Download or read book Razor 03 written by Alan C. Mack and published by Pen and Sword Military. This book was released on 2022-09-08 with total page 390 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “A truly extraordinary book by a phenomenal pilot and warrior. Alan Mack was in the thick of every sensitive, harrowing, high-stakes operation in the decade following 9/11. His account of combat from the cockpit of the world’s most exceptional special ops aviation unit and of the toll it took on him and his family is forthright, riveting, raw, compelling, and inspirational. Readers will not be able to put Razor 3 down.” -General David H. Petraeus, US Army (Ret.), former Commander of the Surge in Iraq, US Central Command, and Coalition Forces in Afghanistan, and former Director of the CIA The attacks of September 11, 2001, prompted the creation of a robust and deadly special operations force -- Task Force Dagger. Alan C. Mack, Callsign Razor 03, led a team of MH-47E helicopters and armed MH-60s. Their two-fold mission – Personnel Recovery (PR) and Unconventional Warfare (UW) involved flying in terrain and weather previously not thought possible. If that wasn’t enough, they pushed the flight envelope of their specially modified Chinooks to the limit and beyond. Mack shares his behind-the-scenes perspective of the Horse Soldier’s infill into Afghanistan. He discusses the hunt for Osama Bin Laden at Tora Bora and describes his shootdown during Operation Anaconda. Years later, he chased Bowe Bergdahl, rescued hostages in Iraq, and the U.S. Navy Seal ‘Lone Survivor’ from the Kunar Valley. Mack’s near-death experiences and frequent deployments not only affected him, but pushed his wife toward prescription opioids. Her developing addiction led to friction as he kept her secret and continued to deploy. He lived by his unit’s motto, Night Stalkers Don’t Quit! He wouldn’t quit on his unit – he couldn’t quit on his family. His story of success, tragedy, and ultimate happiness is as old as warfare itself.

Download or read book Occam s Razor written by T. R. Ryden and published by Beaufort Books. This book was released on 2019-09-26 with total page 421 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When ancient artifacts discovered in the Great Pyramid of Giza shed new light on a DNA pattern identified by a world-renowned molecular biologist, venture capitalist, James Anderson, is thrust into an action-packed road of scientific exploration and discovery. An unlikely participant in the events that begin to unfold, Anderson and his team, pursued by those who don’t want this new information out, realize they have stumbled upon the greatest and most terrifying cover-up in the history of the human race. Occam’s Razor is a chilling speculative fiction thriller which ties together several well-known, and some not so famous controversial theories concerning alien visitation, human evolution, ancient legends, and the cosmos. The novel explains how it could be very plausible to imagine that the powers that be may already know about an impending disaster and caught between all this are the novel’s unfortunate characters as they struggle to figure out what to do in the face of unstoppable catastrophe.

Download or read book Special Warfare written by and published by . This book was released on 2002 with total page 484 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Weapon of Choice written by United States Department of Defense and published by Good Press. This book was released on 2024-01-18 with total page 575 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The anthology 'Weapon of Choice' offers an unparalleled exploration into the multifaceted nature of warfare, through a compilation that showcases a diverse range of literary styles, from analytical essays to firsthand combat narratives. This collection stands out for its deep dive into the technological, psychological, and strategic dimensions of military tools and tactics across different historical periods and conflicts. The variance in literary forms enriches the anthology, providing readers with a comprehensive understanding of the complex relationship between warfare and societal evolution, making it a significant contribution to military literature. The authors, hailing from the United States Department of Defense and the Combat Studies Institute, bring a wealth of experience and insight to the collection. Their backgrounds in strategic studies, military history, and active-duty experiences offer authentic and varied perspectives on the theme of the anthology. Collectively, their work aligns with and contributes to understandings of military innovation and strategic thinking, shedding light on how different weapons have been chosen and utilized in the face of evolving challenges on the battlefield. 'Reader_of_Choice' invites readers on a comprehensive journey through the intellectual and practical dimensions of military weaponry. It is an invaluable resource for those interested in understanding the intricacies of warfare, the evolution of military technology, and the strategic decisions that have shaped conflicts around the world. This anthology not only serves an educational purpose but also fosters a deeper appreciation for the complex decisions involved in weapon selection and deployment, making it an essential read for students, historians, and military enthusiasts alike.

