by Mark Moyar
Panama invasion, 183–185, 190
Panetta, Leon, xiii
Patton, George, 2–3
Peatross, Oscar, 46, 48
Peers, Ray, 71, 77–79
Perino, Larry, 204
personality profiles, 340–341
Petraeus, David, 284, 287, 290, 294
Petty, William, 32–33
Philippines, 35–39
Plaster, John, 148–149
Pointe du Hoc assault, 29–33, 38
political leaders, 341
on Frogmen, 61–62
operations “selling” by, 345
SOCOM support from, 310–312
SOF involvement by, 121
SOF understanding by, xv, xvi–xvii, 38, 61, 126, 345
Powell, Colin, 187, 189, 209
presidents, United States
ambitions over SOF knowledge, xv, 38, 42, 61, 329–330
SOF interests of, 189, 327–328
SOF loss of interest from, xvii, 62, 329
press and publicity
on Abbottabad raid, 304–305, 309
on Afghanistan invasion, 237
political leaders selling operations in, 345
on Raiders in Pacific Theater, 54–55
on Rangers, 105
on Somalia, 197, 212, 214, 219
on WWII, 32
Prince, Robert, 36–37
prisoners of war
Rangers liberating, in Cabanatuan, 37–38
Son Tay raid in Vietnam War for, 149–152
in Vietnam, 141
Provincial Reconnaissance Units (PRUs), 143–144
psychological warfare, 113, 115–116, 126, 141–142, 185
Psychological Warfare Center, 113, 116
Puckett, Ralph, Jr.
military training of, 97–98
Ranger command in Korean War of, 100–103
as Ranger trainer, 99, 105
recruitment of, 98–99
Pyke, Geoffrey, 16–17, 38
Al Qaeda, 222, 235–236, 318, 325, 338
countries with, 280
in Mali, Africa, 320–321
Operation Anaconda impact on, 245, 255
Tora Bora losses for, 239
in Yemen, 321–323
Raiders. See Marine Corps Raiders
Rangers. See Army Rangers
Reagan, Ronald, 172, 175–177
Recon Team Colorado, 147–149
recruitment and training, 97–98, 127
airborne, 105, 106
amphibious warfare, 10, 107
Army Special Forces, 116–118, 183
Delta Force, 160, 162–163
Detachment 101, 71, 72, 79
Forcemen, 17
Jedburghs, 85–86
Montagnard tribes, 128–129
OSS, 70, 84–85
Raiders, 43
Rangers, 9–10, 13–14, 24, 99, 105, 106–107
SEALs, 344
Syrian rebel forces, 317
Reeder, Edward, 286, 288
rescue missions. See hostage rescue and negotiation
Rhee, Syngman, 112
Rome, Italy, 29–30
Roosevelt, Franklin D. (FDR), xvi–xvii, 93, 327–328
on Burma raiding unit, 56
Donovan relationship with, 65–68
early life and education of, 63–65
espionage fascination of, 67, 69, 94
OSS designation by, 70
Pacific Theater command selection by, 41–42
creation of Raiders by, 43, 61
Roosevelt, James, 42, 46–47
Royal Air Force, 17
Rumsfeld, Donald, 345
on counterterrorism, 236–237, 270, 271–272, 280–281, 296–297, 338
on Hussein fall, 268
on Iraq invasion, 256–257, 261–262
on SOF authority, 236–237, 342
Rushton, Joseph M., 50–51
Russell, Ron, 258–259
St. Laurent, Lyn, 147–149
Schaefer, Jim, 168–170
Scholtes, Dick, 172–174, 178, 180
Schoomaker, Peter, 257
Schoultz, Bob, 343–344
Schroen, Gary, 224–225
Schwarzkopf, “Stormin’” Norman, 186–189, 190–191
Sea, Air, Land Teams. See Navy SEALs
Self, Nate, 251–255
Seven Years’ War, 6
Shining Brass, 137–139
Short Term Reconnaissance and Target Acquisition (STRATA), 145–146
Shughart, Randy, 209–211
Sicily, 1–6
Simons, Arthur D. “Bull,” 137–138, 150–151
Slabinski, Britt, 247–250
smart bombs, 226, 228, 234
SOCOM. See Special Operations Command
SOE. See Special Operations Executive
SOF. See special operations forces
SOF Liberation Front, 180–181
SOG. See Studies and Observations Group
Solomon Islands raids, 48–58
Somalia, xvii, 333
Bush, G. H. W., on, 197–198
casualties in raid on, 212, 214–215
