Secret Commandos

Major John L. Plaster recalls his remarkable covert activities as a member of a special operations team during the Vietnam War in a “comprehensive, informative, and often exciting…account of an important part of the overall Vietnam tragedy” (The New York Times). Before there were Navy SEALs, there was SOG. Short for “Studies and Operations Group,” it was a secret operations force in Vietnam, the most highly decorated unit in the war. Although their chief mission was disrupting the main North Vietnamese supply route into South Vietnam, SOG commandos also rescued downed helicopter pilots and fellow soldiers, and infiltrated deep into Laos and Cambodia to identify bombing targets, conduct ambushes, mine roads, and capture North Vietnamese soldiers for intelligence purposes. Always outnumbered, they matched wits in the most dangerous environments with an unrelenting foe that hunted them with trackers and dogs. Ten entire teams disappeared and another fourteen were annihilated. This is the dramatic, page-turning true story of that team’s dedication, sacrifice, and constant fight for survival. In the “gripping” (Publishers Weekly) Secret Commandos, John Plaster vividly describes these unique warriors who gave everything fighting for their country—and for each other.

John Plaster’s riveting account of his covert activities as a member of a special operations team during the Vietnam War is “a true insider’s account, this eye-opening report will leave readers feeling as if they’ve been given a hot scoop on a highly classified project” (Publishers Weekly). Code-named the Studies and Observations Group, SOG was the most secret elite US military unit to serve in the Vietnam War—so secret its very existence was denied by the government. Composed entirely of volunteers from such ace fighting units as the Army Green Berets, Air Force Air Commandos, and Navy SEALs, SOG took on the most dangerous covert assignments, in the deadliest and most forbidding theaters of operation. In SOG, Major John L. Plaster, a three-tour SOG veteran, shares the gripping exploits of these true American warriors in a minute-by-minute, heartbeat-by-heartbeat account of the group’s stunning operations behind enemy lines—penetrating heavily defended North Vietnamese military facilities, holding off mass enemy attacks, launching daring missions to rescue downed US pilots. Some of the most extraordinary true stories of honor and heroism in the history of the US military, from sabotage to espionage to hand-to-hand combat, Plaster’s account is “a detailed history of this little-known aspect of the Vietnam War…a worthy act of historical rescue from an unjustified, willed oblivion” (The New York Times).

An extensive history of the amphibious attack unit created by Nazi Germany during World War II. Hitler’s Secret Commandos is the history of the K-Verband naval commando unit, established in 1943 to wreak havoc amongst invading allied forces involved in amphibious landings or actions, against German-occupied coasts. Following the Italian and British example, the basic idea was for a small, exceptionally well-trained and reliable commando force using the maximum element of surprise. Midget U-boats and small torpedo-carrying craft along the lines of the “explosive boats” used by the Italian Navy were designed for individual operations while a naval assault troop was formed for missions against important enemy operational targets near the sea after being landed from naval vessels offshore. Using German archive material, first-hand accounts and other published material this is the first comprehensive history of the K-Verband. It charts the development, structure, selection, training and equipment the Commando unit used together with a detailed narrative of the operations undertaken. The material has been translated from a German text, previously published in Germany with wide acclaim.

Uncommon Valor is a look into the formation and operation of an advanced Special Forces recon company during the Vietnam War. Code-named the Studies and Observations Group, SOG was the most covert U.S. military unit in its time and contained only volunteers from such elite units as the Army's Green Berets, Navy SEALs, and Air Force Air Commandos. SOG warriors operated in small teams, going behind enemy lines in Laos and Cambodia and along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, tasked with performing special reconnaissance, sabotaging North Vietnamese Army ammunition, attempting to rescue downed U.S. pilots, and other black ops missions. During that time, Forward Operating Base-2's (FOB-2's) recon company became the most highly decorated unit of the Vietnam War, with five of its men earning the Medal of Honor and eight earning the Distinguished Service Cross-America's second highest military award for valor. Purple Hearts were earned by SOG veterans at a pace unparalleled in American wars of the twentieth century, with casualties at times exceeding 100 percent. One, Bob Howard, was wounded on fourteen different occasions, received eight Purple Hearts, was written up after three different missions for the Medal of Honor, and emerged from Vietnam as the most highly decorated soldier since World War II's Audie Murphy.

This volume undertakes a systematic analysis of the relationship between Special Forces and contemporary strategy, explaining the resurgence of interest in Special Forces, particularly in the West, by exploring their appeal over traditional conventional force options in the current ‘War on Terror’. Special Forces, Terrorism and Strategy comprises four overarching themes: theory and practice command and control culture and technology operations and the ‘War on Terror’. By developing a credible theory about the role of Special Forces in contemporary strategy, Alastair Finlan assesses the changing character of the relationship between conventional forces and Special Forces, illustrating the prominent role of these forces in the ‘War on Terror’. This book will be of great interest to students of strategic studies and military history, as well as for professional military colleges.

During the Vietnam War, the U.S. sought to undermine Hanoi's subversion of the Saigon regime by sending Vietnamese operatives behind enemy lines. All the commandos were killed or captured, with many reporting false information. This book traces the rise and demise of this secret operation.

“The most comprehensive examination of widespread covert American actions during the Vietnam War.”—Kirkus Reviews Code-named the Studies and Observations Group, SOG was the most secret elite U.S. military unit to serve in the Vietnam War—so secret its very existence was denied by the government. Composed entirely of volunteers from such ace fighting units as the Army Green Berets, Air Force Air Commandos, and Navy SEALs, SOG took on the most dangerous covert assignments, in the deadliest and most forbidding theaters of operation. Major John L. Plaster, three-tour SOG veteran, shares the gripping exploits of these true American warriors. Here is a minute-by-minute, heartbeat-by-heartbeat account of SOG’s stunning operations behind enemy lines—penetrating heavily defended North Vietnamese military facilities, holding off mass enemy attacks, launching daring missions to rescue downed U.S. pilots. From sabotage to espionage to hand-to-hand combat, these are some of the most extraordinary true stories of honor and heroism in the history of the U.S. military.