Download or read book Not a Good Day to Die written by Sean Naylor and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2005-03-01 with total page 476 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Award-winning combat journalist Sean Naylor reveals a firsthand account of the largest battle fought by American military forces in Afghanistan in an attempt to destroy al-Qaeda and Taliban forces. At dawn on March 2, 2002, America's first major battle of the 21st century began. Over 200 soldiers of the 101st Airborne and 10th Mountain Division flew into Afghanistan's Shah-i-Kot Valley—and into the mouth of a buzz saw. They were about to pay a bloody price for strategic, high-level miscalculations that underestimated the enemy's strength and willingness to fight. Naylor, an eyewitness to the battle, details the failures of military intelligence and planning, while vividly portraying the astonishing heroism of these young, untested US soldiers. Denied the extra support with which they trained, these troops nevertheless proved their worth in brutal combat and prevented an American military disaster.

Download or read book Enduring Freedom written by Ambush Alley Games and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2011-07-20 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This latest expansion for Force on Force provides players with everything they need to recreate battles in the deserts of modern Afghanistan. Beginning with a detailed background section, the book presents extensive orders of battle for all of the combatants, including the Coalition, Northern Alliance, Taliban and Al-Qaeda. It also presents numerous new scenarios, new mission objectives and guidelines for constructing your own scenarios. This book is an indispensable guide for depicting the complex and intense pressures of combat in Afghanistan on the tabletop.

Download or read book Danger Close written by Steve Call and published by Texas A&M University Press. This book was released on 2010-01-15 with total page 274 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “America had a secret weapon,” writes Steve Call of the period immediately following September 11, 2001, as planners contemplated the invasion of Afghanistan. This weapon consisted of small teams of Special Forces operatives trained in close air support (CAS) who, in cooperation with the loose federation of Afghan rebels opposed to the Taliban regime, soon began achieving impressive—and unexpected—military victories over Taliban forces and the al-Qaeda terrorists they had sponsored. The astounding success of CAS tactics coupled with ground operations in Afghanistan soon drew the attention of military decision makers and would eventually factor into the planning for another campaign: Operation Iraqi Freedom. But who, exactly, are these air power experts and what is the function of the TACPs (Tactical Air Control Parties) in which they operate? Danger Close provides a fascinating look at a dedicated, courageous, innovative, and often misunderstood and misused group of military professionals. Drawing on the gripping first-hand accounts of their battlefield experiences, Steve Call allows the TACPs to speak for themselves. He accompanies their narratives with informed analysis of the development of CAS strategy, including potentially controversial aspects of the interservice rivalries between the air force and the army which have at times complicated and even obstructed the optimal employment of TACP assets. Danger Close makes clear, however, that the systematic coordination of air power and ground forces played an invaluable supporting role in the initial military victories in both Afghanistan and Iraq. This first-ever examination of the intense, life-and-death world of the close air support specialist will introduce readers to a crucial but little-known aspect of contemporary warfare and add a needed chapter in American military history studies.

Download or read book Afghanistan at War written by Tom Lansford and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2017-02-16 with total page 626 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Covering wars and conflicts of Afghanistan from the modern founding of the country in the 1700s to the contemporary struggle with the Taliban, this single-volume reference analyzes the causes and results of Afghanistan's wars and examines leading political and military figures, weapons, and tactics. Afghanistan has been embroiled in war and conflict throughout the latter part of the 20th century as well as the current millennium, but due to its location at the crossroads of Central Asia, Afghanistan has also endured repeated conquests throughout its turbulent earlier times. Examining Afghanistan's long military history through this book will enable readers to grasp the wider sociopolitical history of the country; appreciate the impact of these wars on Southwest Asia and superpowers such as Great Britain, the Soviet Union, and the United States; and understand why Afghanistan remains a controversial battleground today. The alphabetically organized entries examine the major wars and conflicts of Afghanistan from the modern founding of the country during the Durrani Dynasty in the 1700s through the contemporary struggle with the Taliban. The book spotlights the role of key individuals in starting, pursuing, or ending conflicts, as well as their broader contributions to—or negative impact on—Afghanistan and the international arena. The work also presents essays that examine key subtopics such as weapons, tactics, ethnic groups, religion, and foreign relations. This allows the reader—whether a student, scholar, or member of a nonacademic audience—to examine a topic in depth and see how the event, figure, or movement fits into the broader history of Afghanistan.

Download or read book Heroes on the Frontline True Stories of the Deadliest Missions Behind the Enemy Lines in Afghanistan and Iraq written by Nigel Cawthorne and published by Kings Road Publishing. This book was released on 2011-01-04 with total page 148 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the current conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan, Britain's Special Forces are on the front line, these heroes are so respected that they are even called upon by the Americans when a particularly difficult and dangerous job has to be done. Time after time they have proved their worth on the battlefield, confirming that their commitment and professionalism are second to none.Military expert Nigel Cawthorne looks at the crucial role the British special forces have played since the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Of course, the circumstances have changed dramatically since the 'War on Terror' began, which has made the task facing these brave soldiers even more complicated than it originally appeared.This insightful book examines how the relationship between our special forces and their American counterparts has developed, as they try to stabilise a volatile region, fighting side-by-side against the ruthless enemies of the West.

