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First In: How Seven CIA Officers Opened the War on Terror in Afghanistan Gary Schroen While America held its breath in the days immediately following 9/11, a small but determined group of CIA agents covertly began to change history. This is the riveting first-person account of the treacherous top-secret mission inside Afghanistan to set the stage for the defeat of the Taliban and launch the war on terror.
As thrilling as any novel, First In is a uniquely intimate look at a mission that began the U.S. retaliation against terrorism–and reclaimed the country of Afghanistan for its people.
From the Hardcover edition. |
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Warthog: Flying the A-10 in the Gulf War (Potomac Books' The Warriors series) William L. Smallwood A valentine for one of the ugliest, albeit most lethally effective, warplanes ever built--as well as for the men who flew them during the Desert Storm campaign. Drawing on interviews with over one hundred A-10 pilots who served in the Persian Gulf during the 1990-91 hostilities, Smallwood (himself an aviator and Korean War vet) offers riveting perspectives on aerial combat. Setting the stage with an informative briefing on how, in the 70's, the Air Force developed the A-10 (a.k.a. ``Warthog'') as a means of supporting ground troops with massive firepower, he moves into anecdotal vignettes detailing the ways in which so-called ``hog drivers'' and their commanders whiled away the weary hours of the calm before the storm in Saudi Arabia's inhospitable clime. At the heart of his narrative, however, are vivid accounts of how A-10s accomplished their tank-busting missions and then some once the battle was joined. Tasked, among other objectives, to take out missile launchers and artillery emplacements far behind the front lines (assignments normally reserved for jet fighters), the slow-moving, heavily armed Warthogs were credited with over half the bomb damage inflicted on Iraqi forces and installations. Employing improvisational tactics, A-10s also flew reconnaissance and assisted in rescues of coalition pilots; they even scored air-to- air kills, downing a couple of enemy choppers. Indeed, the plane's ungainly Gatling-gun platform performed so well that pilots demanded their craft be redesignated ``RFOA-10'' (for ``reconnaissance/fighter/observation/attack''). "An absorbing tale of how a decidedly ugly duckling became a military hero of some consequence." —Kirkus Reviews |
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Strike Eagle: Flying the F-15E in the Gulf War (The Warriors) William L. Smallwood Written by a pilot for the non-aviator, Strike Eagle puts the reader inside the cockpit of one of the world’s most advanced fighters—the F-15E. It is a human-scale account of men at war. |
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Every Man a Tiger Tom Clancy The second in an extraordinary series of nonfiction books by the #1 bestselling author--a look deep into the art of war as seen through the eyes of four of America's outstanding commanders.
Written with armor and infantry General Fred Franks, Jr., Into the Storm won Clancy unanimous praise for its masterful blend of military history, biography, tactical analysis, and unique insight into the art and practice of leadership. Every Man a Tiger soars above it, into the sky.
General Chuck Horner was the right man in the right place at the right time. Combining a broad experience of all aspects of aerial warfare with a deep respect for and knowledge of Arab culture, Horner commanded the U.S. and allied air assets during Desert Shield and Desert Storm--the forces of a dozen nations--and was responsible for the design and execution of one of the most devastating air campaigns in history. Never before has the Gulf air war and its planning, a process filled with controversy and stormy personalities, been revealed in such rich, provocative detail. Beyond that, however, Every Man a Tiger is the story of two revolutions: of how a service damaged by Vietnam reinvented itself through vision, determination, and brutal-ly hard work--in Horner's words, "We had to learn how to be an Air Force all over again"--and of how war changed fundamentally in the last decade of this century, not only in the new dominance of air power but in all aspects. It is a story of speed, accuracy, efficiency, decentralization, information, and initiative, as well as smoke, fear, courage, and blood. It is a front-row seat to a man, an institution, a war, and a way of war that together make this an instant classic of military history. Index. |
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Hornets Over Kuwait Jay A. Stout Already a classic, this book is the brash, unbridled and politically incorrect account of a Marine fighter pilot's actions during Operation DESERT STORM. Impetuosity aside, Stout's account reads real and has stood up to challenges from within and outside the Marine Corps.
