For the first time in trade paperback-a classic memoir of Navy SEALs in action.
In gripping prose, Captain Robert A. Gormly tells about his days as a leader in the Navy SEALs- taking readers into the night, into the water, and into battle on some of the most hair-raising missions ever assigned.
Trained to a fine fighting edge just in time for Vietnam, Gormly served two tours of duty and engaged in top-secret missions in the Persian Gulf. Here, he shares his viewpoint and his experience-including what is perhaps the most graphic description ever of SEAL action in the invasion of Grenada. Gormly takes readers behind the myth of this awesome team, revealing how their lives depend on their unprecedented expertise and unparalleled courage.

2010 Reprint of 1935 edition. This classic work on sniping is considered the first and some say the most influential book in print about sniping and the art of being a military sniper on the battlefield. McBride's book was seminal in the development of U.S. military sniping doctrine in WWII, Korea, Vietnam, and on to the present day. The U.S. Marine Corps Sniper School has made this book mandatory reading for its would-be snipers.

The true story of a legendary SAS soldier who participated in the battle of Mirbat and assaulted the Iranian Embassy to free the hostages held within. No publicity, no media. We move in silently, do our job, and melt away into the background. If you have the stamina, the willpower and the guts, we'll welcome you with open arms and make you one of us. And if you haven't, then it's been very nice knowing you. Eighteen years in the SAS saw Pete Winner, codenamed Soldier 'I', survive the savage battle of Mirbat, parachute into the icy depths of the South Atlantic at the height of the Falklands War, and storm the Iranian Embassy during the most famous hostage crisis in the modern world. For the first time Pete also details his close-protection work around the world, from the lawless streets of Moscow to escorting aid convoys into war-torn Bosnia. He also unveils the problems of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder faced by many Special Forces veterans, and how he battled his own demons to continue his roller-coaster career. This is his story, written with a breathtaking take-no-prisoners attitude that brings each death-defying episode vividly to life.

The history of II SS Panzer Corps is a short and violent one. This meticulously researched book documents the actions of the 9th and 10th SS Panzer Divisions from activation until October 1944, and the 2nd and 9th SS Divisions from December 1944 until the end of the war. This period encompasses the Battle of Normandy, the escape from the Falaise Pocket, the Market Garden episode and Hitler's last great offensive in the West, the Battle of the Bulge. Sons of the Reich also dismantles the myth that the Waffen SS were a volunteer force of brainwashed thugs and fanatics, in fact II SS Panzer Division were ordinary conscripts, whose tenacity (most noteably at Arnhem in September 1944) was admired by friend and foe alike.

America's curiosity about elite military units is greater than ever in today's crisis-ridden world. And while numerous books have examined the various elite forces, "Bunker Hill to Bastogne" goes much further to show the relationship between these special units and the societies that gave birth to them. Though America in general has often regarded its military establishment as an unfortunate necessity, elite formations have nearly always emerged in moments of crisis. And while their exploits have fostered the cherished image of the individualistic but loyal rifleman-ranger, these legends have not always corresponded to reality. America's roster of heroic images has long included esteemed elite units, running the gamut from Roger's Rangers at Fort Ticonderoga during the American Revolution to Berdan's Sharpshooters during the Civil War and the paratroopers of Normandy in World War II. But despite Americans' reverent regard for, and patriotic depiction of, elite units, they initially distrusted the idea of a standing army given such abuses as the quartering of soldiers in citizens' homes. Indeed, the egalitarian American spirit caused the Founding Fathers to discourage a class of emperor-making military elites. And yet, elite units did emerge during every major American conflict. But the evolution of such forces has taken place in fits and starts, with units often demobilizing after a particular crisis had passed. Only since World War II have elite units become a consistently relied-upon arm of the military for dealing with constantly erupting global crises. "Bunker Hill to Bastogne" is a unique and timely chronicle of the birth and evolution of elite forces and the American public'sreactions to them. It shows that despite Americans' wariness of a possible military elite, their love of the fabled rifleman-ranger has seldom dwindled, though in the twenty-first century their hero might wear a green beret rather than a coonskin cap.

