soldiers were dropped by helicopter into a teeming market in the heart of Mogadishu, Somalia, to abduct two top lieutenants of a Somali warlord. The action was supposed to take an hour. Instead, they spent a long and terrible night fighting thousands of armed Somalis. By morning, eighteen Americans were dead, and more than seventy badly injured. Mark Bowden's gripping narrative is one of the most exciting accounts of modern war ever written--a riveting story that captures the heroism, courage and brutality of battle.

    Theban general Epaminondas marched an army of farmers two hundred miles to defeat their Spartan overlords and forever change the complexion of Ancient Greece. William Tecumseh Sherman led his motley army across the South, ravaging the landscape and demoralizing the citizens in the defense of right. And George S. Patton commanded the recently formed Third Army against the German forces in the West, nearly completing the task before his superiors called a halt. Intelligent and dramatic, The Soul of Battle is narrative history at it's best and a work of great moral conviction.

    After enlisting in the Marines at seventeen, then being wounded in Santo Domingo during the Dominican crisis, Kugler arrived in Vietnam in early 1966.As a new sniper with the 4th Marines, Kugler picked up bush skills while attached to 3d Force Recon Company, and then joined the grunts. To take advantage of that experience, he formed the Rogues, a five-sniper team that hunted in the Co Bi-Than Tan Valley for VC and NVA. His descriptions of long, tense waits, sudden deadly action, and NVA countersniper ambushes are fascinating.In DEAD CENTER, Kugler demonstrates the importance to a sniper of patience, marksmanship, bush skills, and guts--while underscoring exactly what a country demands of its youth when it sends them to war.

    Bill Peters and the Force Recon Marines had one of the most difficult, dangerous assignments in Vietnam. From the DMZ to the Central Highlands, their job was to provide strategic and operational intelligence to ensure the security of American units as the withdrawal of the troops progressed. Peter's accounts of silently watching huge movements of heavily armed NVA regulars, prisoner snatches, sudden-death ambushes, and extracts from fiercely fought firefights vividly capture the realities of Recon Marine warfare and offer a gritty tribute to the courage, heroism, and sacrifice of the U.S. Marines.

    Frank gives a scrupulously detailed explanation of the critical months leading up to the dropping of the atomic bomb. Frank explains how American leaders learned in the summer of 1945 that their alternate strategy to end the war by invasion had been shattered by the massive Japanese buildup on Kyushu, and that intercepted diplomatic documents also revealed the dismal prospects of negotiation. Here also, for the first time, is a comprehensive account of how Japan's leaders were willing to risk complete annihilation to preserve the nation's existing order. Frank's comprehensive account demolishes long-standing myths with the stark realities of this great historical controversy.

    In this game there’s no second place, only the quick and the dead.”   In Vietnam, Mobile Guerrilla Force conducted unconventional operations against the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army. Armed with silencer-equipped MK-II British Sten guns, M-16s, M-79s, and M-60 machine guns, the men of the Mobile Guerrilla Force operated in the steamy, triple-canopy jungle owned by the NVA and VC, destroying base camps, ambushing patrols, and gathering the intelligence that General Westmoreland desperately needed.   In 1967, James Donahue was a Special Forces medic and assistant platoon leader assigned to the Mobile Guerrilla Force and their fiercely anti-Communist Cambodian freedom fighters. Their mission: to locate the 271st Main Force Viet Cong Regiment so they could be engaged and destroyed by the 1st Infantry Division.   Now, with the brutal, unflinching honesty only an eye witness could possess, Donahue relives the adrenaline rush of firefights, air strikes, human wave attacks, ambushes, and attacks on enemy base camps. Following the operation the surviving Special Forces members of the Mobile Guerrilla Force were decorated by Major General John Hay, Commanding General, 1st Infantry Division.From the Paperback edition.

    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.

    Marines were marching north to the Yalu river in late November 1950. These three regiments of the 1st Marine Division--strung out along eighty miles of a narrow mountain road--soon found themselves completely surrounded by 60,000 Chinese soldiers. Despite being given up for lost by the military brass, the 1st Marine Division fought its way out of the frozen mountains, miraculously taking thier dead and wounded with them as they ran the gauntlet of unceasing Chinese attacks.This is the gripping story that Martin Russ tells in his extraordinary book. Breakout is an unforgettable portrayal of the terror and courage of men as they face sudden death, making the bloody battles of the Korean hills and valleys come alive as they never have before.

