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Books > Social sciences > Warfare & defence > Special & elite forces
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.
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.
Loyal and courageous, dogs are truly man's best friend on the
battlefield. In War Dogs, Rebecca Frankel offers a riveting mix of
on-the-ground reporting, her own hands-on experiences in the
military working dog world, and a look at the science of dogs'
special abilities from their amazing noses and powerful jaws to
their enormous sensitivity to the emotions of their human
companions. The history of dogs in the US military is long and
rich, from the spirit-lifting mascots of the Civil War to the dogs
still leading patrols hunting for IEDs today. Frankel not only
interviewed handlers who deployed with dogs in wars from Vietnam to
Iraq, but top military commanders, K-9 program managers,
combat-trained therapists who brought dogs into war zones as part
of a preemptive measure to stave off PTSD, and veterinary
technicians stationed in Bagram. She makes a passionate case for
maintaining a robust war-dog force. With a compelling cast of
humans and animals, this moving book is a must read for all dog
lovers, military and otherwise.
The memoir of paratrooper Kurt Gabel-a German Jew who emigrated to
the US in 1938, joined the 513th Regiment of the 17th Airborne
Division, and fought against his former countrymen in the Battle of
the Bulge. Gabel conveys with rare immediacy anin-depth look at the
training of a paratrooper, the dangers of combat, and his
transformation from romantic idealist to warrior. He vividly
recounts the fire fights and such episodes as narrow escapes,
separation from his battalion and his rescue by another, and the
interrogation of prisoners. He tells the full story of his
desperate hours on "Dead Man's Ridge" near Bastogne.
In New York Times bestseller Level Zero Heroes, Michael Golembesky
follows the members of US. Marine Special Operations Team 8222 on
their assignment to the remote and isolated Taliban stronghold
known as Bala Murghab as they conduct special operations in an
effort to break the Taliban's grip on the Valley. What started out
as a routine mission changed when two 82nd Airborne Paratroopers
tragically drowned in the Bala Murghab River while trying to
retrieve vital supplies from an air drop gone wrong. In that
moment, the focus and purpose of the friendly forces at Forward
Operating Base Todd was forever altered as a massive clearing
operation was initiated to break the Taliban's stranglehold on the
valley and recover the bodies. From close quarters firefights in
Afghan villages to capturing key terrain from the Taliban in the
unforgiving Afghan Winter, this intense and personal story depicts
the brave actions and sacrifices of MSOT 8222. Readers will
understand the hopelessness of being pinned down under a hail of
enemy gunfire and the quake of the earth as a 2000 lb. guided bomb
levels a fortified Taliban fighting position. A moving story of
Marine Operators doing what they do best, Level Zero Heroes brings
to life the mission of these selected few that fought side by side
in Afghanistan, in a narrative as action packed and emotional as
anything to emerge from the Special Operations community
contribution to the Afghan War.
As an 18-year-old, John Urwin was posted to Cyprus, where he was
recruited into a top-secret unit called the Sixteen, whose task was
to assassinate key figures throughout the Middle East. Now he
breaks his silence to tell their story. Their training was said to
have surpassed that of the SAS in unarmed combat and weaponry. His
description of their four key missions is explosive and a riveting
account of the turbulent 1950s in the Middle East. The Cold War was
approaching its height and when there was a mission to be
undertaken that no government could be seen to endorse, the Sixteen
would do the job. No previous depiction of a military group, in
book or movie, has remotely compared to the secrecy, skills and
sheer professionalism of the Sixteen.
What does it take, both physically and mentally, to join the
world's most respected--and feared--military units? Lewis looks at
the origins, training, tactics, weapons, and achievements of
regiments such as Britain's SAS and Paratroopers, the US Navy
SEALS, Delta Force, Army Rangers and Green Berets, Russia's
Spetsnaz, and the Israeli Special Forces, as well as the codes that
bind their members together. He looks at training in everything
from wilderness survival to hand-to-hand combat.
"Major Jim Gant, a man seen by many of us as the 'perfect
insurgent, '--an inspiring, gifted, courageous leader... -- GENERAL
DAVID H. PETRAEUS (U.S. Army, Ret.) THE PAPER THAT ROCKED OSAMA BIN
LADEN Team members during the May 2, 2011 U.S. military raid that
killed Osama Bin Laden seized piles of Al Qaeda intelligence. One
piece of evidence found in Bin Laden's personal sleeping quarters
was an English language copy of Jim Gant's One Tribe at a Time. It
contained notes in the margins consistent with others identified as
written by Osama Bin Laden. A directive from Osama Bin Laden to his
intelligence chief was also discovered. It identified Jim Gant by
name as an impediment to Al Qaeda's operational objectives for
eastern Afghanistan. Bin Laden ordered that Gant be assassinated. "
One Tribe at a Time] was hugely important...at a time when I was
looking for ideas on Afghanistan... Gant] was the first to write it
down, in a very coherent fashion, very readable, very encouraging
frankly...and there is enormous power in that." --General David H.
Petraeus (U.S. Army, Ret.) quoted in American Spartan: The Promise,
The Mission, and The Betrayal of Special Forces Major Jim Gant by
Ann Scott Tyson
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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