Many aspire to serve with the Special Air Service, arguably the world’s most prestigious regiment, but few achieve their aim. In this inspiring memoir the author describes how he left school without any qualifications and embarked on a 30 year career much of it spent in Hereford, including four years in ‘The Regiment’. Against the odds he rose through the ranks before being commissioned and eventually retiring as a Major. Initially attached to 22 SAS as a signaller, he volunteered for and passed ‘Selection’, the most gruelling and demanding of tests. He was posted to D Squadron Boat Troop with whom he saw active service in the Falklands War, Northern Ireland and the UK counter-terrorist team. Thanks to the diary he kept during the Falklands War, the reader is treated to a gripping first-hand account of the intense action that he and his colleagues experienced, including recces, diversionary attacks, raids and ambushes both on South Georgia and the Falklands Islands. Later he commanded the Royal Signals troop supporting D Squadron, 22 SAS before commissioning and later on pursuing a second career as a security consultant in various Middle Eastern hotspots. It is a privilege to read this commendably modest account of one man’s unique career which provides a fascinating insight into elite special forces soldiering.

Special Operations Success establishes a new benchmark in military theory in this deeply analytic and innovative work. It answers several pressing questions: How successful have American special operations been over the past quarter-century? Are special forces fated to cycles of expansion and misuse? Will special forces invariably exceed the authorities granted to them because of they are? Is a general theory of special operations feasible given the range of activities and conditions that fall under the category? Kiras' work is based on two decades of practical, teaching, and consulting experience within different special operations communities, and its analysis and conclusions are designed to inform practitioners, policymakers, educators, and the general public. The book develops a framework, in the form of a theory comprising capabilities and control, for the comprehensively evaluating special operations success, and is divided into three parts: Part I lays the foundation for a general theory of special operations, Part II explores the two component parts of theory, capabilities and control, and Part III uses various aspects of the theory, depending on available information, to assess the success of special operations over a twenty-year period in the United Kingdom, South Africa, and the United States.

In early summer 1982--winter in the South Atlantic--Argentina's military junta invades the Falklands. Within days, a British Royal Navy Task Force is assembled and dispatched. This is the story of D Squadron, 22 SAS, commanded by Cedric Delves. The relentless tempo of events defies belief. Raging seas, inhospitable glaciers, hurricane-force winds, helicopter crashes, raids behind enemy lines--the Squadron prevailed against them all, but the cost was high. Eight died and more were wounded or captured. Holding fast to their humanity, D Squadron's fighters were there at the start and end of the Falklands War, the first to raise a Union Jack over Government House in Stanley. Across an Angry Sea is a chronicle of daring, skill and steadfastness among a tight-knit band of brothers; of going awry, learning fast, fighting hard, and winning through.

The thrilling, edge-of-your-seat true story of one soldier's Special Forces operations in the Falklands War 'BRILLIANT. A ROLLERCOASTER OF BLISTERING ACTION, SURVIVAL AND BEHIND-THE-LINES DARING' DAMIEN LEWIS ________ THE BIGGEST SINGLE LOSS OF LIFE FOR THE SAS SINCE WORLD WAR TWO . . . 1982, the British task force sails to liberate the Falkland Islands. Aboard: SAS D Squadron, determined to make their mark. No one more so than Mark 'Splash' Aston. But they have barely seen action when their Sea King helicopter crashes in freezing South Atlantic waters, killing 22 of Mark's comrades. The last out of the sinking wreck, he suffers a broken neck. But defying medical evacuation orders, Mark sneaks off ship, re-joins his SAS comrades to land on a mountain near Port Stanley - to defend it against days of attacks by Argentine special forces . . . SAS Sea King Down is a pulse-pounding account of D-Squadron's tragic loss and subsequent heroic stand in one of the most hostile places on Earth. A story told by a man who barely survived to tell it. ________ 'A gripping untold story of heroism, hardship and sacrifice within the SAS' BEAR GRYLLS 'Gripping, fast moving and completely authentic. A brilliant piece of work. Better than Bravo Two Zero' - Mike Rose, former Commanding Officer of the SAS

A former Royal Marine provides a vividly detailed, firsthand account of Mountain Commando operations in the Falklands War. On June 8th, 1982, eight Royal Marines infiltrated Goat Ridge in East Falkland, a rocky hilltop surrounded by Argentine infantry. From their hiding place just meters away from the enemy, they gathered essential intelligence for a British assault that overwhelmed the Argentine defenses days later. This is just one example of the missions undertaken by the Royal Marines Mountain and Arctic Warfare Cadre during the Falklands War, all of which are described in graphic detail in Rod Boswell’s eyewitness account. Using his own recollections and those of his comrades, he describes their operations in the Falklands: the observation posts set up in the no man’s land between San Carlos and Port Stanley; the raid at Top Malo House; and the reconnaissance patrols they carried out close to the Argentine lines during the conflict. His first-hand account gives a fascinating insight into the operational skills of a small, specially trained unit and shows the important contribution it made to the success of the British advance. This chronicle also records the entire experience of the Falklands War from their point of view, from the long voyage south through the Atlantic to the landings, the advance, and the liberation of Stanley.

