis argues that the priority given by governments to technological solutions to the continuing terrorist threat puts the flying public at unnecessary risk every day.

This volume brings together all of the facts surrounding the sabotage of Flight 103, including the investigation and the civil litigation in which so much of the story unfolded for the first time. It uncovers the fundamental weaknesses in Pan AM's communication and management policies. Wallis supports the policy that politics are politics and explores the possibility that U.S. and U.K. policy towards a neutral trial for the two Libyans indicted for the bombing, which may have been affected by the wider scenario of Middle East politics rather than simple justice for the victims of Lockerbie. Although the tragedy has led to improvements in defense technology for use against acts of aviation sabotage, these methods have yet to be applied universally.

In response to pirate attacks in the Western Indian Ocean, countries worldwide have increasingly authorized the deployment of armed guards from private military and security companies (PMSCs) on merchant ships. This widespread trend contradicts states' commitment to retain a monopoly on violence and discourage the presence of arms on civilian vessels. This book conceptualizes the extensive use of PMSCs as a form of institutional isomorphism, combining the functionalist, ideational, political and organizational arguments used to account for the privatization of security on land into a synthetic explanation of the commercialization of vessel protection.

Soldier In Paradise is a novel salivating in the human experience of living, dying, and war. Steven S. Cullen's concise and detailed writing creates the perfect platform for a reader to understand the physical, emotional, and unique concept of life during and after war. This story follows the direct experience and reality of young man's journey. Although the characters names and information are counterfeit, the storyline and testimony are based on true events from this author occurrenc