What does it take, both physically and mentally, to join the world's most respected—and feared—military units? Lewis looks at the origins, training, tactics, weapons, and achievements of regiments such as Britain's SAS and Paratroopers, the US Navy SEALS, Delta Force, Army Rangers and Green Berets, Russia's Spetsnaz, and the Israeli Special Forces, as well as the codes that bind their members together. He looks at training in everything from wilderness survival to hand-to-hand combat.

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.

Just like professional athletes, elite soldiers receive special training to acquire amazing speed, agility, strength, balance, endurance, flexibility, reactions, and physical and mental resilience. Special Forces Fitness Training provides civilians with a program for achieving these same top physical capabilities. Developed by a strength and conditioning coach for the United States Armed Forces, this program was designed for real-world application. No part of the program requires gym equipment: readers can do the 120 tough exercises and 20 exciting workouts in any location, at any time. Like soldiers staying fit on deployment at barren outposts, exercise enthusiasts can use the program to get ripped in their home. This intense training manual equips beginning, intermediate, and advanced-level athletes with the "orders" they need to improve their head-to-toe fitness and hone an intimidating physique. With detailed photos for each exercise, this guide is all a civilian requires to achieve top military-level conditioning.

In this encyclopedic book, Lewis provides insights into the origins, training, tactics, weapons and achievements of special forces and special mission units throughout the world, focusing particularly on US and UK forces. He also looks at the codes that that bind the members of these elite units together. He reveals training secrets in everything from wilderness survival to hand-to-hand combat. In doing so, he draws extensively on biographies, autobiographies, training manuals, interviews and press coverage of key operations. The elite forces covered include: The British Army's Special Air Service (SAS), established in 1950, which has served as a model for the special forces of many countries. Its counter-terrorist wing famously took part in the hostage rescue during the siege of the Iranian Embassy in London in 1980. The Parachute Regiment, the airborne infantry element of 16 Air Assault Brigade, which spearheads the British Army's rapid intervention capability. It is closely linked to United Kingdom Special Forces. The US Navy's SEALS (Sea, Air, Land Teams), trained to conduct special operations in any environment, but uniquely specialised and equipped to operate from and in the sea. Together with speedboat-operating Naval Special Warfare Combatant-Craft Crewmen, they form the operational arm of the Naval Special Warfare community, the Navy component of the US Special Operations Command. Their special operations include: neutralizing enemy forces; reconnaissance; counter-terrorism (famously in the killing of Osama bin Laden); and training allies. The US Army's Delta Force: The Special Mission Unit, 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (1st SFOD-D), known simply as Delta Force, the Army component of Joint Special Operations Command. Its role is counter-terrorism, direct action and national intervention operations, though it has the capability to conduct many different kinds of clandestine missions, including hostage rescues and raids. The US Army Rangers, a light infantry combat formation under the US Army Special Operation Command. The Green Berets - motto: 'to free the oppressed' - trained in languages, culture, diplomacy, psychological warfare and disinformation. Russia's Spetsnaz, whose crack anti-terrorist commandos ended the Moscow theatre siege, and who have a reputation for being among the world's toughest and most ruthless soldiers. Spetsnaz units saw extensive action in Afghanistan and Chechnya, often operating far behind enemy lines. Israeli Special Forces, especially Shayetet 13 (Flotilla 13), whose motto, in common with the rest of the Israeli military, is 'Never again', a reference to the Holocaust. They are particularly adept at the specifically Israeli martial art Krav Maga, which they dub 'Jew-jitsu'.

This ebook edition contains the full text version as per the book. Doesn't include original photographic and illustrated material. This book tells the stories of forty heroes, all awarded bravery medals for their conduct during Special Forces missions over the last 150 years. Often covert hit-and-run operations involving very small numbers of highly skilled men, those who partake in these missions know that their goals involve a high level of risk. They are men who would die for their country, no questions asked. With many incredible stories, particularly from the Second World War, including the Cockleshell Heroes, and other conflicts from the twentieth century, such as the Iranian Embassy siege, this collection of real-life action adventure brings the bravery of Britain's heroes to life. Every medal in Lord Ashcroft's extensive collection tells a story and these are some of the most thrilling.

