As a Navy SEAL on combat deployment in Iraq, Mike Ritland saw a military working dog in action and instantly knew he'd found his true calling. Ritland started his own company, training and supplying dogs for the SEAL teams, US Government, and Department of Defence. He knew that fewer than 1 per cent of all working dogs had what it takes to contribute to the success of our nation's elite combat units, and began searching the globe for animals who fit this specific profile. The results were a revelation: highly trained working dogs capable of handling both detection and apprehension work in the most extreme environments and the tensest of battlefield conditions. Though fiercely aggressive and athletic, these dogs develop a close bond with their handlers and other team members. Truly integrating themselves into their units, these K9 warriors are much like their human counterparts-unwavering in their devotion to duty, strong enough and tough enough to take it to the enemy through pain, injury, or fear.

Remarkably ambitious in its audacity and scope, NATO's irregular warfare and nation-building mission in Afghanistan has struggled to meet its nonmilitary objectives by most tangible measures. This book explores shortfalls in the U.S. Government's strategic planning processes and the mechanisms for interagency coordination of effort that have contributed to this situation, as well as reforms needed to meet emerging 21st century national security challenges.

From mind numbing boredom one moment to being absolutely scared to death the next Life at sea is always interesting The men and women of the Navy's HC-5 "Providers," Detachment 4, while deployed on the T-AE-26 Kilauea, set records, got awards, and had some fun too Start with helicopters hovering with explosive cargo, mix in some truly lunatic fork lift drivers, maybe grab a couple hours of sleep, if you're lucky, have some great food and terrible coffee, grab your Walkman and your gas mask, we'll enjoy surreal sunsets, and oh yeah, don't forget we're in a War Zone Its an Adventure, just like the Navy promised Told from the perspective of an aircraft mechanic who was just doing his best to hold things together, you'll feel the salt spray on your face as the rotor wash threatens to blow you over the edge. This book is dedicated to all the people back home, who wrote the letters and let us know they hadn't forgotten us. Thanks for the mail

Includes many full color illustrations and maps.

Three Block War is 21st Century warfare defined. A clash of highly-trained and motivated warriors equipped with modern weaponry, opposed by a brutal cornucopia of asymmetrical zealotry and international terrorism, thriving in a land saturated with Soviet munitions. Part I: Iraqi Freedom chronicles the war in 2003, from the fierce urban battles in southern Iraq at Nasiriyah and the Faw Peninsula, to the mechanized assault that captured Baghdad and toppled Saddam Hussein. Battle tactics and the strategies of highly-aggressive commanders such as 1st Marine Division's Maj. Gen. James Mattis and 3rd Battalion, 4th Marines' Lt. Col. B.P. McCoy are also chronicled. Part II: Iraqi Jihad recounts 2004, the intensity, danger, courage, sacrifice and esprit de corps that U.S. Marines experienced fighting jihad in western Iraq's Anbar Province. From the Syrian border to Ramadi, Najaf and particularly Fallujah, the Marines fought legendary battles on desert sands, city streets and even inside the world's largest graveyard from April-December. Three Block War is illustrated with combat imagery by Marine and Navy combat photographers.