Clinton on deployment to, 198–199
counterinsurgency success in, 218–219
culture of, 194
famine and disease in, 197
press and publicity on, 197, 212, 214, 219
Rangers and Delta Force raid into, 193–196, 198–199, 201–212, 337
SEALs rescue mission in, ix–xiv
UN building raid in, 200–201
warlord authority in, 196–198
withdrawal from, 213
See also Task Force Ranger
Son Tay raid, 149–152
South Korea, 112–113
South Vietnamese forces, 137, 143–144, 155, 336
Special Forces. See Army Special Forces
Special Naval Landing Forces, 49
Special Operations Command (SOCOM), 280–281
ambitions of, xv, xviii–xix
Congressional opposition to, 311–314, 325
creation of, 181–182, 189
Global SOF Network Campaign Plan of, 309–311, 313
in Iraq War, 272, 277
Marines involvement in, 181, 282–283
McRaven expansion campaign for, 309–313, 325, 341–342
Special Operations Executive (SOE), 80
See also Jedburghs
special operations forces (SOF), 273–274
adaptation of, 289–290
ambitions of, xv
British Commandos as archetype, 7, 42–43
casualties in WWII of, 28–29, 52, 57–58, 91
in Colombia, 216–217, 218
conventional military cooperation with, 276, 280, 287–288, 295–296, 297, 342
conventional military rivalry and conflict with, xviii, 39, 43, 72, 108, 182–183, 191, 287–288, 297, 338–342
cost-benefit of, xiv, xvii–xviii
counterinsurgency success of, 217–218
counterterrorism surge and, 157–158
deployment regularity and stress for, 308–309, 323
elite status and prestige of, xiv, xix, 39, 126, 305, 329, 343–344
expansion in contrast to conventional military, 311
future needs for, 333–334, 338
in Grenada invasion, 177–180
groups comprising, xv
growth of, xviii–xix, 297–298, 311
hostage rescue priority for, 190–191
indirect over direct approach for, 315
ISIS combat operations of, 315–317
Kennedy support of, xvii, 125–127, 153–154, 328
leadership of conventional military compared to, 339–341
in Mali, Africa, 320–321
NATO, 309
9/11 impact on, 222–223, 262, 283–284, 337
Obama on benefits of, xiv–xv
political leaders involvement in, 121
political leaders understanding of, xv, xvi–xvii, 38, 61, 126, 345
presidential leadership and, xv, xvii, 38, 42, 61, 62, 189, 327–330
reform and codification in 1980s of, 180–181, 190
role and mission matching capabilities of, 330–334
Rumsfeld on authority of, 236–237, 342
secrecy and openness debate for, 342–345
SOCOM and global plan for, 309–311, 313
SOCOM creation and, 181–182
standards compromised in, 126, 154
State Department and, 319–321
strategic and tactical impact of, 334–338
surgical strikes and demand for, 331–332
in Taliban defeat, 337–338
women in, 323–324
See also Air Force Nightstalkers; Army Rangers; Army Special Forces; Attrition Section; First Special Service Force; Joint Special Operations Command; Marine Corps Raiders; Marine Special Operations Command; Navy Frogmen; Navy SEALs
Special Operations Marines, xv
Special Warfare Division, 113–114
State Department, 319–321
stealth technology, 299–300
Steele, Mike, 206–207
Stilwell, Joseph “Vinegar Joe,” 57–58, 70–71, 72, 79
Stiner, Carl, 187–188
STRATA. See Short Term Reconnaissance and Target Acquisition
Strong, George V., 69–70
Struecker, Jeff, 208
Studies and Observations Group (SOG)
in Cambodia, 145–147
creation of, 130–131
in Laos, 137–138, 146–147, 155
Shining Brass program under, 137–139
in Vietnam War, 130–133, 146–149, 153, 154–155
Sullivan, William, 138, 144–145
Sunnis, 284–285, 315, 316