    We and the 1st Battalion."A Yale graduate who volunteered to serve his country, Larry Gwin was only twenty-three years old when he arrived in Vietnam in 1965. After a brief stint in the Delta, Gwin was reassigned to the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) in An Khe. There, in the hotly contested Central Highlands, he served almost nine months as executive officer for Alpha Company, 2/7, fighting against crack NVA troops in some of the war's most horrific battles.The bloodiest conflict of all began November 12, 1965, after 2nd Battalion was flown into the Ia Drang Valley west of Pleiku. Acting as point, Alpha Company spearheaded the battalion's march to landing zone Albany for pickup, not knowing they were walking into the killing zone of an NVA ambush that would cost them 10 percent casualties.Gwin spares no one, including himself, in his gut-wrenching account of the agony of war. Through the stench of death and the acrid smell of napalm, he chronicles the Vietnam War in all its nightmarish horror.

    In fact, it looked like he might never see military action. After fast-talking his way into the aviation cadet program (he was too short to pass the physical) and earning his wings, he became a heavy-bomber instructor for the Army Air Corps. But it wasn’t until Germany’s defeat that the ace pilot finally saw combat. Assigned as a B-29 Super-fortress command pilot, he reached Tinian just before the Enola Gay took off to end World War II in the skies over Hiroshima.Despite being a senior airline pilot, when the war in Vietnam started, Novosel applied again for active duty. The only thing that the air force was willing to give reserve lieutenant colonels like Novosel to fly, however, was a desk. Resigning his commission, he approached the army, which decided that flying dustoffs (medevac helicopters) in Vietnam was a perfect job for this seasoned aviator. With two tours, 2,038 hours of combat flight, 2,345 aerial missions that evacuated 5,589 wounded, and a Congressional Medal of Honor, it’s easy to see that Mike Novosel is a genuine, 24-karat American war hero.

    It has been the basis of an MGM feature film and two documentaries; it has also been used in many history classes both in the United States and abroad. Includes new historical material such as the location of what purported to be a death certificate for John Riley located in a church in Veracruz. The edition includes updated "After the War" and "Commemorations" sections. Many positive changes in public perception of the San Patricios have taken place since the first publication of this book in 1997. In addition, there have been a number of new vehicles for dissemination of the history, not the least of which was the production of "One Man's Hero," starring Tom Berenger, three novels on the San Patricios, a new sculpture in Mexico City of John Riley donated by the people of Ireland, and the Chieftains new CD with songs commemorating the Irish battalion.

    She’s not about to let a little thing like gender get in her way. She’ll use every wile–feminine or otherwise–and her considerable strength of will to win this battle of the sexes. But the limits of her determination are tested by the only Navy SEAL capable of commanding her heart. Commander Marc Miller is equally determined to keep her out of his program. As the newly appointed CO of BUD/S, he’s been tasked with cleaning up SEAL Training. He doesn’t need a red-hot redhead compounding the problem. For him Hell Week begins when one well-connected junior officer walks into his office. The last thing he wants is to be her commanding officer when the only thing he wants is her. The only way to have her––and the surest way to lose her––is to see that she fails. Will love conquer all or tear them apart?

    In order to do so, they must understand not only how China is modernizing, but also five thousand years of underlying Chinese culture. Confucian ethics, Taoist influences, and classics like Sun Zi's Art of War still offer powerful insights. One key influence long overlooked in the West is the "Thirty-Six Strategies": a summary of the key war strategies used by ancient Chinese warriors, which is widely known in China and frequently applied in business, by Chinese businesspeople and others throughout Asia. This book brings these strategies to the West, offering unique and timely insight into the mind of the Chinese strategist. This book presents insightful, thoughtful discussions of all 36 strategies, with examples of how they might be used by Asian businesspeople. The strategies encompass leveraging advantage, exploiting vulnerabilities; offensive strategies; deception, confusion, and what to do when desperate. This book bridges the gap of understanding between East and West -- and it has never been more timely.