Before BENGHAZI, There was EXTORTION 17.... August 06, 2011, 2:20 a.m.-Operation Lefty Grove is underway, a highly dangerous mission to take out another high-level Taliban operative, three months after the death of Osama Bin Laden. In the dark of night, twenty-five US Special Ops Forces and a five-man flight crew on board Extortion 17, a CH-47 Chinook helicopter. Seven unidentified Afghan Commandos are allowed to join them. Ground forces have already been engaged in a three-hour exhaustive battle. Extortion 17's specially trained warriors drop into the Hot Landing Zone to help their fellow warriors. But there's a problem: the standard chopper escorts have all been directed elsewhere. Mission directions are unclear. Worse, pre-assault fire to cover the Chinook transporting our brave fighting men is not ordered. On that fateful night, Extortion 17 would never touch down. Taliban fighters fired three rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) in rapid succession. The first RPG shot below the Chinook, but the second made contact in what the military would later describe as a "one-in-a-million shot." The shot struck a rotor blade on the aft (rear) pylon, shearing off ten and a half feet of the blade. The third shot flew above the falling chopper. Within a matter of seconds, the chopper begins to spin violently out of control and then drops vertically into a dry creek bed and is engulfed in a large fireball. There are no survivors. The thirty brave Americans lost that night were more than just warriors. They were husbands, fathers, brothers, and sons. Billy Vaughn's son, Aaron Carson Vaughn, was one of them. Over the next few months as unsettling information on the tragic incident is released to the families, Billy Vaughn becomes increasingly disturbed. Billy discovers that US military forces are not being led to win battles, but have been sent on a fool's errand to "win the hearts and minds" of other nations. He is told that the US Rules of Engagement have prevented our brave defenders from defending themselves. Adding insult to injury, Billy learned that a Muslim Imam was invited by our own US military leaders to "pray" over his son's dead body. As US war heroes lay in their caskets before their last flight home, the Imam damned America's fallen warriors as "infidels" who would burn in hell. As US military leaders observed the ceremony at Bagram Air Base, the Imam boasted over the deaths of US heroes with words such as, "The companions of heaven Muslims] are the winners." Betrayed is a heart rending account in America's history, an engaging story of faith, patriotism, honor, duty and loss. Betrayed is not just the biography of an American military family, it is a crucial, true-life narrative that every American must read and understand about their government and the danger America's military strategy currently poses to all families. Betrayed is a book Billy Vaughn wishes he didn't have to write. But his son is gone and there are still unanswered questions. He needs to know if finding the truth may prevent another father from standing in his shoes.

With North Korea rattling its saber again, Letters to Ann takes the reader back to the early years of the Korean War. Even in some of its darkest moments, Captain John Hughes finds and shares bits of humor about his daily military existence with his then four year-old daughter. It is a unique perspective of what so often is called "The Forgotten War."

Originally released in 2006. Contains papers from a symposium on the Korean War held at the U.S. Congress on June 7, 2000. Records the reminiscences and perspectives of veterans and historians participating in the symposium.

The city of an-Najaf, Iraq, is a provincial and market center located on the western branch of the Euphrates River approximately 100 miles south of Baghdad. Its population (prewar) of 563,000 expands at times with pilgrims to this important center of Islamic scholarship and theology. It is the location of several significant shrines for Shi'a Muslims and boasts one of the largest cemeteries in the world. Its more recent history has been marked by conflict of a political nature as the place of exile for Ayatollah Khomeini and site of the assassination of Ayatollah Mohammad Sadiq. It served as the location of Shi'a resistance to perceived political oppression and was a place of battle once more in 2004. This is a "battle study" written purposely from the perspective of the Marines, soldiers, and sailors who fought at an-Najaf in August 2004. Some context is needed to fit these events within the evolution of the campaigning in Iraq in 2004. The Americans deployed to al-Anbar and an-Najaf Provinces, faced a variety of threats as Iraq attempted to again govern itself. Threats were from disparate sources, including Sunni Fighters in Fallujah and Shi'a fighters in Najaf. Behind each was the possibility of al-Qaeda in Iraq or criminal exploitation of any disruption of Coalition efforts to establish responsible Iraqi Government. This complexity of threats did not lend itself to easy solutions. In March 2004, Lieutenant General James T. Conway's I Marine Expeditionary Force was faced with an outbreak of Sunni insurgency in Fallujah. At the same time, a Shi'a uprising took place across Iraq, including Baghdad, Najaf, an-Nasiriyah, al-Kut, al-Amarah, and Kirkuk. The fighting spread to Karbala, Hillah, and Basrah with attacks on Iraqi and Coalition outposts. The fighting dropped off in June with the establishment of the Iraqi Interim Government of Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, but the menace of further violence remained. The Multi-National Force-Iraq, under General George W. Casey Jr., USA, felt that before the Iraqis could be responsible for security in each province, the centers of violence had to be dealt with by a "clear-hold-build" approach. Baghdad, Fallujah, and Najaf were thus targeted. When Muqtada al-Sadr fomented another uprising in August, the recently arrived 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit found itself assigned to quell the uprising in Najaf. It would be reinforced for this effort by two U.S. Army and four Iraqi Army battalions. This narrative documents this effort from the small-unit level. The importance of the close relationship between political and military force is emphasized. The intent is to provide a view of combat for the education and training of Marines who might face similar circumstances.