In this, his first book, Stout provides plenty of action and accurately describes tactics and combat actions that were typical for the short, sharp war that drove Saddam from Kuwait. At the same time he paints a self-effacing picture of his own performance, a factor that makes this work that much more credible and readable. A "must read" for anyone interested in air combat. |
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Crusade: The Untold Story of the Persian Gulf War Rick Atkinson This definitive account of the Gulf War relates the previously untold story of the U.S. war with Iraq in the early 1990s. The author follows the 42-day war from the first night to the final day, providing vivid accounts of bombing runs, White House strategy sessions, firefights, and bitter internal conflicts. |
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Moving Mountains: Lessons in Leadership and Logistics from the Gulf War William G. Pagonis, Jeffrey L. Cruikshank "Business Week" described the Gulf War as "the largest military logistics operation in history", entailing an unprecedented deployment of troops and supplies halfway around the world. Here is a firsthand account of the supply effort that led to the dramatic Allied victory in the Gulf, written by the general who spearheaded the remarkable undertaking. General Pagonis recounts the Gulf War from the first fateful telephone call, to the mobilization of 550,000 troops and the shipment of 7,000,000 tons of supplies, to the enormously complex challenge of bringing home a half million soldiers and their equipment. Numerous leadership and logistics lessons can be gleaned from his experience. Pagonis describes his battlefield innovations as well as his inspirational leadership style. Using historical examples and current business practice, he makes a strong case for better leadership and better logistics, both in the military and in the private sector. In the Gulf War, leadership and logistics came together, and extraordinary goals were achieved. Pagonis demonstrated what senior managers of world-class companies now recognize: good logistics is an important source of competitive advantage. "Moving Mountains" offers lessons for all organizations facing major operational challenges. |
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Vipers in the Storm: Diary of a Gulf War Fighter Pilot Keith Rosenkranz, Rosenkranz During Operation Desert Storm, Captain Keith Rosenkranz piloted his F-16 "Viper" in 30 combat missions. Here he recounts these experiences in searing, "you-are-there" detail, giving readers one of the most riveting depictions ever written of man and machine at war. |
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Friendly Fire: The Accidental Shootdown of U.S. Black Hawks over Northern Iraq Scott A. Snook On April 14, 1994, two U.S. Air Force F-15 fighters accidentally shot down two U.S. Army Black Hawk Helicopters over Northern Iraq, killing all twenty-six peacekeepers onboard. In response to this disaster the complete array of military and civilian investigative and judicial procedures ran their course. After almost two years of investigation with virtually unlimited resources, no culprit emerged, no bad guy showed himself, no smoking gun was found. This book attempts to make sense of this tragedy--a tragedy that on its surface makes no sense at all. With almost twenty years in uniform and a Ph.D. in organizational behavior, Lieutenant Colonel Snook writes from a unique perspective. A victim of friendly fire himself, he develops individual, group, organizational, and cross-level accounts of the accident and applies a rigorous analysis based on behavioral science theory to account for critical links in the causal chain of events. By explaining separate pieces of the puzzle, and analyzing each at a different level, the author removes much of the mystery surrounding the shootdown. Based on a grounded theory analysis, Snook offers a dynamic, cross-level mechanism he calls "practical drift"--the slow, steady uncoupling of practice from written procedure--to complete his explanation. His conclusion is disturbing. This accident happened because, or perhaps in spite of everyone behaving just the way we would expect them to behave, just the way theory would predict. The shootdown was a normal accident in a highly reliable organization. |
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Inside the Danger Zone: The U.S. Military in the Persian Gulf, 1987-1988 Harold Lee Wise From the Iraqi attack on the USS Stark to Iranian mine fields to Revolutionary Guard gunboats, the 1987-88 Persian Gulf was a place of shadowy danger for U.S. Navy ships assigned to protect oil tankers during the Iran-Iraq War. A low-profile escort mission quickly became an international test of wills between the United States and Iran. The conflict escalated to involve secret missions and special operations until finally the United States and Iran engaged in open combat, most notably during Operation Praying Mantis in April 1988, the world's largest sea-air battle since World War II.
It was the largest deployment of American forces between the Vietnam War and Desert Storm and one with dramatic implications for subsequent events. Yet, the story remained mostly untold and misunderstood for almost two decades. Inside the Danger Zone is the first book ever published to focus on this period, a fourteen-month span that saw an unprecedented series of American military action in this volatile region.
Based on declassified documents and extensive interviews with veterans and government officials, many of which spoke out for the first time, Inside the Danger Zone is a fast moving narrative history that tells the story of this quasi-war with Iran from the White House to the front lines.
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