    He had witnessed the bloody horror left behind by the retreating Japanese army during World War II's final days. And he had abandoned his beautiful Filipina fiancee to see his duty through.But not even Marsh could guess the terrible personal price he would have to pay for his loyalty. He would follow General Douglas MacArthur to Tokyo itself. There he would become the brilliant, egocentric general's confidant, translator, surrogate son--and spy.Marsh would play a dangerous game of deliberate deceit and brutal injustice in the shadow world of postwar Japan's royal palaces and geisha houses, and recognize that the defeated emperor and his wily aides were exploiting MacArthur's ruthless ambition to become the American Caesar. The Emperor's General is a dramatic human story of the loss of innocence and the seduction of power, about the conflict between honor, duty, and love, all set against an extraordinary historical backdrop.

    This is the first book in the author's acclaimed series of illustrated histories of American armor.

    Despite operating under primitive conditions in a largely unknown and malignant physical environment, both sides employed the most sophisticated technology available at the time in a strategically crucial war of aerial attrition. In one of the largest aerial campaigns in history, the skies of the South Pacific were dominated first by the dreaded Japanese Zeros, then by Allied bombers, which launched massed raids at altitudes under fifty feet, and finally by a ferocious Allied fighter onslaught led by a cadre of the greatest aces in American military history. Utilizing primary sources and scores of interviews with surviving veterans of all ranks and duties, Eric Bergerud recreates the fabric of the air war as it was fought in the South Pacific. He explores the technology and tactics, the three-dimensional battlefield, and the leadership, living conditions, medical challenges, and morale of the combatants. The reader will be rewarded with a thorough understanding of how air power functioned in World War II from the level of command to the point of fire in air-to-air combat.

    A masterful retelling one of the major victories of Canadian troops over the German army’s elite division during WWII.

    If it wasn't for the reward -- and the women who stole their hearts -- they probably wouldn't have stayed....This novel was a "number one" nationally best-selling book for Books In Motion Audio Books!!!

    . . .Lt. "Wild Bill" Meacham was a former enlisted man turned UH-1 pilot assigned to Bravo Company, 101st Aviation Battalion, an assault helicopter company whose liftships were called the Kingsmen. Meacham quickly learned that the fighting in Vietnam wasn't confined to hot LZs: He killed nine enemies on the ground during the Tet 1968 defeat of the VC.Bravo Company carried troops and supplies for many units, but Meacham preferred flying insertions and extractions for the LRRPs of the 101st and for the men of SOG, whose operations frequently took them into Laos. From combat assaults in Cu Chi to night operations in the enemy-infested A Shau Valley to hot extractions from Laos, Meacham engaged in some of the most dangerous flying imaginable. As he hovered a few feet off the ground in LZs exploding with mortar shells and crackling with AK-47 fire, it was often only Meacham's relentless daring and calm hands at the chopper's controls that kept the men on the ground from the enemy--and certain death.The Kingsmen were held in the highest esteem by LRRPs and other special-operations forces throughout Vietnam. This heroic, harrowing, and utterly absorbing account is a powerful tribute to those men and their fearless reputation.

    It focuses on military policy and strategy, examining the context necessary to understand that strategy and the circumstances under which the two commanders, Robert E. Lee and George B. McClellan, laboured.

    Probes the explosion of the center gun on the USS Iowa, a disaster that instantly killed several sailors on board, and the fouled investigation that followed, resulting in a large-scale cover-up.

    Army's top counterintelligence officer. In this thrilling and informative account he details one of the most damaging and delicate cases of espionage ever committed against the United States. Between 1972 and 1988, thousands of highly classified documents were sold to the Soviet Union and her Warsaw pact surrogates. They were secrets so sensitive that had war broken out in Central Europe, our ability to defend our NATO allies would have been seriously compromised. It was up to Herrington and his team to root out the elusive spy ring responsible for this treachery. An intriguing page-turner with more twists and turns than a spy novel, Traitors Among Us guides us through the intricate spy catcher's world of Cold War Berlin, showing us how the "game" was played when the stakes were as high as national survival.