"On Point II" is the US Army's first historical study of Operation Iraqi Freedom between May 2003 and January 2005. The authors of this study, historians at the Army's Combat Studies Institute, have based their account on primary documents and hundreds of interviews with key participants in the campaign. On Point II tells the dramatic story of how, after May 2003, the US Army reinvented itself by transforming into an organization capable of conducting a broad array of diverse and complex full spectrum operations to create stability in Iraq. Critical chapters in this comprehensive book focus on detainee operations (including the Abu Ghraib incidents), reconstruction efforts, and the general response to the growing insurgency in Iraq. The study uses maps, charts, and photographs to help tell its story and includes appendices that document the units involved in the campaign and key events during this period of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Originally published by the U.S. Army Combined Arms Center, Combat Studies Institute in December 2008.

Reckless: Pride of the Marines
By Andrew Geer

Introduction
I first heard of Reckless shortly after joining the 1st Marine Division in Korea in June of 1953. I was told she was a beautiful little mare with the head of a thoroughbred, but my first reaction was that this was probably an exaggeration, as I had seen many of the horses from past service in the Far East and knew them to be the Mongolian type of pony. I was also told of her heroic behavior in the battle of Vegas. Some of the tales I heard were difficult to believe.
I first saw this little lady, however, when the Division was in reserve for a brief period. After many, many months of close and bloody contact with the Chinese enemy, the Marines were given a respite from war. There was time to relax. A carnival was organized and a vast field was converted to an area where games of chance were operated. The profits from this venture were to go to Navy Relief.
It was then that I first saw Reckless. I was surprised at her beauty and intelligence, and believe it or not, her esprit de corps. Like any other Marine, she was enjoying a bottle of beer with her comrades. She was constantly the center of attraction and was fully aware of her importance. If she failed to receive the attention she felt her due, she would deliberately walk into a group of Marines and, in effect, enter the conversation. It was obvious the Marines loved her.
Within a few days of the carnival the 1st Marine Division went back into the line and once again Reckless performed with a courage and spirit that was difficult to understand or believe. Later, after the fighting had stopped, I was invited to attend a formal ceremony where Reckless was cited for bravery and I had the pleasure of promoting her to the rank of sergeant. Still later, there was another fund raising campaign in connection with the Iwo Jima Memorial Many ideas were initiated to promote competition among units to see which could raise the most money. Suddenly Reckless was "kidnapped" and held for considerable ransom. The news swept the Division like wildfire. Needless to say, her ransom was quickly forthcoming and the fund over-subscribed. In my career I have seen many animals that have been adopted by Marines, but never in all my experience have I seen one which won the hearts of so many as did this lovely little lady known as Reckless.
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This is the true story of a young man who wanted nothing more than to serve his country in the most honorable manner he knew how, the U. S. Army. He asks to go to the Korean War, where he does some very amazing things. He is wounded and captured by the Chinese. He is forced to march 200 miles with no medical attention and little food. He is held prisoner for two and a half years only to return to an ungrateful country.

