The training, resourcefulness, and creativity of the Special Forces soldier make him capable of jobs that few other soldiers can handle, in situations where traditional arms and movement don’t apply. Carl Stiner was only the second commander of SOCOM, the US Special Operations Command, responsible for the readiness of all the special operations forces of the Army, Navy and Air Force, including the Green Berets, Navy SEALs, Rangers, Air Force Special Operations, PsyOps, Civil Affairs and other special-mission units.
Together, Stiner and Clancy trace the transformation of the Special Forces from a small core of outsiders in the 1950s, through the cauldron of Vietnam, to the rebirth of the Special Forces in the late 1980s and 1990s, and on into the new century as the bearer of the largest and most complex set of missions in the US military. From Vietnam and Laos to Lebanon to Panama to Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Iraq and on to the new wars of today, these are stories of counterterrorism, raids, hostage rescues, reconnaissance, counterinsurgency and psychological operations - and also of building settlements, teaching civilians, cleaning up water supplies and saving lives.