Although harsh and inhospitable, the North African theater of World War II proved to be a perfect environment for irregular warfare and the deployment of Special Forces. Four countries took part in this 'shadow war': Great Britain, most successfully of all; Free France, including a surprising solitary campaign from Chad; Italy, mainly engaged in defending the Libyan southern line of communications; and Germany, operating an extensive spy network throughout Egypt.
Andrea Molinari deals with the development and organization of these unique units, and examines how the conditions in North Africa affected the Special Forces of all the countries involved as unconventional units were increasingly used to fight in unconventional conditions in the depths of the "sea of sand" between Libya and Egypt. Accompanied by evocative wartime photography, comprehensive maps and detailed organizational charts, this is the first complete coverage of desert raiders on both sides of the war. With Dr. Duncan Anderson, Head of War Studies at the British military academy and leading military historian, acting as consulting editor, this book is a definitive analysis of the world's first Special Forces.

First time in trade paperback, from the bestselling author of "Marine Sniper" and "Goodnight, Saigon."
In 1965, the U.S. Marines landed in Vietnam. It was supposed to be just another deployment. America was going to do what the French could not: clean up that dirty little brush war in South Vietnam. But the Marines were experiencing a brand-new sort of enemy-the guerrilla fighter.That year, the war's carnage became frighteningly real to television audiences back home-but the Marines were already displaying the fighting courage of experienced heroes. They had quickly learned the first rule of combat: kill or be killed.
With the explosive firepower of his military classics "Marine Sniper" and "Silent Warrior," Charles Henderson gives a startlingly realistic account of the Marines' hellish introduction to a new kind of warfare-and the raw truth about how it produced a new kind of American soldier.

In America's battle against al-Qaeda and their allies, the goal of the Navy SEALs is to be the best guns in the fight--stealthy, effective, professional, and lethal. Here for the first time is a SEAL insider's battle history of these Special Operations warriors in the war on terrorism.
"Down range" is what SEALs in Afghanistan and Iraq call their area of operations. In this new mode of warfare, "down range" can refer to anything from tracking roving bands of al-Qaeda on a remote mountain trail in Afghanistan to taking down an armed compound in Tikrit and rousting holdouts from Saddam Hussein's regime. It could mean interdicting insurgents smuggling car-bomb explosives over the Iraqi-Syrian border or silently boarding a freighter on the high seas at night to enforce an embargo. In other words, "down range" could be anywhere, anytime, under any conditions.
In "Down Range," author Dick Couch, himself a former Navy SEAL and CIA case officer, uses his unprecedented access to bring the reader firsthand accounts from the warriors in combat during key missions in Afghanistan and Iraq. Couch creates a pulse-pounding, detailed narrative of the definitive engagements of this war, while painting an unusually intimate portrait of these warriors in the field. The performance of the SEALs in difficult, changing environments--in the heat of the Afghan desert, in the snow-packed Hindu Kush, on the high seas, and in the urban chaos of Baghdad--has been nothing short of extraordinary. The SEALs, coordinating with other American forces, the CIA, and foreign special operations units like the Polish GROM, have once more shown their genius for improvisation and capacity for courageous action in leading the fight against this new and vicious enemy.
The first battle history of its kind, "Down Range" is a riveting close-up of some of America's finest warriors in action against a deadly foe.

Also available as an eBook

"From the Hardcover edition."

Through in-depth research and interviews with veterans, William Fowler has produced the most complete history of this elite and elusive unit to date. Out of Africa 1941 - 1943 Into Italy 1943 - 1945 Overlord and Europe 1944 - 1945 Post War Phoenix Malaya 1948 - 1960 The Confrontation 1962 - 1966 Oman 1970 - 1976 The Cold War 1945 - 1990 The Falklands Interlude 1982 The First Gulf War 1990 - 1991 Back to Africa 1981 - 2000 Balkan interlude 1994 - Afghanistan 2001 - The Second Gulf War 2003 C Squadron to 1 SAS Regiment (Rhodesia) 1951 - 1980 Enter the Kiwis 1954 - The Australian Experience 1957 - The Future

The Second World War spawned a plethora of crack special forces units (Long Range Desert Group, SAS, SBS, Phantom and Commandos) but 30 Assault Unit remains, even today, far more secretive and exclusive than the others. Formed by Ian Fleming, who was working for Naval Intelligence, 30 AUs mission was to penetrate and operate behind enemy lines, capture by whatever means necessary vital intelligence and feed it back to London where it could be assimilated and acted upon. This crack team of commandos included mavericks such as Patrick Dalzel-Job (generally regarded as the model for Flemings fictional secret agent 007), and less well known (despite their conspicuous bravery) figures such as Captains Huntingdon-Whiteley, Captain Martin-Smith. Lieutenant Commander Curtis and Lieutenant McFee. The author has trawled archives and interviewed veterans in order to piece together the history and record of this elusive special forces unit who fought with great distinction and achieved results disproportionate to their size.