The Combat Studies Institute (CSI) is pleased to present its latest publication in the Occasional Paper Series, "We Have Not Learned How to Wage War There" The Soviet Approach in Afghanistan,1979-1989, by Mr. Matt Matthews. For this work, Mr. Matthews collected a wide variety of sources on the subject, many of them of primary accounts, and used these materials to provide an overview of the evolution of the Soviet operational approach in Afghanistan between 1979 and 1989. This Soviet experience offers a number of useful insights for American military professionals who are, as of this writing, conducting operations in Afghanistan. Mr. Matthews begins his study by examining the Soviets' planning for its invasion of Afghanistan and initial goals for that campaign. The author then looks closely at how the Soviets adapted their tactics and organization to meet the committed and resilient insurgent threat that emerged to do battle against Soviet forces. Despite conventional interpretations of this campaign in Afghanistan which emphasize the rigidity of Soviet methods, Matthews' study suggests that the Soviets were flexible in their overall approach. The Soviet government did, for example, launch nation-building initiatives that would look familiar to American military officers who served in Afghanistan in the first decade of the 21st century. These efforts, however, were seriously hindered by a Soviet military culture that opposed a more comprehensive campaign to foster a popular central Afghan government. Matthews concludes his study by examining Soviet operations to extract their forces from Afghanistan while nonetheless leaving a viable, if not popular, Afghan government in place.

At the time of this writing, the United States and the other members of the international security assistance forces are completing nearly a decade of conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan. What started as more conventional or tradition fights has degenerated over time into insurgency warfare, something U.S. forces have had to re-learn and re-build to fight.

INDOC (Indoctrination) spans the past 30 years of Ideology, Propaganda and Conflict in the Marine Corps and al-Qaida. Dr. Karl D. Klicker, retired Captain of Marines, intelligence officer, and Iraq War veteran explores the internal cultural tensions within the Marine Corps, the roots of division in the Sunni and Shi'a camps; the social psychology of recruiting for war; and the on-going conflict between radical Islamists and America's armed forces.

This technology project focuses on the Korean War from the U.S. Air Force perspective. It details the start of the war and possible causes. It outlines major players in the war to include President Truman, FEC Commanders MacArthur, Ridgway, and Clark, and FEAF Commanders Stratemeyer and Weyland. The product then chronicles major events of the war in time slices from one month to two years long. Major operations discussed include: the Inchon landing, maintenance of the Pusan Perimeter, the railway interdiction campaign, Operation Strangle, and Operation Saturate. The product lists and compares aircraft in the opposing air forces. It ends with lessons learned from the Korean War.

This unofficial military guide was written from the perspective of an Iraq combat infantryman's viewpoint. It presents a unique view of the war on terrorism that many categories of readers will find fascinating and highly informative: Those planning to enlist in any military branch with a unit likely to be deployed in a combat zone or recently enlisted in such a unit will find this unofficial military guide to be a treasure trove of tips that could prevent loss of pay grade, and maybe even their life. Also, survivalists, campers, military enthusiasts/history buffs, and those interested in getting an up-front-and-personal perspective of what really went on in Iraq, will find this special report of great interest.

In Fallujah, during a particularly difficult time in the Iraq War, a group of Marines are deployed on a tour that will bring them closer together, while threatening to tear them apart. The Delta Company Outlaws are a group of Light Armored Reconnaissance Marines deployed in 2004 to one of the most hostile war zones in the world. Through the memoirs of one Marine, this touching story encapsulates the drama surrounding everyday life during the Iraq War. With a bond formed through blood, sweat, and tears, a group of unfamiliar Marines will come together stronger than family. Memoirs of an Outlaw: Life in the Sandbox is a dramatic new take on the Iraq War that focuses more on the personal aspects of war rather than exclusively on combat. With a touching approach to the camaraderie, daily life, and devastating losses, this enlightening memoir by Robert M. Tanner delves into the brotherhood that's formed throughout a deployment while documenting the combat experiences and daily life of a Marine. Using personal experiences, this engaging story hooks readers with drama, action, and honesty while painting an illuminating picture of both the funny and tragic sides of war. Inspired by a bond that's stronger than blood, Memoirs of an Outlaw began as a therapeutic way to document wartime experiences and eventually led to a full-fledged memoir. Deciding to focus on the daily life and camaraderie of war, the story captures the tension, drama, and bonding that comes with combat and living in a hostile environment far away from home. By focusing on the humanistic side of the armed forces, Memoirs of an Outlaw perfectly captures a unique moment in time during an extraordinarily challenging part of the war.