“A fascinating account of three SAS missions to counter the Exocet missile . . . from ill-thought out ideas to near suicidal one-way trips onto enemy soil.”—Soldier Magazine This is a revelatory account of three un-tabulated special forces operations, PLUM DUFF, MIKADO and KETTLEDRUM, that were tasked to destroy Argentina’s Exocet missiles during the 1982 Falkland’s campaign. Interviews with the SAS officer commanding Operation PLUM DUFF, members of the reconnaissance patrol for Operation MIKADO, plus the navigator of the helicopter that flew eight troopers into Tierra del Fuego, has allowed the author to describe the tortuous events that led, instead, to a significant survival story. The RAF pilots ordered to conduct an “assault-landing” of two Hercules onto Rio Grande air base during Operation MIKADO have spoken of the extraordinary procedures they developed: so have the commander of the SBS and the captain of the British submarine involved in Operation KETTLEDRUM. The Super Étendard pilots who sank HMS Sheffield and MV Atlantic Conveyor and then “attacked” HMS Invincible, plus a key member of the Argentine special forces and the brigadier defending Rio Grande, add credence, depth and gravitas to the saga: as does an equally revealing interview with the SIS (MI6) officer who led the world-wide search for Exocets on the black market. Disturbing over-confidence by commanders at home was finely counter-balanced by stirring accounts of inspiring physical and moral courage across the South Atlantic. Exocet Falklands is a ground-breaking work of investigative military history from which many salutary lessons can be learned. “Between politics, diplomacy and barbouzeries, this well-documented work will lead you in the arcane of what should have changed the course of this war.”—Air Fan

Drawing upon unpublished accounts from SAS soldiers, along with previously classified information, this vivid book reveals what SAS operations were like behind Iraqi lines. Read about the special relationship between SAS soldiers and the Royal Air Force helicopter crews; the heartrending story of the patrol code-named "Bravo Two Zero"; breathtaking tales of combat; and more. A definitive guide that covers every aspect of SAS operations in the Gulf War.

The killing part is the easy bit; the tricky part is finding the right people to kill. Rob was a Special Forces operator with some of the world finest regiments and served in four national armies over a career that has spanned forty years and continues today. In 1965 he earned the converted Green Beret as a member of 2 Commando Australia. He left in 1968 to Southeast Asia. Finding work of a military nature in Laos, (in the war that never was). The end of the contract found him in England where he joined the British Parachute Regiment and completed three tours in Northern Ireland at the height of the troubles, taking part in Operation Demetrius. On his last tour, he was detached from his battalion and worked covert operations with a little-known group called the MRF (Military Reaction Force). 1974 saw Rob in Rhodesia as a member of the internationally acclaimed C Squadron SAS, where he was wounded on operations twice. This was a turning point in Rob’s life as he surrendered to Christ becoming a Christian. He was to carry on as an operator, but now with a biblical world view. Rob was recruited in 1980 by the South African Defense Force and was a member of 6 Reconnaissance Commando Special Forces and later became an operative with what was commonly called ‘the funnies’ or CSI Chief of Staff Intelligence. From 1996 to 2007 Rob was in South Sudan and Iraq, receiving a letter of commendation from the United States Army. Still active today, Rob specializes in close protection and tactical security training for civilian personnel.

*As featured in the landmark BBC2 documentary Our Falklands War: A Frontline Story* Published to mark the fortieth anniversary of the Falklands war 'There was a time when we did extraordinary things.' On 28 May 1982, 450 men of the 2nd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment - 2 Para - went into action to retake the settlement of Goose Green on East Falkland, where more than 1,000 Argentine soldiers were holding 119 Falkland Islanders - men, women, children and one baby - in squalid conditions. Forty years on, Goose Green is still the biggest and bloodiest battle the British Army has fought in modern times. This book is the living narrative of the battle told by the very men who fought it; not just the soldiers of 2 Para, but also the SAS, the Royal Navy and Merchant Navy, and others, in more than a hundred exclusive and untold personal accounts. Some are extremely funny, some touching, and some heart-breaking. All were recorded face to face, the speakers' own words adding a gritty authenticity to each account and conveying the confusion and terror of battle, as well as the courage and selflessness of men in action. Goose Green is a book that goes beyond the official histories and the many memoirs to bring to life the first and, as it turned out, the decisive battle of this country's outstanding campaign to retake the Falkland Islands from a foreign invader. This is a true story of a great victory against all the odds, told by the men who fought it.