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Books > Social sciences > Warfare & defence > Special & elite forces
On average a Special Operations Executive (SOE) agent would be dead
within three months of being dropped in the field. Terry Crowdy
tells the extraordinary story of these agents, some of whom were
women as young as 22, following them through their experiences
beginning with their recruitment and unorthodox training methods,
particularly the unarmed combat training provided by the notorious
Fairburn and Sykes partnership. As well as detailing these
controversial techniques, the training chapter also covers the
tough physical training course and parachute training that all
recruits had to endure before being sent into occupied Europe.
Crowdy also examines the SOE's unique system of codes, which
included each agent composing their own poem as well as using
quotations from famous pieces of literature to convey secret
messages, and explores the strengths and weaknesses of this system.
Full-color artwork and photographs show the innovative equipment,
including the S-Phones and Eureka sets, which allowed the agent to
communicate directly with pilots and other agents. Lastly, the book
recounts the incredible combat missions of the SOE agents,
incluidng operations in the field with Yugoslav and Greek
partisans, as well as sabotage missions ranging from blowing up
bridges to the raising of full-scale partisan armies as they
attempted to fulfill Churchill's directive to set Occupied Europe
ablaze.
Walter R. Somerville, Jr., was born in an impoverished community
but worked his way up the ladder to becoming assistant commandant
for civil rights in the United States Coast Guard. In his 54 years
of public service to the people of the United States, he was a
relentless advocate for creating a Coast Guard culture that values
diversity, for increasing representation of minorities and women in
the military service, for developing the Coast Guard's recruiting
initiative for the 21st century, and much, much more. He is a
graduate of the 1992 program for senior managers in government, the
John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.
The truth behind the SAS' most famous mission. Drawing on extensive
research, Operation Nimrod dispels the myths and reveals the truth
of those six long days, and the dramatic rescue that thrust the SAS
into the public eye. On 29th April 1980, British police assured
Iran that their embassy was secure. The very next day, terrorists
stormed the embassy and took twenty-six hostages. With the Iranian
government willing to let the hostages become martyrs, and the
British government only willing to talk if the terrorists
surrendered, twenty-six lives hung in the balance. What followed
was six days of tension and terror. It was finally ended when the
SAS launched a daring rescue mission, broadcast live on television.
Millions held their breath, waiting to see the outcome of Operation
Nimrod.
Special Operations are military operations requiring unique modes
of employment, tactical techniques, equipment, and training often
conducted in hostile, denied, or politically sensitive environments
and characterised by one or more of the following: time sensitive,
clandestine, low visibility, conducted with and/or through
indigenous forces, requiring regional expertise, and/or a high
degree of risk. Special Operations Forces (SOF) are those active
and reserve component forces of the services designated by the
Secretary of Defense and specifically organised, trained, and
equipped to conduct and support special operations. Since 2001, the
Department of Defense (DOD) has increased the size and funding of
SOF and emphasised SOF's importance to meet national security
needs. SOF deployments have focused on the Middle East and placed
significant demand on the force during this period. This book
examines trends since FY 2001 in authorised special operations
military positions; the extent to which DOD has determined total
funding for SOF; and the extent to which DOD has taken steps to
manage the pace of SOF deployments, among other issues.
In June 1944, Allied forces fighting desperately to establish a
foothold in Normandy and then breakout of the confining bocage
found themselves opposed by a bewildering array of formations of
the German Wehrmacht. Among them were the newly formed German II
Parachute Corps. This gripping new account examines the exploits of
Germanys II Parachute Corps and its commander, Eugen Meindl from
the Allied invasion on 6 June to the end of August 1944\. Meindl
was the epitome of the senior German airborne commander in the
Second World War. Tough, experienced, and aggressive, he cared
deeply for his troops. His Parachute Corps fought stubbornly for
three weeks, before being forced to fall back. Trapped along with
the bulk of the German Seventh Army in the Falaise pocket, Meindl
and his paratroopers maintained their discipline and were selected
by the Commander in Chief of OB West to lead the German breakout to
the east. That they managed to do so, despite suffering grievous
losses, while so many around them died or surrendered, is a
testament to their dedication and fighting ability. Theirs is a
story that deserves to be told.
Employment till now of our nascent Special Forces have been
analyzed including whether our Special Forces have actually been
employed or used as Special Forces or primarily used in
counter-insurgency operations for which we have any number of other
units available. The book brings out whether a rare resource like
Special Forces should or should not be employed for such missions
that can be performed by a host of other groups. In the backdrop of
21st Century threats, what should be the Special Forces structure
in India, their concept of employment and doctrine? These are the
other questions this book has attempted to answer.
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