Spec Ops: Case Studies in Special Operations Warfare: Theory and Practice
4/5
()
Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this ebook
Vice Adm. William H. McRaven helped to devise the strategy for how to bring down Osama bin Laden, and commanded the courageous U.S. military unit that carried it out on May 1, 2011, ending one of the greatest manhunts in history. In Spec Ops, a well-organized and deeply researched study, McRaven analyzes eight classic special operations. Six are from WWII: the German commando raid on the Belgian fort Eben Emael (1940); the Italian torpedo attack on the Alexandria harbor (1941); the British commando raid on Nazaire, France (1942); the German glider rescue of Benito Mussolini (1943); the British midget-submarine attack on the Tirpitz (1943); and the U.S. Ranger rescue mission at the Cabanatuan POW camp in the Philippines (1945). The two post-WWII examples are the U.S. Army raid on the Son Tay POW camp in North Vietnam (1970) and the Israeli rescue of the skyjacked hostages in Entebbe, Uganda (1976). McRaven—who commands a U.S. Navy SEAL team—pinpoints six essential principles of “spec ops” success: simplicity, security, repetition, surprise, speed and purpose. For each of the case studies, he provides political and military context, a meticulous reconstruction of the mission itself and an analysis of the operation in relation to his six principles. McRaven deems the Son Tay raid “the best modern example of a successful spec op [which] should be considered textbook material for future missions.” His own book is an instructive textbook that will be closely studied by students of the military arts. Maps, photos.
Related to Spec Ops
Related ebooks
Ardennes-1944: An Analysis Of The Operational Defense Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWarfighting: MCDP 1 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Tactical Responses To Concentrated Artillery Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPeeling The Onion: The Iraqi Center Of Gravity In Desert Storm Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOperational Encirclements: Can The United States Military Decisively Follow Through? Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOpportunity In Danger: Manstein’s East Front Strategy From 19 November 1942 To 18 March 1943 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsDecisive Warfare: A Study in Military Theory Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBirth Of Modern Counterfire - The British And American Experience In World War I Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBlitzkrieg!: A History of the Nazis' Lightning War Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSurprise And Deception In The Early War Years, 1940-1942 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOn War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Strategy of Warfare: Napoleon's Maxims of War + Clausewitz's On War Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPanzer Tactics: German Small-Unit Armor Tactics in World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of War (Condensed Classics): History's Greatest Work on Strategy--Now in a Special Condensation Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsON WAR - Carl von Clausewitz Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsCombat Failure: Nightmare of Armored Units Since World War II Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSurprise Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fighting And Winning Encircled Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsNapoleon's Maxims of War: The Officer's Manual Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Officer's Manual: Napoleon's Maxims of War Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFirst In Last Out: The Post-war Organisation, Employment and Training of Royal Marines Commandos Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Shape of Battle: The Art of War from the Battle of Hastings to D-Day and Beyond Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of War in 19th Century: Napoleon's Maxims of War + Clausewitz's On War Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOn War (Complete edition translated by J. J. Graham) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On Victory and Defeat: From On War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The History of Strategic Thought Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOn War: Vom Kriege Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSummary of Antulio J. Echevarria II's Military Strategy Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMaxims of War: The Officer's Manual Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsOn War: The Strategy of Military and Political Combat (Vom Kriege) Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Wars & Military For You
The Forgotten Highlander: An Incredible WWII Story of Survival in the Pacific Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Sun Tzu's The Art of War: Bilingual Edition Complete Chinese and English Text Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Killing the SS: The Hunt for the Worst War Criminals in History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Art of War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The God Delusion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Daily Creativity Journal Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unacknowledged: An Expose of the World's Greatest Secret Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Last Kingdom Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Unit 731: Testimony Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Helmet for My Pillow: From Parris Island to the Pacific Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5God Is Not One: The Eight Rival Religions That Run the World--and Why Their Differences Matter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Art of War: The Definitive Interpretation of Sun Tzu's Classic Book of Strategy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Wager Disaster: Mayem, Mutiny and Murder in the South Seas Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Resistance: The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Girls of Atomic City: The Untold Story of the Women Who Helped Win World War II Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dr. Seuss Goes to War: The World War II Editorial Cartoons of Theodor Seuss Geisel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Making of the Atomic Bomb Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Art of War & Other Classics of Eastern Philosophy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Washington: The Indispensable Man Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/577 Days of February: Living and Dying in Ukraine, Told by the Nation’s Own Journalists Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Hide an Empire: A History of the Greater United States Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Spec Ops
16 ratings1 review
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Lessons on special operations practices derived from case studies. Amidst expected features like speed, security, and motivation, one key element of most successful missions is thorough rehearsal. An obvious point once explained, perhaps -- McRaven recommends at least two full dress rehearsals for any operation. The case studies themselves are fascinating insights into the frictions of war and the power of technology, surprise, and sheer daring. I maintain that the Mussolini rescuers were lucky...