Download or read book Enduring Freedom Enduring Voices written by Michael G. Walling and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2015-01-20 with total page 275 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Michael Walling has honored the American men and women who served in Operation Enduring Freedom by helping them tell their own stories. This is the war in Afghanistan as experienced by the people who fought it.” - General Tommy R. Franks, Ret. The war in Afghanistan has seen men and women thrown into America's longest sustained combat operation. For over 13 years, US military personnel have been embroiled in a conflict unlike any other, in a hostile country where danger and death lurk at every turn. The nature of the fighting has transformed not only the entire structure of the US military, but the lives of every soldier, sailor, marine, coast guardsman, and airman who served there. There have been many tales told of this most recent Afghan war, but until now no single work has combined the strategic view of high-level commanders with the perspective of soldiers on the ground. This book places the first-hand accounts of serving men and women into the context of the military operations. Drawing on gripping oral histories from theater commanders, Special Forces troops, reconstruction teams, and everyday soldiers, Michael G. Walling analyzes operations as they were experienced by individuals, from those immediately following 9/11 through to those in 2014 as US troops prepared to withdraw. He also charts the evolution of US military structure as it was forced to adapt to cope with the non-conventional, but nonetheless deadly threats of asymmetric warfare, as well as detailing covert ops, infrastructure rebuilding, and the training of Afghan forces. Resonating across gender, age, nationality, and ethnicity, this book is not just a document of US fortunes in a far-flung conflict. It is a tribute to the determination, heroism, sacrifice, and the strength of the human spirit.

Download or read book SEAL TEAM 6 written by M CLEMENT HALL and published by Lulu.com. This book was released on 2012-07 with total page 71 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: History of formation and known activities of SEAL Team 6, later known as DEVGRU, describing formation, criteria for admission, training, activities in hostage rescue, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Grenada, Somalia, and the killing of bin Laden.

Download or read book The Mammoth Book of Inside the Elite Forces written by Nigel Cawthorne and published by Robinson. This book was released on 2012-03-01 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The most comprehensive and up-to-date guide to American and British special forces, covering all aspects of their equipment, training and deployment in the Iraq age of warfare. It takes a special kind of person to join the Special Forces and those to pass the stringent entrance requirements are subjected to the most rigorous training. They're trained to be super-fit, taught to survive in the most adverse conditions, and turned into killing machines. This book reveals what makes these men tick, and everything you need to know to become one of them. It covers all the types of training required - for fitness, combat, survival, navigation, communication, infiltration, interrogation, extraction and evasion. And it details the full array of weapons used, from small arms and knives to explosives and air back-up. Also included are full listings of all the units - including the SAS, Green Berets, SBS, Navy SEALs, Delta Force, Army Rangers - and their deployment in present-day conflicts such as Desert Storm, Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq and anti-terrorist operations.

Download or read book Takur Ghar written by Leigh Neville and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2013-03-20 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On March 4, 2002, a team of SEALs was choppered onto a hostile Afghan mountain peak as part of Operation Anaconda. The largest operation by US forces since Vietnam, it was intended to bring to battle foreign al-Qaeda fighters who had fled after the overthrow of the Taliban and the battle of Tora Bora. But when their special ops Chinook was hit by RPGs, it marked the beginning of the SEALs' epic day-long battle for survival, which involved Coalition special forces, gunships and Predators in a 17-hour firefight against the al-Qaeda guerrillas.

Download or read book Operation Anaconda written by Lester W. Grau and published by University Press of Kansas. This book was released on 2011-11-25 with total page 480 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Long before it became "Obama's War," the long-running conflict in Afghanistan was launched by President George W. Bush in retaliation for the 9/11 attacks on the United States. Only a few months later, Operation Anaconda sent American-led coalition forces into their most intensely brutal confrontation with Al Qaeda and their Taliban hosts in the Shar-i Kot Valley near the Pakistan border. The result was an unexpected set piece of conventional fighting in what has become an era of guerrilla warfare. Drawing upon previously unavailable or neglected sources, Lester Grau and Dodge Billingsley give us the most complete and accurate account of this thirteen-day firefight waged in mountainous terrain nearly two miles above sea level. They describe how allied troops fought a fierce and well-entrenched enemy to a standstill, close to an old Soviet battlefield, and then drove them completely out of Afghanistan. Grau and Billingsley's account also highlights problems encountered in Anaconda and the lessons we should learn from their in-depth study. The Army and Air Force operated under conflicting views regarding the appropriate application of Close Air Support, and airpower both crippled and aided the overall effort. In addition, severe shortages of transport, attack helicopters, and artillery hampered the effort, while the acquisition and timely sharing of intelligence barely occurred at all and coalition relations frayed under the intense pressures of combat. As an added bonus, the authors also include with the book a documentary on DVD that features interviews with soldiers who fought in Anaconda, provides additional information concerning major phases of the battle, and presents insightful commentary by Grau and by Billingsley, who was on the ground with U.S. forces for the operation. Providing the richest description and critique of all the forces involved-including those that fought on the enemy side-the combined book-and-DVD surpasses all previous accounts of this landmark engagement and is an essential volume in the literature on our war in Afghanistan.

