Special Forces in the War on Terror
Author: Leigh Neville
Publisher: Osprey Books
This large hardback book focuses predominately on the Special Forces of the United States of America. If you’re interested in the Navy SEALS or Delta Force, then this book is most definitely for you. However, this read is not just limited to US Special Forces, but also details the work carried out by the British Special Air Service and several other elite fighting units from around the World.
This book is not short of colour photographs either. In-fact it’s packed with a plethora of images showing the clandestine servicemen and their combat equipment. Each chapter provides an in-depth look at the elite units describing how, armed with their technologically advanced specialist equipment, soldiers have fought against terrorism not only in the arid lands of Afghanistan and Iraq but also in the Philippines, Somalia, Libya and Syria.
Using declassified material, rare photographs and first-hand accounts from many Special Forces operatives, the author sheds some light on several of their most secretive missions. The author explains the formation and transformation of Special Forces and their need to constantly evolve and adapt tactics as required by any given operational climate. Some well-known operations are explained and described in detail combined with pictures. The book culminates with a blow by blow account of Operation Neptune Spear - SEAL Team 6's assassination of Osama Bin Laden.
This well presented book is a must read for those that want to discover how specific special forces operate when embarked on the vital tasking of counter terrorism. This book is available in hardback, eBook and PDF formats from Osprey Books.
This book is not short of colour photographs either. In-fact it’s packed with a plethora of images showing the clandestine servicemen and their combat equipment. Each chapter provides an in-depth look at the elite units describing how, armed with their technologically advanced specialist equipment, soldiers have fought against terrorism not only in the arid lands of Afghanistan and Iraq but also in the Philippines, Somalia, Libya and Syria.
Using declassified material, rare photographs and first-hand accounts from many Special Forces operatives, the author sheds some light on several of their most secretive missions. The author explains the formation and transformation of Special Forces and their need to constantly evolve and adapt tactics as required by any given operational climate. Some well-known operations are explained and described in detail combined with pictures. The book culminates with a blow by blow account of Operation Neptune Spear - SEAL Team 6's assassination of Osama Bin Laden.
This well presented book is a must read for those that want to discover how specific special forces operate when embarked on the vital tasking of counter terrorism. This book is available in hardback, eBook and PDF formats from Osprey Books.
Reviewed by Dave Cooper
Follow Dave on Twitter @dccooper258
Follow Dave on Twitter @dccooper258
Combat Camera 'From Auntie Beeb to the Afghan Frontline'
Author: Christian Hill
Publisher: Alma Books
Here at Stand-Easy we're renowned for reviewing new World War One and World War Two books. We also read and review modern warfare titles, and I'm very glad we do. Every night for the past 3 weeks I've settled down, in the comfort of my old armchair, to read Combat Camera 'From Auntie Beeb to the Afghan Frontline' by Christian Hill.
A great many books have been written about the 13-year coalition war on terror in Afghanistan. A large majority of these stories were written by American servicemen. It's refreshing to read an account by a British ex-serviceman who found himself in theatre as a reservist. The author worked for the British Media Operations Group as a Combat Camera Team Leader. Have you ever wondered how footage of precarious combat operations reaches your television, and who films it? It's the job of the Combat Camera Team to promote the war to the media, and ensure we only see what they want us to see. The author writes with incredible openness about his Afghanistan summer in 2011. Owing to his background in the British Army, Christian writes in a very matter of fact style. This is a positive trait which is displayed by many British servicemen. They often possess a gallows sense of humour when being involved in, or describing stressful and shocking situations. Afghanistan provided many of the latter.
Before reading this book I didn’t quite realise the magnitude of the coalition footprint in Afghanistan. Camp Bastion in 2011, for example, consisted of a vast real estate covering an area the size of Reading. Christian describes in detail the living conditions that were made available for servicemen in Bastion. A standard of living which a civilian in the western world would take for granted. But for many Afghan civilians this standard of living was simply unobtainable. This war rapidly became the most widely reported war in media history. I chuckled to myself when I read that visiting embedded journalists were deliberately given cramped, substandard, accommodation so they didn’t hang around too long. Christian worked as a showbiz reporter between leaving the Army and re-joining as a reservist. Throughout the pages of this insightful book he drops in a few household names combined with comical anecdotes, like a chance meeting with the bald bullet magnet Ross Kemp for example.