    This includes details on the development series known as the D.W., VK 30.01(H), VK 30.01(P), VK 36.01(H), VK 45.01(P) as well as the Tiger I. All of this illustrated with scale drawings by Hilary L. Doyle, combined with drawings, sketches, and photographs depicting external modifications as well as internal views. Over thirty years of intensive research went into finding the original documents needed to create this history of the development, characteristics, and tactical capabilities of the Tiger. An exhaustive search was made for surviving records of the design/assembly firms (including Krupp, Henschel, Porsche, and Wegmann), the Heereswaffenamt, the Generalinspekteur der Panzertruppen, the D656 series of manuals on the Tiger, and the war diaries with their supporting reports from German army units. This is supplemented by the authors' collecting hundreds of photos and climbing over, under, around, and through nearly every surviving Tiger I.

    The outcome is pivotal. If Hitler's forces are not stopped, Russia will fall. And with it, the world....German soldiers call the battle Rattenkrieg, War of the Rats. The combat is horrific, as soldiers die in the smoking cellars and trenches of a ruined city. Through this twisted carnage stalk two men—one Russian, one German—each the top sniper in his respective army. These two marksmen are equally matched in both skill and tenacity. Each man has his own mission: to find his counterpart—and kill him. But an American woman trapped in Russia complicates this extraordinary duel. Joining the Russian sniper's cadre, she soon becomes one of his most talented assassins—and perhaps his greatest weakness. Based on a true story, this is the harrowing tale of two adversaries enmeshed in their own private war—and whose fortunes will help decide the fate of the world.

    With warmth and humor, Captain "Ned" Beach relates the many highlights of his distinguished naval career.

    

    

    Jean Restayn's text is backed up by 250 photographs, most of them never published before, and 50 color plates showing markings, insignia and camouflage schemes. Also included is a complete operational history and order of battle for all Eastern Front units, both Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS, who were equipped with the Tiger.

    His personalobservations, reflections, and often humorous misadventures make this a delightful read for those who were there . . . and a fascinating read for those who weren’t. He poses the questions: What does BUF really mean? If peace were our profession, why did they keep sending us to war? Did Mount St. Helens really make an ash of herself? Strap yourself in, hold your breath in anticipation, and be prepared to laugh with Jim and the finest men of the SAC who took their roles seriously . . . most of the time!

    Lee ordered Maj. Gen. James Longstreet to conduct a reconnaissance and possible assault on the Chinn Ridge front in Northern Virginia. At the time Longstreet launched his attack, only a handful of Union troops stood between Robert E. Lee and Gen. John Pope’s Army of Virginia. Northern Virginia’s rolling terrain and Bull Run also provided Lee with a unique opportunity seldom seen during the entire Civil War—that of "bagging" an army, an elusive feat keenly desired by political leaders of both sides. Second Manassas: Longstreet’s Attack and the Struggle for Chinn Ridge details the story of Longstreet and his men’s efforts to obtain the ultimate victory that Lee desperately sought. At the same time, this account tells of the Union soldiers who, despite poor leadership and lack of support from Pope and his senior officers, bravely battled Longstreet and saved their army from destruction along the banks of Bull Run. Longstreet’s men were able to push the Union forces back, but only after they had purchased enough time for the Union army to retreat in good order. Although Lee did not achieve a decisive victory, his success at Chinn Ridge allowed him to carry the war north of the Potomac River, thus setting the stage for his Maryland Campaign. Within three weeks, the armies would meet again along the banks of Antietam Creek in western Maryland. Uncovering new sources, Scott Patchan gives a vivid picture of the battleground and a fresh perspective that sharpens the detail and removes the guesswork found in previous works dealing with the climactic clash at Second Manassas.

    Intricately detailed full-color drawings vividly bring the warships to life, while contemporary photographs depict the vessels at sea and in combat.

    The eloquence and humanity of the British soldier shine through, and the work stands as a moving tribute to a lost and noble generation. Yet war is a time of contradictions, and alongside the image of the "noble Tommy" we are presented with forthright critisisms of the British command and, more disturbingly, a taste of the blood-lust that was awakened in these unlikely warriors.

    excellent. (Roger A. Freeman, author of The Mighty Eighth)

