An illustrated profile of the Marine Corps component of USSOCOM, its origins & history, training & missions, and special equipment & weapons.The United States Marine Corps has a rich tradition of special operations, from World War II's famed Marine Raiders and Para Marines to Korea and Vietnam's legendary Marine Force Recon companies. Indeed, when Navy underwater demolition teams, the direct predecessors to the SEALs, performed the preinvasion reconnaissance of Iwo ...

America’s elite counterterrorist organization, Delta Force, is a handpicked group of the U.S. Army’s finest soldiers. The group specializes in hostage rescues and other difficult procedures to protect the lives of Americans throughout the world. Delta uses some of the most sophisticated weapons in the field today, and all are detailed in this book. Pistols, sniper rifles, special mission aircraft, fast attack vehicles, SCUBA and paratrooper gear, and more are presented in this fully illust...

It's the inside scoop on US military special operations. From weapons, gear, missions, and commandos, learn every military secret from the eighteenth century to today.Few aspects of the US military pique people's interest more than special ops. Due to the clandestine nature of their missions, weapons, and gear, these elite fighting forces are cloaked in an aura of intrigue that has only ratcheted upward with the expanded roles they have assumed in today's world, no...

Sua SponteLatin for “Of Their Own Accord”The 75th Ranger Regiment’s MottoArmy Rangers are not born. They are made. The modern 75th Ranger Regiment represents the culmination of 250 years of American soldiering. As a fighting force with our nation’s oldest and deepest tradition, the Regiment traces its origins to Richard Rogers’s Rangers during the prerevolutionary French and Indian War, through the likes of Francis Ma...

While the raid that killed Osama bin Laden cemented SEAL Team Six as the American military's reluctant media darling, a broader look at the Global War on Terror suggests that it's been the Army's Delta Force that has quietly spearheaded the most ambitious special operations campaign in modern history.Formerly a highly trained but seldom used tool in America's arsenal, over the past decade 'the Unit' has been unleashed on the nation's enemies the world over. In SHAPING THE WORLD FRO...

The U.S. Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) has proven to be the most lethal weapon in the president's arsenal. Shrouded in secrecy, the Command has done more to degrade the capacity of terrorists to attack the United States than any other single entity. And counter-terrorism is only one of its many missions. Because of such high profile missions as Operation Neptune's Spear, which resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden, JSOC has attracted the public's attention. But Americans only ...

“The story of what Dakota did . . . will be told for generations.”—President Barack Obama, from remarks given at Meyer’s Medal of Honor ceremonyIn the fall of 2009, Taliban insurgents ambushed a patrol of Afghan soldiers and Marine advisors in a mountain village called Ganjigal. Firing from entrenched positions, the enemy was positioned to wipe out one hundred men who were pinned down and were repeatedly refused artillery support. Ordered to remain behind with the ...

IN combating terror, America can no longer depend on its conventional military superiority and the use of sophisticated technology. We are fighting guerrilla wars, against insurgents hidden in remote regions, often deep among the local population. In battles such as these, squadrons of billion-dollar bombers and naval fleets mean much less than on-the-ground intelligence and the ability to organize local forces. That’s why, more than ever before, we need men like those of the Army Special ...

Nine men. 2,000 enemies. No back-up. No air support. No rescue. No chance...First in - the official motto of one of the British Army's smallest and most secretive units, 16 Air Assault Brigade's Pathfinder Platoon. Unofficially, they are the bastard son of the SAS. And like their counterparts in Hereford, the job of the Pathfinders is to operate unseen and undetected deep behind enemy lines.When British forces deployed to Iraq in 2003, Captain David Blakele...

The New York Times –bestselling true story of war about an elite Marine special operations team fighting to save downed soldiers in Afghanistan.In Level Zero Heroes, Michael Golembesky follows the members of U.S. Marine Special Operations Team 8222 on their assignment to the remote and isolated Taliban stronghold known as Bala Murghab as they conduct special operations in an effort to break the Taliban's grip on ...

**Explosive, revealing, and intelligent, The Red Circle provides a uniquely personal glimpse into one of the most challenging and secretive military training courses in the world.Now including an excerpt from The Killing School: Inside the World's Deadliest Sniper Program**BEFORE HE COULD FORGE A BAND OF ELITE WARRIORS... HE HAD TO BECOME ONE HIMSELF.Brandon Webb's experiences in the world's most elite sniper corps are the stuff of legend. From his...

In The Finishing School, former Navy SEAL Dick Couch, author of the acclaimed Warrior Elite, follows SEALs on the ground and in the water as they undergo SEAL Tactical Training.In America’s new war, the first guns in the fight are special operations forces, including the Navy SEALs, specially trained warriors who operate with precision, swiftness, and lethal force. In the constantly shifting war on terror, SEAL units—small in number, flexible, ste...