Special Forces History

The massive armies of the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies posed a huge threat to the nations of Western Europe. US military planners decided they needed a plan to slow the juggernaut they expected when and if a war began. The plan was Special Forces Berlin. Their mission, should hostilities commence, was to wreak havoc behind enemy lines and buy time for vastly outnumbered NATO forces to conduct a breakout from the city.

The Delta Force is probably the most secretive military unit in existence in the world today. The USA government still denies that they exist. The men who serve in this unit live in the shadows and stay out of the spotlight. These men are true warriors, and only the best of the best get to serve in "The Unit". The Delta Force recruits from within all arms of the US military, and 99 percent comes from other Special Forces units like the Green Berets and Army Rangers. In this book, you will get an inside look into the Delta Force.

Prime Minister Winston Churchill had no qualms about using native German speakers from Austria, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Germany itself. The majority were Jews who had fled persecution. Two examples of these secret units were X Troop Commandos and the Special Interrogation Group. The SIG men deserve their legendary status. They fought, and often died, wearing Wehmacht uniform. As this book reveals that, after infiltrating Field Marshal Rommel's Afrika Korps, one detachment even drew Nazi pay.

Veteran police detective and bestselling author, David A. Yuzuk, brings you this gripping collection of spectacular battle stories and trial-by-fire lessons of honor and duty from WWII to Iraq, all in one action-packed volume.

The No. 1 Sunday Times bestselling modern classic: A Bravo Two Zero for the Second Gulf War. They were branded as cowards and accused of being the British Special Forces Squadron that ran away from the Iraqis. But nothing could be further from the truth. Ten years on, the story of these sixty men can finally be told. In March 2003 M Squadron - an SBS unit with SAS embeds - was sent 1,000 kilometres behind enemy lines on a true mission impossible, to take the surrender of the 100,000-strong Iraqi Army 5th Corps.

For over seventy years, the Korean Peninsula has existed under the shadow of unfinished war. Facing one of the world’s largest armies just across the Demilitarized Zone, South Korea has had to forge a defense force unlike any other. At the sharpest edge of that effort stands the Republic of Korea Army Special Warfare Command (ROK-SWC) — better known as the Black Berets.

In January 1951, Lieutenant Evgeniy Borisov was sent to the headquarters of the Soviet 5th Army in Spassk-Dalnii, a small city in the Russian Far East. Borisov was there on a secret mission. Together with his superior, Major Rusinov, his job was to establish the 91st Special Forces Company. The 91st was to be one of forty-six similar units spread out across the Soviet Union. The new forces were called "spetsnaz"—short for spetsnialnoe naznachenie, which translates to "special purpose."

Aaron Bank was an OSS Jedburgh in World War II and the subject of William Donovon's quote, "Tell Bank to get Hitler." He’d later become the inaugural commander of the 10th Special Forces Group earning the moniker, Father of the Green Berets. The development and use of unconventional warfare in WWII created a desire to develop permanent units for future wars.

Major Richard J. "Dick" Meadows is renowned in military circles as a key figure in the development of the U.S. Army Special Operations. A highly decorated war veteran of the engagements in Korea and Vietnam, Meadows was instrumental in the founding of the U.S. Delta Force and hostage rescue force. Although he officially retired in 1977, Meadows could never leave the army behind, and he went undercover in the clandestine operations to free American hostages from Iran in 1980.

At the beginning of 1941, it was unclear whether the Allies would be able to remain in the war for much longer. The potential of a German invasion of Britain loomed. The Battle of Britain, fought throughout the summer and early autumn of 1940, was unquestionably epic in scope. The largest air campaign in history at the time, the vaunted Nazi Luftwaffe sought to smash the Royal Air Force, but thankfully, the RAF stood toe to toe with the Luftwaffe and ensured Hitler’s planned invasion was permanently put on hold.

Without doubt the most unique U.S. unit to participate in the Vietnam War, the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam Studies and Observations Group (MACVSOG) was a highly-classified, U.S. joint-service organization consisting of Army Special Forces, Navy SEALs, Marine Force Reconnaissance units, the Air Force, and the CIA. Committed to action in Southeast Asia even before the major U.S. build-up in 1965, it also fielded a division-sized element of South Vietnamese military personnel, indigenous Montagnards, ethnic Chinese Nungs, and Taiwanese pilots.

A Wall Street Journal national security reporter takes readers into the lives of U.S. Special Forces on the front lines against the Taliban and Islamic State, where a new and covert war is keeping Afghanistan from collapse. “Powerful, important, and searing." —General David Petraeus, U.S...

The Royal Marines Commandos: Britain’s Amphibious Elite takes listeners deep inside one of the most formidable and respected fighting forces in the world. For more than 350 years, the Royal Marines have stood at the cutting edge of Britain’s military power, combining the traditions of naval service with the skill and ferocity of elite infantry. From their origins in the 17th century as “soldiers of the sea” to their modern role as expeditionary warriors, the Commandos have embodied adaptability, courage, and a relentless will to overcome.

Special forces are defined as military units which are stringently chosen and intensively trained to conduct special missions for a particular country's military, economic, and political objectives. Not much is known about these units. They mostly operate in the shadows and often get confused with conventional forces.

British and American commanders first used modern Special Forces in support of conventional military operations during World War II. Since then, although special ops have featured prominently in popular culture and media coverage of wars, the academic study of irregular warfare has remained as elusive as the practitioners of special operations themselves.

With the 50th anniversary of the Son Tay Raid, there was such an outpouring of articles and commemorations honoring the raid. It also prompted memoirs from North Vietnamese commanders. We have assessed the current state of the body of knowledge regarding the Son Tay Raid. We can now objectively debunk misconceptions, conspiracy theories, rumors, and outright fabrications. You'll see the facts. You'll step aboard the three aircraft carriers that launched 59 aircraft for the raid.

From their birth in World War II as combat swimmers clearing the beaches of Normandy to their evolution into fighting men who could operate anywhere in the world by sea, air, or land, the intrepid story of the United States Navy SEALs is one of courage, sacrifice, and world-renowned toughness that echoes of other great military units of history - the Spartans, the Roman legions, or the samurai. Take a look inside to find out what makes the SEALs America's deadliest warriors.

Combat Talons in Vietnam is a personal account of the first use of C-130s in the Vietnam War. One night, John Gargus, a mission planner, oversaw an operation in which the aircraft - carrying 11 crew members - failed to return from a nighttime mission. For 30 years, a search for the missing aircraft remained in progress. When wartime mission records were declassified, Gargus embarked on a long journey of inquiry, research, and puzzle-solving to reconstruct the events of that mission and the fate of its crew.

The Vietnamese stole their land. The NVA raped their daughters. The Green Berets know them as the most fearless and loyal warriors in the land. They were the Montagnards, who called themselves “Sons of the Mountains” and always fought to the death. In this incredible memoir of wall-to-wall combat in the jungle near the Laotian border, Special Forces Lieutenant Don Bendell recounts the saga of the A camp of Dak Pek, 242.

In 1991, Chuck Mawhinney was reluctantly dragged out of anonymity when it was revealed that he held the record among United States Marine Corps snipers with over 103 confirmed kills.