John T. Col Carney

Overall I enjoyed this book and recommend it for anyone interested in the history of the military Special Forces (Rangers, SEALS etc). The narrator (audiobook) was excellent.

The first part, where the author discusses his upbringing, was kinda boring and annoying - if I could have skipped it without missing some Special Forces history it would have been just fine. It was a story of classic "white privilege " but Mr Carney isn't given to introspection and never reviews anything. It's this total lack of introspection that makes this part of the book boring; he's given totally undeserved grades and jobs - for example, he was given a passing grade in a class he failed so that he could play football - and he never even considers how that might *not* be the case for other people. He thinks it's totally "deserved" and shows how others saw his potential before he even did. Uh... yah...

Anyway... fast forward through that junk and then it gets good: the author describes various special operations in military history, how Spec Ops grew, how each branch developed their own versions, the problems and hiccups they've had along the ways trying to mesh using forces together... basically, how Spec Ops "grew up". I'd guess that the book will be more interesting for older people, as like me, they remember some of the operations and can compare what they remember to what he describes.… (mais)

This book is very well written and beautifully constructed. There are excellent explanatory contributions from all branches of service within the book’s thirteen chapters. This book not only goes over recently past operations but the historical background from whence all special operations trace their lineage. Pre-Revolution, American Revolution, Frontier, Philippine Insurrections and the so-called Banana Republics weapons’ and tactics are summarized. The Civil War Balloon Corps used aerial intelligence, Apache Scouts helped track Chief Geronimo, the Confederates attempt to seize the USS Michigan and bombard US ports (after a drunken party with spiked champagne) are used as precursors to modern unconventional warfare. All of the then current commands are covered (i.e., minus Africa Command [activated 2008]). The authors emphasize the regionally oriented nature of these forces which rely on crisis avoidance and crisis management to resolve whatever national security issues or the security of our allies involves. The success stories of these forces are highlighted but so also is the need learn from the unpleasant historical experiences. The authors pride themselves on the fact that all the special operations forces must rely on high recruiting and reenlistment standards, avoiding bureaucratic enemies and that they and the traditional armed forces will always be complementary. Excellent photographs both in color and B&W. Charts, maps, graphs.… (mais)