surgical strikes, 307
difficulty of, 277
with foreign partners, 315
in Iraq War, 271–272, 276–277
Obama on, 324, 329
SOF demand with increase in, 331–332
Syngman Rhee, 112
Syria, 317, 322, 333
See also Islamic State of Iraq and Syria
Takur Ghar operation, 246–255
Taliban, 262
Afghan Local Police impact on, 292–293
in Afghanistan, 222, 285, 293, 318
air strikes impact on, 230
Northern Alliance war with, 223, 331
ODA first engagements with, 228–229
in Pakistan, 256
SOF role in defeat of, 337–338
tactics of, 242, 292
Tora Bora encampment for, 235–236
See also Al Qaeda
Tasimboko. See Guadalcanal raid
Task Force 20, 258–259, 273–274
Task Force Dagger, 258
Task Force Ranger (Somalia)
assets denied to, 209, 214
casualties of, 212, 214–215
Clinton on, 213–215, 218
Garrison as commander of, 199–201, 205, 207–208, 213, 214
Operation Gothic Serpent raid under, 201–212, 219, 337
Task Force Viking, 258
Taylor, Maxwell, 114–115
Team Tank, 260–261
technological advances
in Iraq War, 277–279
SOF roles and missions with, 331–332
in stealth, 299–300
terrorism. See counterterrorism operations
Thisted, Poul Hagen, x–xiv, 322
Thomas, Keni, 194–195, 202, 205–207
Tora Bora, 235–239, 262–263, 338
training. See recruitment and training
Trebon, Gregory L., 246, 250–251, 254–255
Tregaskis, Richard, 48
Truman, Harry, 93–94, 104, 121
Truscott, Lucian, 7–8, 23
Tulagi island raid, 49–50, 62
Turner, Richmond Kelly, 55, 61
unconventional warfare, 120–121, 127
Underwater Demolition Teams, 58–61, 62, 127–128, 344
United Nations, 198–201
Vaught, James B., 163, 165
Viet Minh, 93
Vietnam War
Air Force in, 134
Army Special Forces in, 128–135, 138, 141–142, 146, 151–152, 154–155, 331
Bright Light rescue mission in, 139–141
CIA paramilitary program in, 128–129, 130, 132, 143–144
CIDGs role in, 128–129, 133–135, 154–155
Diem assassination and, 129–130
Johnson policies in, 131, 146, 154
Montagnard alliance in, 128–129, 136–137
prisoners of war in, 141, 149–152
PRUs in, 143–144
psychological operations in, 141–142
SEALs in, 127–128, 143, 331
SOFs misused in, 153
SOG in, 130–133, 146–149, 153, 154–155
Son Tay raid in, 149–152
STRATA teams in, 145–146
See also Cambodia; Laos; North Vietnamese forces; South Vietnamese forces
Vietnamese Special Forces, 131, 136–137
Village Stability Operations, 289–293, 297, 314–315, 324, 332, 337
Volckmann, Russell W., 114–115
Votel, Joseph, 313, 314–315
War Powers Resolution of 1973, 175–176
Watson, Sean, 193–195, 202–205
weapons, 335
in Afghanistan invasion, 225–226, 228
of German Army, 4, 20
Hussein inventory of, 256, 301–302
innovation in, 5–6, 331
laser acquisition system, 225–226, 228, 234
of mass destruction, 216, 256, 262, 301–302
nuclear, 124, 256, 333
Primacord for, 59–60, 109
Raiders destroying Japanese, 54
smart bombs as, 226, 228, 234
West Point, 97–99, 274–275
Westmoreland, William, 133, 144
Wheeler, Joshua L., 316
Winter Line, 15–18, 28
Wojcik, Walter, 4
women, 323–324
Woods, Robert D., 139–141
World War I (WWI), 65, 67, 339
World War II (WWII), 41
British approach to Communists in, 92–93
casualties of SOF in, 28–29, 52, 57–58, 91
French resistance forces in, 80, 81–82, 83, 87–92, 95
press and publicity on, 32
Rangers and Forcemen campaigns in, 2–6, 39, 334–335
See also China-Burma-India Theater, WWII; European Theater, WWII; Italian Theater, WWII; Pacific Theater, WWII
Yemen, 319, 321–323, 325, 333, 338
Yugoslavia, 92, 216, 335
Zhing Htaw Naw, 76–77