The lightning campaign that toppled the Saddam Hussein regime in Iraq in the spring of 2003 seemed to herald the arrival of a new way of war, as Germany's blitzkrieg had done at the beginning of World War II. But the initial victory soon devolved into a persistent counterinsurgency conflict reminiscent of the long U.S. effort to pacify the Philippines after the rapid defeat of Spain in 1898. In Iraq, American soldiers and their Coalition partners had merely traded one fairly weak and generally conventional opponent for a more deadly, diverse, and determined foe relying on the tactics of the guerrilla and the terrorist. This volume focuses on that second and longer campaign. But rather than a narrative of the overall course of the conflict, it provides a soldier's-eye view of the war by focusing on detailed accounts of selected engagements. Each illustrates the everyday challenges that America's soldiers faced in a difficult struggle against an inventive and often elusive enemy. Weapons, doctrine, and procedures developed to fight a conventional campaign against a similar opposing force had to be adapted to fit a different type of conflict. The U.S. Army's combat and support forces brought both resourcefulness and resilience to this task while continuing to demonstrate the same courage shown by previous generations fighting the nation's battles. These stories not only symbolize the tip of the spear formed by units in contact, but they also represent the contributions of all American men and women who have served their country in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Taken together, these accounts will provide our deploying leaders and soldiers a better understanding of the environment that they will encounter and prepare them for the work that must be done.

This bibliography comprises unclassified publication dealing in whole or significant part with Marine Corps operations and related matters in the Korean War.

The thesis which Col. MacDonald authored has had a remarkable and continuing influence on the many Department of Defense studies of prisoners of war since it was written. This print, appearing as it did in 1961, includes some minor errata changes for the use of the serious student of the POW experience and as a reference source for interested libraries

This anthology presents a collection of 21 articles describing the full range of U.S. Marine Corps operations in Iraq from 2004 to 2008. During this period, the Marines conducted a wide variety of kinetic and non-kinetic operations as they fought to defeat the Iraq insurgency, build stability, and lay the groundwork for democratic governance. The selections in this collection include journalistic accounts, scholarly essays, and Marine Corps summaries of action. Our intent is to provide a general overview to educate Marines and the general public about this critical period in the history of the U.S. Marine Corps, the United States, and Iraq. Many of the conclusions are provisional and are being updated and revised as new information and archival resources become available. The accompanying annotated bibliography provides a detailed overview of where current scholarship on this period currently stands. The editor of this anthology, Nicholas J. Schlosser, earned his doctorate in history from the University of Maryland in 2008 and has worked as a historian with the Marine Corps History Division since 2009. His research examines U.S. Marine Corps operations during Operation Iraqi Freedom, focusing on irregular warfare, counterinsurgency operations, and the al-Anbar Awakening

This book is a Black and White (Grayscale) "REPRINT" . "Although events did not afford the Marines an opportunity to engage the enemy in heavy combat, their contribution in southern Afghanistan was nonetheless significant. From a strategic perspective, the arrival of a sizable conventional force demonstrated America's resolve to confront the sponsors of terrorism directly and signaled an end to Taliban rule. From an operational perspective, Task Force 58 successfully blocked the western escape route from Kandahar and threatened the enemy's last remaining urban stronghold. As Lieutenant General Gregory S. Newbold, former director of operations for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, later observed: The insertion of Task Force 58 had a deep psychological impact on the Taliban and al-Qaeda-they were confronted with a military situation which now unhinged any hope they had for a gradual pullback from the north and a chance to hold from their area of greatest strength. . . . The insertion of Task Force 58 fundamentally changed the equation for the enemy from one of grim hope to hopelessness.1 The strategic agility and operational reach showcased by the Navy amphibious squadrons and Marine expeditionary units validated the utility of task-organized expeditionary forces, particularly in respect to the effectiveness of long-range, ship-to-objective maneuver. These combined achievements contributed directly to the subsequent deployment of expeditionary strike groups in 2003. As a result, today's naval services are now in a better position to address emerging crises around the globe, regardless of whether they occur in littoral or landlocked regions of the world." Dr. Charles P. Neimeyer Director of Marine Corps History