    Almost sixty years after his death at age forty-four in an airplane crash, Orde Wingate remains perhaps the most controversial of all World War II commanders.Born into a fundamentalist Christian sect and raised in the Cromwellian tradition of Sword and Bible, Wingate was an odd mixture of religious mystic and idealist, combining an unshakable belief in an Old Testament God with an insatiable interest in music, literature, history, philosophy, and the politics of his day.But his overriding and enduring passion was for Zionism, a cause that--although he had no Jewish blood--he embraced when posted to British-ruled Palestine in 1936. There he raised the Special Night Squads, an irregular force that decimated Arab rebel bands and taught a future generation of Israeli generals how to fight.In 1941, Wingate led another guerrilla-style force, this time into Italian-occupied Ethiopia, where he was instrumental in restoring Emperor Haile Selassie to his throne. But the campaign that was to bring him world fame was conducted behind enemy lines in Burma, where his Chindits shattered the myth of Japanese invincibility in jungle fighting, giving Allied morale a much-needed boost at a crucial point in World War II.Throughout his career, Wingate's unconventionality and disdain for the superiors he dismissed as "military apes" marked him as a difficult if not impossible subordinate. He was that, but also, as this vigorous new study reveals, an inspiring leader.

    Comparing two generations of graduates from the Philippine Military Academy - the classes of 1940 and 1971 - McCoy uncovers fundamental differences in their academic socialization and subsequent ascent to power.

    Bradley covers the development and use of full-tracked, nontank fighting and support vehicles.

    The book integrates the historical evolution of tactics, analysis, and fleet operations, and today it can serve as a primer for anyone who wants to learn how navies fight and win. This second edition includes much new material on combat in the missile age and reflects the reconfiguration of many tactics for littoral operations after the fall of the Soviet Union.Hughes recreates famous battles to show how tactics have changed through the ages and the ways in which they have remained unchanged. He covers tactical interaction between land and sea, the sensory revolution of WWII, secret weapons and maritime surprise, the role in battle of leadership and morale, and the importance of surface warships in today's U.S. fleet. He suggests that naval tactics, unlike ground combat, are dominated by the offense and concludes that the great tactical maxim must be attack effectively first.A new chapter traces the evolution of missile tactics at sea and includes details of attacks on ships. Many changes emphasize joint operations and coastal combat. The already extensive appraisal of command and control and information warfare is further expanded to cover modern naval operations and the character of modern salvo warfare. In the tradition of Mahan and Clauswitz, this classic text incorporates literature, politics, and a knowledge of human nature. Indispensable reading for all those interested in naval tactics, it is also a valuable reference for wargamers.

    It covers every area of survival from basic fieldcraft techniques to the modern GPS navigation and signalling equipment. Packed with specially commissioned photographs and illustrations. This book is based on SAS training and techniques. Covers arctic, desert, jungle survival and escape and evasion.

    As John McEwan, a young Gunner in the 155th (Lanarkshire Yeomanry) Royal Artillery Regiment, sailed down the Clyde in early 1941, he and his colleagues could never have imagined the horrors that lay ahead. Landing in Malaya, the regiment was confident of the success of their mission. But the confidence was soon to be replaced by utter disbelief when the British were totally outmaneuvered by the Japanese, culminating in their capture. McEwan was one of the few to survive the horrors of the ensuing captivity and mistreatment - this is his extraordinary story, told with humility and pride.

    The text bases its arguments on photographs taken in the aftermath and the testimony of German tank ace Michael Wittmann.

    Each volume in this ongoing series combines detailed and informative captions with over 100 rare and unusual images. These books are a must for anyone interested in American military uniforms.

    First published to accompany a major exhibition at the V&A, this work looks at the three main trends which are currently dominating international fashion: the arrival of the British superstar designers; the European conceptual, minimalist movement; and the highly influential, radically different Japanese designers.

    This guide covers how to develop a leadership attitude, communicate effectively, inspire others, and more, with period photographs of the Patton throughout his career."What can a civilian corporate leader learn from the combat tactics of General George S. Patton Jr.? Find out by reading Alan Axelrod's Patton on Leadership. He takes leadership wisdom of one of America's greatest and most colorful combat generals and applies it to contemporary civilian corporate organizations. Organized around Patton's quotations and writings, each being related to specific corporate situations, Axelrod presents an in-depth understanding into the general's leadership style and demonstrates that Patton's 'genius was being able to capitalize on his own intuitive notion of leadership.' This book provides a perspective insight of a leadership methodology that may be a valuable asset to many corporate executives."--Rutherford B. Johnson, commander, Georgia Chapter, George S. Patton Jr. Historical Society"I have no doubt that the leadership skills and personal attitude practiced by General Patton can be used effectively in both corporate and government managerial positions. Current and future leaders would do well to master those skills and to practice the vital requisities of honesty and integrity for which General Patton was noted and without which, leadership is highly suspect."--William A. Burke, Major General (Ret.)

