Complete Idiot's Guide to the U.S. Special Ops Forces
by Cerasini, MarcFormat: Paperback
Pub. Date: 2002-04-01
Publisher(s): DK Publishing, Inc.
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Summary
The Complete Idiot's Guide® to the U.S. Special Forces tells the story from their murky beginnings in the Revolutionary War, through the violent guerilla campaigns in the American Civil War, to World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, and the war on Afghanistan today. This book traces the origins of our modern special forces as well as their relationships to the CIA, the British SAS, and various foreign special forces units. This book offers readers a detailed history of modern special forces training and operations, as well as a glimpse inside the ranks of these elite soldiers--the best and brightest fighting men our nation has ever produced. Working with the author to ensure 100% accuracy is former Green Beret Russ Preston, who will also be writing the foreward.
Author Biography
Marc Cerasini, The New York Times best-selling author, has written more than 40 books
Table of Contents
| Special Forces in History | p. 1 |
| A Force to Reckon With | p. 3 |
| What's so Special About Special Forces? | p. 4 |
| America's First Special Forces Unit | p. 5 |
| Rangers of the American Revolution | p. 7 |
| Special Forces in the Civil War | p. 10 |
| Special Forces Come of Age | p. 11 |
| The Special Forces of World War II | p. 15 |
| The 1st Ranger Battalion | p. 16 |
| The Birth of the First Special Services Force | p. 20 |
| Into the Jungle with America's New Elite | p. 20 |
| Underwater Units and Amphibious Invasions | p. 23 |
| Covert Operations in World War II | p. 29 |
| Lieut. Col. Pete Ellis and Operation Plan 712 | p. 30 |
| "Wild Bill" Donovan, Coordinator of Information | p. 32 |
| The Office of Strategic Services | p. 33 |
| The U.S. Special Operations Command | p. 40 |
| America's Models: Foreign Special Forces | p. 43 |
| Winston Churchill's Special Operations Executive | p. 44 |
| David Stirling's Special Air Service | p. 44 |
| The British Special Boat Squadron | p. 48 |
| The Fuhrer's Secret Warriors | p. 51 |
| Foreign Special Forces Since World War II | p. 57 |
| The Green Berets | |
| When Counterinsurgency Was All the Rage | p. 61 |
| Harry Truman's Postwar Purge | p. 62 |
| Trouble in the East: The Malayan Emergency | p. 63 |
| Col. Aaron Bank and the U.S. Special Forces | p. 65 |
| Fade to Black: The Central Intelligence Agency | p. 68 |
| The Green Berets at Their Finest Hour | p. 75 |
| Trouble in Southeast Asia | p. 76 |
| John F. Kennedy and the Green Berets | p. 77 |
| Robin Moore Joins the Green Berets | p. 81 |
| The Ballad and the Balladeer | p. 84 |
| The Green Berets in Vietnam | p. 89 |
| Kennedy Turns to the Special Forces | p. 90 |
| The Civilian Irregular Defense Group | p. 92 |
| The Achievements of Project Delta | p. 95 |
| Project Omega and Project Sigma | p. 96 |
| Incident in the Tonkin Gulf | p. 97 |
| Endgame in Vietnam | p. 99 |
| The Battle of Nam Dong | p. 100 |
| The Other War | p. 101 |
| Rogues and Snake Eaters | p. 102 |
| The Rheault Incident | p. 103 |
| Operation Kingpin: The Raid at Son Tay | p. 105 |
| The Final Fate of the Indigs | p. 109 |
| The Lean Years | p. 111 |
| A New Battle for Survival | p. 112 |
| Civic Action at Home: The SPARTAN Program | p. 113 |
| Crisis Erupts in Iran | p. 114 |
| Operation Just Cause: A Second Chance | p. 115 |
| Special Forces in Panama | p. 116 |
| Special Forces in the Persian Gulf War | p. 117 |
| The U.S. Army Special Forces | |
| The Coming of the U.S. Special Operations Command | p. 123 |
| The Iranian Hostage Crisis | p. 124 |
| The Nunn-Cohen Amendment | p. 125 |
| The Structure of the U.S. Special Operations Command | p. 126 |
| Introducing the U.S. Army Special Operations Command | p. 129 |
| The "Six Pack" | p. 130 |
| The Special Forces Command | p. 130 |
| The 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment | p. 132 |
| The Special Operations Support Command | p. 137 |
| The John F. Kennedy Special Warfare Center and School | p. 137 |
| The Civil Affairs/Psychological Operations Command | p. 138 |
| The U.S. Army Special Forces Training Regimen | p. 139 |
| Requirements for a Special Forces Recruit | p. 140 |
| The Special Forces Assessment and Selection Course | p. 142 |
| The Qualification Course | p. 144 |
| More School, Then into the Field | p. 150 |
| The Special Forces Creed | p. 150 |
| The 75th Ranger Regiment | p. 153 |
| "Rangers Lead the Way" | p. 154 |
| The 75th Ranger Regiment Today | p. 155 |
| The Structure of a Ranger Regiment | p. 157 |
| The Ranger Training Brigade | p. 158 |
| The Ranger Creed | p. 163 |
| The U.S. Navy SEALs | |
| Introducing the Navy SEALs | p. 167 |
| The Origin of the Navy SEALs | p. 167 |
| The SEALs in Action | p. 170 |
| The "Brown Water Navy" | p. 175 |
| The Navy SEALs Training Regimen | p. 179 |
| Requirements for a Navy SEAL Candidate | p. 180 |
| BUD/S Training | p. 181 |
| Airborne-Qualified | p. 186 |
| Probation | p. 187 |
| Into the Sea, Air, Land Teams | p. 189 |
| Group One and Group Two | p. 190 |
| SEAL Teams in a Nutshell | p. 190 |
| A Typical SEAL Mission | p. 193 |
| The U.S. Air Force Special Operations | |
| Introducing the U.S. Air Force Special Operations | p. 201 |
| The Birth of the Air Force Special Ops | p. 202 |
| The AFSOC Basic Mission Profiles | p. 202 |
| The Precursors of the AFSOC | p. 204 |
| The Decline and Rebirth of Air Force Special Operations | p. 210 |
| The AFSOC Units | p. 212 |
| The AFSOC Aircraft | p. 214 |
| The Air Force Special Ops Training Regimen | p. 221 |
| Into the Air Force Special Tactics Squadrons | p. 222 |
| A Bit of History | p. 222 |
| Special Tactics Squadron Training | p. 223 |
| Pararescue Jumper Training | p. 226 |
| Combat Controller Training | p. 228 |
| The First Special Operational Detachment-Delta | |
| Terror Is Their Business: Delta Force | p. 233 |
| Terrorism on the Rise | p. 234 |
| America Responds: Delta and Blue Light | p. 235 |
| Delta in Action | p. 236 |
| Into the Future | p. 241 |
| The Delta Force Training Regimen | p. 243 |
| Who Joins Delta? | p. 244 |
| The Physical Trials | p. 244 |
| The Interview | p. 245 |
| Delta Training: Enter the SOT | p. 246 |
| Appendixes | |
| Special Forces Weapons | p. 251 |
| Guide to Military Acronyms | p. 259 |
| Further Reading and Viewing | p. 265 |
| Glossary | p. 271 |
| Index | p. 287 |
| Table of Contents provided by Syndetics. All Rights Reserved. |
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