The pace of the book soon increases after the writer, who has only been in country for a short period, takes the reader 'outside the wire'. This is a euphemism for escaping from the relative safety and comfort of Camp Bastion. Being 'in house media' the Combat Camera Team did not have to look too far for situations to report on. Many of the servicemen mentioned in this book had real life stories to tell. Nothing is held back when the author talks about his and others experiences. For instance, the devastating effects caused by an IED (Improvised Explosive Device) are discussed and the adrenaline rush of intense small arms firefights are also described in the field reports. Several times when reading this book I felt my heart rate quicken as I followed, with great interest, the narrative which described contact with enemy.
This book has a fantastic appendix, 10 pages of which are dedicated to field reports and significant acts which took place over 2 specific days on the Afghan front line. Also included in the appendixes are tables of Afghan, UK military and civilian casualty's from 2001 to 2013. It's great to see that a glossary has been provided specifically for people who do not have an understanding of the British military's obsession with acronyms. Notwithstanding my long and recent military background I had to delve into this glossary on more than one occasion. This is a great book and well worth a read.
A great many books have been written about the 13-year coalition war on terror in Afghanistan. A large majority of these stories were written by American servicemen. It's refreshing to read an account by a British ex-serviceman who found himself in theatre as a reservist. The author worked for the British Media Operations Group as a Combat Camera Team Leader. Have you ever wondered how footage of precarious combat operations reaches your television, and who films it? It's the job of the Combat Camera Team to promote the war to the media, and ensure we only see what they want us to see. The author writes with incredible openness about his Afghanistan summer in 2011. Owing to his background in the British Army, Christian writes in a very matter of fact style. This is a positive trait which is displayed by many British servicemen. They often possess a gallows sense of humour when being involved in, or describing stressful and shocking situations. Afghanistan provided many of the latter.
Before reading this book I didn’t quite realise the magnitude of the coalition footprint in Afghanistan. Camp Bastion in 2011, for example, consisted of a vast real estate covering an area the size of Reading. Christian describes in detail the living conditions that were made available for servicemen in Bastion. A standard of living which a civilian in the western world would take for granted. But for many Afghan civilians this standard of living was simply unobtainable. This war rapidly became the most widely reported war in media history. I chuckled to myself when I read that visiting embedded journalists were deliberately given cramped, substandard, accommodation so they didn’t hang around too long. Christian worked as a showbiz reporter between leaving the Army and re-joining as a reservist. Throughout the pages of this insightful book he drops in a few household names combined with comical anecdotes, like a chance meeting with the bald bullet magnet Ross Kemp for example.
The pace of the book soon increases after the writer, who has only been in country for a short period, takes the reader 'outside the wire'. This is a euphemism for escaping from the relative safety and comfort of Camp Bastion. Being 'in house media' the Combat Camera Team did not have to look too far for situations to report on. Many of the servicemen mentioned in this book had real life stories to tell. Nothing is held back when the author talks about his and others experiences. For instance, the devastating effects caused by an IED (Improvised Explosive Device) are discussed and the adrenaline rush of intense small arms firefights are also described in the field reports. Several times when reading this book I felt my heart rate quicken as I followed, with great interest, the narrative which described contact with enemy.
This book has a fantastic appendix, 10 pages of which are dedicated to field reports and significant acts which took place over 2 specific days on the Afghan front line. Also included in the appendixes are tables of Afghan, UK military and civilian casualty's from 2001 to 2013. It's great to see that a glossary has been provided specifically for people who do not have an understanding of the British military's obsession with acronyms. Notwithstanding my long and recent military background I had to delve into this glossary on more than one occasion. This is a great book and well worth a read.
Reviewed by David J.B. Smith
Follow Dave on Twitter @BeingSilentThey
Follow Dave on Twitter @BeingSilentThey