Fighting Elites

From Army Rangers to Green Berets to the U.S. Navy SEAL team that killed Osama bin Laden, this book explains what makes Special Forces "special," covering the rich and varied history of elite formations in American military history and describing their recruitment, intense training, and equipment in depth. Most civilians have only a vague idea of what the U.S. Special Forces are all about—who they are, how they differ from our "normal" military forces, what they've accomplished throughout our history, and how they operate today. Fighting Elites: A History of U.S. Special Forces examines the rich and varied history of U.S. Special Forces, identifies their contributions to specific conflicts from colonial times forward, and highlights their present operational excellence. In this first-ever reference guide to U.S. Special Forces, military historian John C. Fredriksen provides a carefully balanced presentation, describing all units in their own detailed section that discusses their origins, recruitment, training, tactics, and equipment, and defining military engagements, if known. The text also contains 20 biographical entries of noted personalities associated with special purpose activities.

The Europe of Elites is the first comprehensive study of how European political and economic leaders think and feel about Europe and about what course future European integration should take.

The most authoritative and up-to-date account available on special forces in history, with texts by noted military historians. Many of the most famous fighting forces in history have been elite units, trained and equipped for particular tasks, whether as imperial guards, shock troops, fighter pilots, or behind-enemy-lines special forces. This highly illustrated survey covers fifty-two such units, from the Persian Immortals of 2,500 years ago to the Delta Force and Green Berets today. These forces are distinguished by: • a willingness to fight to the death (the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae; the Knights of Malta) • a spearhead role (Alexander the Great’s Companion Cavalry; the Mongol Keshik; the Aztec Military Orders) • specialist skills and endurance (Edward III’s longbow men; Navy Seals) • reliability and loyalty to a leader or cause (the Zulu Impis; Mosby’s Rangers in the Civil War) Each profile lists important dates and includes a key battle and quotations from contemporary sources. The wide range of illustrations includes battle scenes and special uniforms and insignia.

Whether about Brit. Commandos, the German Elite Forces, the Amer. Special Forces, the Egyptian Airborne, or Soviet marines, tales of daring exploits by crack troops operating behind enemy lines are always fascinating. Examines the record of major elite forces during WW2, and also explores the qualities -- skill, courage, determination, stamina -- required of soldiers handpicked to serve in those units. Describes the deeds of valor performed by these troops. Includes: Israeli special units such as the Golani, GHQ Recce Squadron (Sayeret Matkal), and Naval Commandos; Arab assault units in the Golan Heights, in Lebanon, and in the Sinai; and soldiers in the Falkland and Grenada campaigns. Photos.

Duck punch, cover block and knee strike. Boxing, wrestling and Ju-Jitsu. Gameplan, lines of attack and final disengagement. If taking flight isn't an option, fighting is a necessity. Extreme Unarmed Combat is the authoritative handbook on an immense array of close combat defence techniques, from fistfights to headlocks, from tackling single unarmed opponents to armed groups, from stance to manoeuvring.Presented in a handy pocketbook format, Extreme Unarmed Combat's structure considers the different fighting and martial arts skills an individual can use before having to consider at the areas of the body to defend. It teaches how to attack without getting hurt, and how to incapacitate an opponent. With more than 120 black-&-white illustrations of combat scenarios, punches, blocks and ducks, and with expert easy-to-follow text, Extreme Unarmed Combat guides you through everything a person need to know about what to do when escaping trouble isn't an option. This book can save lives.

In this report, RAND researchers explore the factors, contexts, and mechanisms that shape a national government’s decision to continue or end military and other operations during a conflict (i.e., national will to fight). To help U.S. leaders better understand and influence will to fight, the researchers propose an exploratory model of 15 variables that can be tailored and applied to a wide set of conflict scenarios.

The New York Times bestselling series based on the blockbuster video game for Xbox! It is 2555, more than two years after the Master Chief went missing-in-action following a decisive conflict on Installation 00—the massive, extragalactic Forerunner construct known as the Ark—as part of the final chapter in humanity’s bloody thirty-year struggle against the overwhelming forces of the Covenant. Now, as a tenuous peace exists between the humans and the Elites, a startling scientific discovery is made…and the riddle behind its Forerunner origins could very well seal the fate of the entire galaxy within a matter of weeks. In order to unravel these dangerous secrets, a heroic, hastily formed coalition of humans and Elites must attempt to overcome their differences as they embark on a covert mission back to the Ark—an astonishing, enigmatic place beyond comprehension from which few have returned and where mortal danger awaits them all…

In a continuation of the tactics mini-series, this book analyzes the physical tactics of the close-quarter fighting that took place in ruined cities during World War II. Street-to-street fighting in cities was not a new development, but the bombed-out shells of cities and advances in weaponry meant that World War II took such strategies to a new level of savagery and violence. Packed with eye-witness accounts, tutorials from original training manuals, maps, and full-colour artwork, this is an eye-opening insight into the tactics and experiences of infantry fighting their way through ruined cities in the face of heavy casualty rates and vicious resistance.