    Under the expert leadership of Danny O. Coulson, these highly trained agents of the FBI's Hostage Rescue Team execute perilous missions in crises too volatile for SWAT teams, and in explosive situations where there are.... "No Heroes"Danny O. Coulson is the founder of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Hostage Rescue Team, or HRT. In an FBI career that spans three decades, he led the arrest of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, convinced McVeigh's friend Michael Fortier to become the government's star witness, and has helped bring hundreds of murderous extremists and killers to justice -- from the Black Liberation Army police assassins to the treacherous white supremacist terrorists of the Order, and the Covenant, Sword and Arm of the Lord.In "No Heroes," Coulson opens a long-locked door into the secretive world of the HRT, the civilian equivalent of the U.S. military's elite Delta Force. Coulson's stories spring to life with nerve-jangling electricity as he discloses the tactics and teamwork of HRT snipers, operators, negotiators, and experts in assaults, electronics and explosives.Coulson takes the reader inside famous cases and provides riveting first person accounts of such high-profile investigations as the Atlanta prison riots -- and tense showdowns including the disastrous sieges at Ruby Ridge and Waco. He sheds new light on the deadliest terrorist attack in American history -- the Oklahoma City bombing that took 168 lives -- withnever-before-revealed details of the FBI's massive efforts to locate the conspirators before they struck again.Finally, Coulson exposes the frightening rise of domestic terrorism and its implications for the 21st Century. For him and the men and women who have followed him, the path to justice is never too steep, too dark or too narrow. Though equipped with high tech weapons and physically fit bodies, these agents consider their razor sharp minds to be their best weapons. They use deadly force only in defense of life.Because, when people die, there are "No Heroes."

    

    But despite these achievements, Norwegian-American aviator Bernt Balchen saw his public image and military career repeatedly undermined by his one-time mentor, the famous and influential Admiral Richard Byrd.In this new biography, Carroll Glines describes how Byrd's respect for Balchen's talents gradually eroded even as Balchen steadily gained a wider reputation for courage and technical skill. Glines contends that Byrd derailed Balchen's postwar promotion to brigadier general, forcing his retirement from the military in 1956. He also documents how Balchen's publisher bowed to pressure from Byrd's supporters to remove material from a 1958 autobiography. Balchen had argued that Byrd's claims to have been the first to fly across the North Pole in 1926 could not be supported by speed and distance calculations.

    For the second edition, Tony has revised Chapter 9: The Collection: a variety of new models are shown in full colour photos in The Collection along with caption details of their construction and finishing. For this edition Tony has also revised Chapter 3: Models Available, to bring this up to date with the latest developments from all the top manufacturers. This chapter is also supported by new colour photographs and illustrations. This best selling title is packed with great photographs, tips and techniques and useful advice.

    On April 15, 1945, as part of one of the last segregated outfits to go to war for the United States (the 92nd Infantry Division), Lieutenant Baker knew he and his men were being deserted when, during the battle for Castle Aghinolfo in Northern Italy, his white commander told him he was going for reinforcements. Caught three miles behind enemy lines, and with half their comrades in arms dead, they refused to turn and run. Although he was decorated for his efforts, the army quietly surpressed this action until 1997, when Baker was awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Bill Clinton. Lasting Valor also reveals Baker’s early life. An orphan raised by grandparents in nearly all-white Cheyenne, Wyoming, he survived a rocky adolescence and went on to live in Father Flanagan’s Home, and then to fight to join a segregated army. His years in the army are recounted, and give us a rare glimpse into the life of a World War II black infantryman. It is a powerful book; as The Washington Post praised: “Whites should read this book to learn of Baker's accomplishments against a background of severe prejudice. Blacks should read it for the heroism it reveals. Everybody should read it for the power of its narrative."