Download or read book Night Stalkers 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment Airborne written by Fred J. Pushies and published by . This book was released on with total page 132 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 160th Special Operations Aviations Regiment specializes in carrying out its life-and-death operations under the cover of darkness, hence their nickname: "Night Stalkers." They are renowned for being swift, sure, and particularly deadly with their accuracy in using state-of-the-art aircraft and equipment to assist special ops from the air. Their specialty is covert insertion, re-supply, and extraction of Special Ops teams. They also take part in armed escort, reconnaissance, surveillance, and electronic warfare in support of missions.

Download or read book Alone at Dawn written by Dan Schilling and published by Grand Central Publishing. This book was released on 2019-06-25 with total page 375 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The New York Times bestselling true account of John Chapman, Medal of Honor recipient and Special Ops Combat Controller, and his heroic one-man stand during the Afghan War, as he sacrificed his life to save the lives of twenty-three comrades-in-arms. In the predawn hours of March 4, 2002, just below the 10,469-foot peak of a mountain in eastern Afghanistan, a fierce battle raged. Outnumbered by Al Qaeda fighters, Air Force Combat Controller John Chapman and a handful of Navy SEALs struggled to take the summit in a desperate bid to find a lost teammate. Chapman, leading the charge, was gravely wounded in the initial assault. Believing he was dead, his SEAL leader ordered a retreat. Chapman regained consciousness alone, with the enemy closing in on three sides. John Chapman's subsequent display of incredible valor -- first saving the lives of his SEAL teammates and then, knowing he was mortally wounded, single-handedly engaging two dozen hardened fighters to save the lives of an incoming rescue squad -- posthumously earned him the Medal of Honor. Chapman is the first airman in nearly fifty years to be given the distinction reserved for America's greatest heroes. Alone at Dawn is also a behind-the-scenes look at the Air Force Combat Controllers: the world's deadliest and most versatile special operations force, whose members must not only exceed the qualifications of Navy SEAL and Army Delta Force teams but also act with sharp decisiveness and deft precision -- even in the face of life-threatening danger. Drawing from firsthand accounts, classified documents, dramatic video footage, and extensive interviews with leaders and survivors of the operation, Alone at Dawn is the story of an extraordinary man's brave last stand and the brotherhood that forged him.

Download or read book Cct The Eye of the Storm written by Gene Adcock and published by Author House. This book was released on 2012-10-31 with total page 440 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Almost as soon as the second hijacked 767 struck the south tower of the world trade center, Air Force Combat Controllers began to report to their bases and pack their gear. Spread around the world in special tactics squadrons, these airmen would provide the lightly armed U.S. Army Special Forces teams with a number of capabilities that would turn them into world-class killing machines." John D. Gresham Author, "Air Force Combat Controllers at War" Afghanistan 2001 "These single Americans had the power to conjure lightning bolts out of the sky......... ....what happened in Afghanistan is one of the most extraordinary stories in military history." Mark Bowden Author, "Blackhawk Down" Somalia, 1999 "Individually, they are specially selected, specially trained, and, in support of special operations, almost daily bring American airpower to bear on our nations enemies. Indeed, they are very remarkable warriors, and this book will help many understand why so many of us hold our Combat Controllers in such incredibly high regard." Dr. James G. Roche Secretary of the United States Air Force 2001 - 2005 "if you asked what tool of the trade would be the very last they would leave behind, you might be surprised at the answer. You would likely hear that it is not a tool that makes one nervous when it isnt there, but rather a capability that is not organic to a troop of Delta Operators or Navy SEALs" "Just because you are the best of the best does not mean you are the best at everything. Any Delta operator can vouch for the capabilities of the air force combat controllers, and very rarely goes on a hit without the men who wear the scarlet berets." Dalton Fury Delta Force Commander, Tora Bora, December 2001 Author, "Kill Bin Laden" - 2008