"Of all the books on Native American service in the U.S. armed forces, this is the best.... Readers will find the story of the Comanche Code Talkers compelling, humorous, thought-provoking, and inspiring." -- Tom Holm, author of Strong Hearts, Wounded Souls: Native American Veterans of the Vietnam War

Among the allied troops that came ashore in Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944, were thirteen Comanches in the 4th Infantry Division, 4th Signal Company. Under German fire they laid communications lines and began sending messages in a form never before heard in Europe-- coded Comanche. For the rest of World War II, the Comanche Code Talkers played a vital role in transmitting orders and messages in a code that was never broken by the Germans.

This book tells the full story of the Comanche Code Talkers for the first time. Drawing on interviews with all surviving members of the unit, their original training officer, and fellow soldiers, as well as military records and news accounts, William C. Meadows follows the group from their recruitment and training to their active duty in World War II and on through their postwar lives up to the present. He also provides the first comparison of Native American code talking programs, comparing the Comanche Code Talkers with their better-known Navajo counterparts in the Pacific and with other Native Americans who used their languages, coded or not, for secret communication. Meadows sets this history in a larger discussion of the development of Native American code talking in World Wars I and II, identifying two distinct forms of Native American code talking, examining the attitudes of the American military toward Native American codetalkers, and assessing the complex cultural factors that led Comanche and other Native Americans to serve their country in this way.

-- Details how the Marines valiantly battled numerically superior Chinese forces and held the front

-- Combines original historical research with oral accounts from the Marines who served

-- Contains rare photos and original maps

The Final Crucible details the 1st Marine Division's harrowing close-quarters battles during the final seven months of the Korean War, January to July 1953. The terrible five-day Battle of the Nevada Cities in March and the Marines' bloody stand at Boulder City on the last day of the shooting war are just two of the engagements detailed here. This volume follows The Outpost War: U.S. Marines in Korea, Vol. 1: 1952.

This fast-moving memoir of T. Moffatt Burriss shows his extraordinary role as a platoon leader and company commander with the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment in Europe and North Africa during World War II. He saw a great deal of combat on Sicily, at Salerno, on Anzio Beach, in Holland during Operation Market Garden, and during the drive into Germany. This book portrays World War II as seen vividly through the eyes of the young American citizen-soldier.

They are sent to the world's hot spots-on covert missions fraught with danger. They are called on to perform at the peak of their physical and mental capabilities, primed for combat and surveillance, yet ready to pitch in with disaster relief operations. They are the Army's Special Forces Groups. Now follow Tom Clancy as he delves into the training and tools, missions and mindset of these elite operatives.

Special Forces includes:

• The making of Special Forces personnel: recruitment and training
  
• A rare look at actual Special Forces Group deployment Exercises
  
• Tools of the trade: weapons, communications and sensor equipment, survival gear
  
• Roles and missions: a mini-novel illustrates a probable scenario of Special Forces intervention
  
• Exclusive photographs, illustrations and diagrams

Strike and Hold is a fast-moving memoir of T. Moffatt Burriss's extraordinary experiences as a platoon leader and company commander with the U.S. Army's 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 82d Airborne Division in Europe and North Africa during World War II. Burriss and his fellow paratroopers saw combat in many of the pivotal battles of the war and quickly won a reputation as disciplined, resourceful, and highly effective assault troops. They were an almost unstoppable fighting force that earned the nickname "devils in baggy pants" from Germans who dreaded encountering them. Burriss's compelling narrative, interspersed with recollections by other men with whom he served, gives the reader a firsthand account of harrowing combat. The key battles and campaigns the author chronicles include the Allied invasion of Sicily, the landings at Salerno and the offensive up the Italian peninsula, the bloody amphibious assault at Anzio, the heroic Waal River crossing during Operation Market-Garden, the Battle of the Bulge, and the break through the Siegfried Line into the heart of Germany

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"With their renowned squadron leader Greg "Pappy" Boyington, Marine Fighting Squadron (VMF) 214 was one of the best-known and most colorful combat units of World War II. The popular television series "Baa Baa Black Sheep" added to their legend--while obscuring the truly remarkable combat record of the Black Sheep and Boyington. A retired naval flight officer and former historian for the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation, Bruce Gamble provides a highly readable account that serves to both correct and extend the record of this premier fighting force.
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"From the Paperback edition."