The New York Times Bestseller and Winner of the 2015 Army Historical Foundation Distinguished Writing Award for Unit History. Since the attacks of September 11, one organization has been at the forefront of America's military response. Its efforts turned the tide against al-Qaida in Iraq, killed Bin Laden and Zarqawi, rescued Captain Phillips and captured Saddam Hussein. Its commander can direct cruise missile strikes from nuclear submarines and conduct special operations raids anywhere in the world. Relentless Strike tells the inside story of Joint Special Operations Command, the secret military organization that during the past decade has revolutionized counterterrorism, seamlessly fusing intelligence and operational skills to conduct missions that hit the headlines, and those that have remained in the shadows-until now. Because JSOC includes the military's most storied special operations units-Delta Force, SEAL Team 6, the 75th Ranger Regiment-as well as America's most secret aviation and intelligence units, this is their story, too. Relentless Strike reveals tension-drenched meetings in war rooms from the Pentagon to Iraq and special operations battles from the cabin of an MH-60 Black Hawk to the driver's seat of Delta Force's Pinzgauer vehicles as they approach their targets. Through exclusive interviews, reporter Sean Naylor uses his unique access to reveal how an organization designed in the 1980s for a very limited mission set transformed itself after 9/11 to become the military's premier weapon in the war against terrorism and how it continues to evolve today.

Military author and spec ops expert, Fred Pushes, profiles weapons, missions, vehicles, and iconic commandos from the eighteenth-century to now.

This anthology showcases the most exceptional science fiction stories written by women in recent decades, from classic stars like Ursula K. Le Guin and James Tiptree Jr. to science-fiction greats such Nancy Kress, Lois McMaster Bujold, and Karen Joy Fowler to new award-winning talents.

“A fabulous read, filled with heroism, history, and hi-jinks, as author William F. Sine recounts his life as an Air Force Pararescue Jumper” (Readers’ Favorite). US Air Force Pararescue is the most skillful and capable rescue force in the world, taking on some of the most dangerous rescue missions imaginable. PJs (short for para-jumpers), are members of an elite unit whose commando skills are so wide-reaching they often seem like something out of science fiction. They routinely tackle perilous operations that are beyond the capabilities of other rescue organizations, and sometimes dare the seemingly impossible. Since their inception in 1947, PJs have saved more than thirty thousand lives. They can pluck near-frozen climbers off jagged mountaintops and recover shot-down jet pilots stranded deep in hostile territory. In the dead of night, the PJs parachute into ominous, black, twenty-foot-tall waves to save distressed seamen, and they brave the cruelest and most desolate deserts to recover victims. US Air Force pararescuemen have played a prominent role in every armed conflict since the Korean War, rescuing thousands of soldiers from behind enemy lines. Guardian Angel provides a rare glimpse at a PJ’s mind-blowing adventures. You follow Sgt. Sine’s trek across exotic lands and share his encounters with mysterious cultures. Learn what it takes to lower from a helicopter onto the slippery decks of storm-tossed ships to rescue dying sailors. Feel what it’s like to be caught in the middle of a bomb blast so powerful that it tears high-rise buildings in half, and flattens armored vehicles hundreds of yards away. Soar high above towering jungle trees and experience the danger of swinging on a slim cable below a helicopter, while performing a mid-air rescue of a pilot, dangling from his chute a hundred feet above a mountain slope. Go to war in Afghanistan and parachute onto a nocturnal battlefield, surrounded by land mines, to help a mortally wounded soldier. This is a deadly serious business: When things go wrong, they can go terribly wrong. Aircraft crash into mountainsides, killing all onboard, while some PJs live through horrendous helicopter crashes only to struggle with freezing temperatures, snapped limbs and torn flesh in a desperate fight for survival. This book presents true stories of uncommon courage told from the perspective of the actual men in the arena. PJs belong to an exclusive brotherhood and forge unbreakable bonds of loyalty, commitment, and sacrifice. They do these things for their country, to protect their brothers in arms, and to honor their motto: “That Others May Live.”

This paper focuses on the formulation of doctrine since World War II. In no comparable period in history have the dimensions of the battlefield been so altered by rapid technological changes. The need for the tactical doctrines of the Army to remain correspondingly abreast of these changes is thus more pressing than ever before. Future conflicts are not likely to develop in the leisurely fashions of the past where tactical doctrines could be refined on the battlefield itself. It is, therefore, imperative that we apprehend future problems with as much accuracy as possible. One means of doing so is to pay particular attention to the business of how the Army's doctrine has developed historically, with a view to improving methods of future development.