In combating terror, America can no longer depend on its conventional military superiority and the use of sophisticated technology. More than ever, we need men like those of the Army Special Forces-the legendary Green Berets.
In "Chosen Soldier," Dick Couch draws on nearly a year spent at Special Forces training facilities and offers an unprecedented view of the education of these men.
Following the experiences of one class of soldiers as they endure this physically and mentally exhausting ordeal, Couch spells out in fascinating detail the demanding selection process and grueling field exercises, the high-level technical training and intensive language courses, and the simulated battle problems that test everything from how well SF candidates gather operational intelligence to their skills at negotiating with volatile, often hostile, local leaders. "Chosen Soldier" paints a vivid portrait of an elite group, and a process that forges America's smartest, most versatile, and most valuable fighting force.

Tom Clancy's Op-Center is back with this new thriller written by the "New York Times" bestselling authors of Tom Clancy's ACT OF VALOR and featuring a chilling, ripped-from-the-headlines scenario.
Before 9/11 America was protected by a covert force known as the National Crisis Management Center. Commonly known as Op-Center, this silent, secret mantel guarded the American people and protected the country from enemies. The charter was top secret and Director Paul Hood reported directly to the president. Op-Center used undercover operatives with SWAT capabilities to diffuse crises around the world, and they were tops in their field. But after the World Trade Center disaster, in the interest of streamlining, OP-Center was disbanded--leaving the country in terrible danger.
But when terrorists detonate bombs in sports stadiums around the country leaving men, women and children dead or mutilated, the President executes an emergency order to bring back Op-Center--an Op-Center capable of dealing with the high tech crises of the 21st Century, and there is a lethal one brewing in the Middle East. A renegade Saudi Prince with ambitions of controlling the world's oil supply has an ingenious plot to manipulate America into attacking Syria and launching a war against Iran. Next, they would ignite a sleeper cell to attack the America homeland, resulting in a bloodbath unlike any other. Only the men and women of Op-Center, using sophisticated technology, realize what is about to be unleashed. Only they have the courage to issue a warning no one wants to hear. But will anyone believe them?

Sua Sponte
Latin for "Of Their Own Accord"
The 75th Ranger Regiment's Motto
Army Rangers are not born. They are made. The modern 75th Ranger Regiment represents the culmination of 250 years of American soldiering. As a fighting force with our nation's oldest and deepest tradition, the Regiment traces its origins to Richard Rogers's Rangers during the prerevolutionary French and Indian War, through the likes of Francis Marion and John Mosby, to the five active Ranger battalions of the Second World War, and finally, to the four battalions of the current Ranger regiment engaged in modern combat.
Granted unprecedented access to the training of this highly restricted component of America's Special Operations Forces in a time of war, retired Navy captain Dick Couch tells the personal story of the young men who begin this difficult and dangerous journey to become Rangers. Many will try, but only a select few will survive to serve in the 75th Ranger Regiment. "Sua Sponte" follows a group of these aspiring young warriors through the crucible that is Ranger training and their preparation for direct-action missions in Afghanistan against America's enemies, anywhere, any time, and under any conditions.
INCLUDES PHOTOGRAPHS

Delivering "a gripping insider's view of the secret world of nuclear security" (W.E.B. Griffin), Dick Couch's explosive novel poses the chilling and timely question: How safe are America's waterways from terrorist threat?

Riding quietly at her moorings on Puget Sound, the U.S. Navy's deadly weapon -- the Trident submarine -- waits for her return to the sea. But an Arab terrorist known as the Shadow has targeted the USS "Michigan," with nearly three hundred nuclear warheads nestled in its missile silos. He intends to take the deadliest weapon of the Cold War and turn it into the deadliest dirty bomb conceivable -- by hijacking the "Spokane," flagship of the nation's largest ferry fleet. The nation, caught by surprise, sends a select team of Navy SEALs to stop the Shadow. They are aided by a savvy FBI agent and the ferry's captain, Ross Peck. Unless the U.S. wields its political might to support his terrorist brothers in the Middle East, the Shadow will unleash a radiological holocaust, and a nightmare beyond imagining. . . .

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."

This now-classic tale of SEAL combat action in Vietnam marked Dick Couch’s debut as a novelist in 1990 and sold more than 100,000 copies. Hailed for its authenticity, it was the first novel about Navy SEALs to be written by one of their own. Couch, a SEAL platoon leader in the Mekong Delta from 1970 to 1971, includes gripping descriptions of dangerous operations that continue to attract a broad audience, with many bestselling authors calling his book a sensational story they can’t put down. This new paperback edition features a foreword by the former head of the Naval Special Warfare Command.

With a postscript describing SEAL efforts in Afghanistan, The Warrior Elite takes you into the toughest, longest, and most relentless military
training in the world.

What does it take to become a Navy SEAL? What makes talented, intelligent young men volunteer for physical punishment, cold water, and days without sleep? In The Warrior Elite, former Navy SEAL Dick Couch documents the process that transforms young men into warriors. SEAL training is the distillation of the human spirit, a tradition-bound ordeal that seeks to find men with character, courage, and the burning desire to win at all costs, men who would rather die than quit.

In America's new war, the first guns in the fight are special operations forces, including the Navy SEALs, specially trained warriors who operate with precision, swiftness, and lethal force. In the constantly shifting war on terror, SEAL units--small in number, flexible, stealthy, and ef?cient--are more vital than ever to America's security as they take the battle to an elusive enemy around the globe.
But how are Navy SEALs made? Dick Couch, author of the acclaimed "Warrior Elite," follows SEALs on the ground and in the water as they undergo SEAL Tactical Training, where they master combat skills such as precision shooting, demolitions, secure communications, parachuting, diving, and first aid. From there, the men enter operational platoons, where they subordinate their individual abilities to the mission of the group and train for special operations in specific geographic environments.
Never before has a civilian writer been granted such close access to the training of America's most elite military forces. "The Finishing School" is essential reading for anyone who wants to know what goes into the making of America's best warriors.