The United States Marine Corps is America's best-known military unit, and perhaps the most famous in the world. It is the nation's oldest unit, as far as recognition by Congress goes, and has been almost continually engaged in active operations for all its existence, when other branches of service were on peacetime status.Such a long and varied service, and the type of personnel required for such an elite unit, have produced a trove of lore and legendary unparalleled in the world. Albert A. Nofi, the leading force behind Combined Books' acclaimed "Civil War Book of Lists," has taken on the task of producing a definitive compendium of Marine Corps facts and statistics.The Corps' long history is well-represented, with such lists as Greatest Battles, Medal of Honor Winners, Commandants, Marines in American Wars, Greatest Foes, Foreign Marine Corps, Confederate Marines, Marines in Congress, Marines in Space, and numerous others. A sharp focus is maintained on the present as well, since the book is also intended for those currently involved with the military. Current Marine units, bases, schools, orders of dress, traditions and specialized vocabulary are given complete coverage."United States Marine Corps Book of Lists" will prove to be of equal interest to military history buffs and those currently involved in military affairs.Albert A. Nofi has a Ph.D. in Military History from the City University of New York and was associate editor for many years of the ground-breaking military journal "Strategy and Tactics." He was a founder of wargaming, the conflict simulation system used both by hobbyists and military planners. Dr. Nofi has written numerous books and articles on military history andwas a news media military commentator during the Persian Gulf War. He is also the author of "The Gettysburg Campaign" and "The Waterloo Campaign."

France had a population of between 22 and 25 million at this time, and maintained the largest standing army in Europe. In peacetime it might have amounted to about 200,000 men; in times of war, it could be anything up to half a million. A substantial part of Louis XV's army consisted of numerous regiments of guard cavalry, heavy cavalry and dragoon regiments, which were considered the best and noblest part. These many units form the subject matter in this first of five fascinating volumes [Men-at-Arms 296, 302, 304, 308 & 313] by Rene Chartrand covering the army of Louis XV's.

A revelatory account of the cloak-and-dagger Israeli campaign to target the finances fueling terror organizations--an effort that became the blueprint for U.S. efforts to combat threats like ISIS and drug cartels. ISIS boasted $2.4 billion of revenue in 2015, yet for too long the global war on terror overlooked financial warfare as an offensive strategy. "Harpoon," the creation of Mossad legend Meir Dagan, directed spies, soldiers, and attorneys to disrupt and destroy money pipelines and financial institutions that paid for the bloodshed perpetrated by Hamas, Hezbollah, and other groups. Written by an attorney who worked with Harpoon and a bestselling journalist, Harpoon offers a gripping story of the Israeli-led effort, now joined by the Americans, to choke off the terrorists' oxygen supply, money, via unconventional warfare.

Former Army Ranger Kris Paronto, a survivor of the 2012 Benghazi siege that was subject of the book and movie 13 Hours, provides powerful, motivational tools for surviving and thriving to bring readers discipline, motivation, success, and peace to life.

Thousands of people have heard Kris "Tanto" Paronto speak about his experiences in Benghazi on September 11, 2012. But before he was a security contractor, Tanto was a US Army Ranger from 2nd Battalion 75th Ranger Regiment. Rangers are trained to lead by being pushed to their physical and mental limits so that they can perform against impossible odds in punishing situations. In THE RANGER WAY, Tanto shares stories from his training experiences that played a role in his team's heroic response in Benghazi. Being a Ranger is, by design, not for everyone, but anyone can use the expectations and techniques of Ranger culture to achieve personal victory.

In THE RANGER WAY, Tanto explains the importance of demanding excellence when you commit to improving your life. He shows you how to define your mission, set goals that are in alignment with your values, and develop a battle plan that will maximize your chances of success. You will learn why you should never quit and why that is different from never failing. Tanto uses his experiences in Basic and Ranger Training to explore how to deal with mistakes and disappointment like a leader, accept responsibility, and turn every obstacle into an opportunity for growth. You will learn why being of service to others, and being willing to sacrifice, will help you succeed, and how the power of humility, strength, faith, and brotherhood will sustain you on the road to accomplishing your mission.