    The battalion fought a bitter and costly war against the Vichy French in Syria and were recalled to defend Australia against the Japanese in Papua New Guinea. Their story finishes on the bloody beaches of Gona.

    A prominent Soviet Air Force pilot and son of a longtime Politburo member provides an extraordinary personal chronicle of his flying career.

    Commander Graham Martineau, still haunted by the loss of his ship and crew to Nazi destroyers, must take on a new command: the Tribal Class destroyer Hakka.

    Army Specialist Michael New is guilty - of loving his country. For that, he became the first American ever tried and convicted of wanting to serve his country in its own uniform! This book addresses as-yet unresolved issues between the USA/UN, and the Executive/Legislative relationship of the US government, according to one Federal District Judge. Must reading for the veteran, for active-duty military personnel, for those considering enlistment. It is a sympathetic documentary of the controversial case explaining why an American soldier would choose court- martial and possible prison rather than place a United Nations patch on his uniform. This case is working its way through military and civilian courts to the Supreme Court, where the question must ultimately be decided - can American citizens be forced, against their will, to serve any foreign power, including the United Nations? This is a fundamental issue of freedom that cuts across political and ideological lines. Even though the story was largely ignored by the mainstream press, Michael New enjoys support from the left and the right, from Democrats and Republicans, from civilians and military personnel, including many officers who say their future careers depend on the way this case is finally decided. If there were ever an AMERICAN issue, this is it. This may well be the last trench where American sovereignty will be ultimately decided.

    

    radar base in the mountains of neutral Laos--led to the disappearance of a small group of elite military personnel, a loss never fully acknowledged by the American government. Now, thirty years later, one book recounts the harrowing story--and offers some measure of closure on this decades-old mystery.Because of the covert nature of the mission at Lima Site 85--providing bombing instructions to U.S. Air Force tactical aircraft from the "safe harbor" of a nation that was supposedly neutral--the wives of the eleven servicemen were warned in no uncertain terms never to discuss the truth about their husbands. But one wife, Ann Holland, refused to remain silent. Timothy Castle draws on her personal records and recollections as well as upon a wealth of interviews with surviving servicemen and recently declassified information to tell the full story.The result is a tale worthy of Tom Clancy but told by a scholar with meticulous attention to historical accuracy. More than just an account of government deception, One Day Too Long is the story of the courageous men who agreed to put their lives in danger to perform a critical mission in which they could not be officially acknowledged. Indeed the personnel at Site 85 agreed to be "sheep-dipped"--removed from their military status and technically placed in the employ of a civilian company.Castle reveals how the program, code-named "Heavy Green," was conceived and approved at the highest levels of the U.S. government. In spine tingling detail, he describes the selection of the men and the construction and operation of the radar facility on a mile-high cliff in neutral Laos, even as the North Vietnamese Army began encircling the mountain. He chronicles the communist air attack on Site 85, the only such aerial bombing of the entire Vietnam War.A saga of courage, cover-up, and intrigue One Day Too Long tells how, in a shocking betrayal of trust, for thirty years the U.S. government has sought to hide the facts and now seeks to acquiesce to perfidious Vietnamese explanations for the disappearance of eleven good men.

    This is the remarkable story of Company A and the 5th Ranger Battalion and what happened on D-Day and the days that followed. "Ace" Parker and his men were credited with moving further inland than any other group on D-Day. "Ace" was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and inducted into the Ranger Hall of Fame.

    An assessment of the prospect of developing new (i.e., fourth generation) nuclear weapons in the context of the recently agreed Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) and of the current moratorium on nuclear testing in effect in all nuclear-weapon States.

    The pattern itself, in all of its classic forms, is both exotic and unique and carries with it an immediate, esthetic sense of the full drama of that not to distant Southeast Asian conflict. There exists however, surrounding this one camouflage pattern numerous misconceptions. Tiger Patterns analyzes to the most minute degree, the finite variances which defined the many original, Vietnam era tigerstripe patterns and uniform cuts and establishes dependable identification techniques and practices, whether your particular interests area as a historian, veteran, modeler, or collector and enthusiast.

    Army faced the challenge of integrating what it had learned in the failures and ultimate success of its war effort. During the interwar years the army sought to balance readiness and modernization in a period of limited resources and technological advances with profound implications for the conduct of warfare. In After the Trenches, William O. Odom traces the development of combat doctrine between the world wars through an examination of the army's primary doctrine manuals, the Field Service Regulations. The Field Service Regulations of 1923 successfully assimilated the experiences of the First World War and translated them into viable tactical practice, Odom argues in this unique study. Rapidly developing technologies generated more efficient tools of war and greatly expanded the scale, tempo, and complexity of warfare. Personnel and materiel shortages led to a decline in the quality of army doctrine evidenced in the 1939 regulations. Examining the development of doctrine and the roles of key personalities such as John Pershing, Hugh Drum, George Lynch, Frank Parker, and Lesley McNair, Odom concludes that the successive revisions of the manual left the army scurrying to modernize its woefully outdated doctrine on the eve of the new war. This impressively researched study of the doctrine of the interwar army fills a significant gap in our understanding of the development of the U.S. Army during the first half of the twentieth century. It will serve scholars and others interested in military history as the standard reference on the subject. Moreover, many of the challenges and conditions that existed seventy years ago resemble those faced by today's army. This study of the army's historical responses to a declining military budget and an ever-changing technology will broaden the perspectives of those who must deal with these important contemporary issues.

    Written and edited by a US soldier serving along the DMZ in Korea, The Soldier's Quote Book is deep enough to enlarge your vision, yet small enough to fit in your BDU pocket. Sources range from Gen. Colin Powell to Napoleon to Gandhi to ancient Chinese militarist Sun Tzu. This volume of more than 700 quotations is separated by topic and handy for any occasion which requires a few "appropriate" words. A must for any military leader-- makes a great gift!

    Illustrated with hundreds of rare photographs, this book details Germany's battleship construction program between 1930 and 1945.

    No-frills, no-nonsense flying machines with a meaner snarl than any drill sergeant.The Pilots Lt. "B.J". Dixon, trained to handle any challenge the Gulf War can spit out. And Major "Mongoose" Johnson, who knows that all the training in the world can't prepare you for the real thing.

    . . . Carter suggests how Van Dorn the cavalryman could have joined mounted leaders Forrest, Morgan, and Wheeler as raiders-superb and mainstay of Confederate success in the West. Except for one costly peccadillo, Van Dorn would have been one of the South’s rising rather than falling stars.”—Benjamin Franklin Cooling, Author of Fort Donelson’s LegacyDashing, bold, and fearless in command, Major General Earl Van Dorn was a soldier whose star shone brightly during the early days of the Confederacy. A veteran of the Mexican War and Indian campaigns, he is remembered for suffering devastating defeats while leading armies at Pea Ridge and Corinth and then redeeming himself as a cavalry commander at Holly Springs and Thompson Station. Yet he was perhaps best known for his reputation as a womanizer killed by an irate husband at the height of his career.Arthur B. Carter’s biography of Van Dorn, the first in three decades, draws on previously unpublished sources regarding the general’s affair with Martha Goodbread—which resulted in three children—and his liaison with Jessica Peters, which resulted in his death. This new material, unknown to previous biographers, includes the revelation that the true circumstances of Van Dorn's death were kept secret by friends and comrades in order to protect his family. Carter reveals that the general was probably mortally wounded on the Peters plantation but was carried back to his Spring Hill headquarters. He reconstructs the details of Van Dorn's murder in a brisk narrative that draws on accounts of Van Dorn's confidantes, capturing both the danger and passion of those events.The Tarnished Cavalier is more than a story of scandal. Carter sheds new light on Confederate conduct of the war in the western theater during 1861 and 1862, revisits the pivotal battles of Pea Ridge and Corinth—both of which are important to understanding the loss of the upper South—and introduces new perspectives on the defense of Vicksburg and the Middle Tennessee operations of early 1863.Carter’s narrative juxtaposes Van Dorn's flamboyance with his failings as a commander: although he was a soldier with heroic aspirations, he was also impulsive, reckless, and unable to delegate authority. Perhaps more telling, it shows how Van Dorn’s character flaws extended to his personal life, cutting short a promising career.The Author: Arthur B. Carter, a retired U.S. Army officer and educator, lives in Mobile, Alabama.

    McAleese'e Fighting Mannual describes the full extent and variety of military tasks facing the modern infantryman in today's world of low intensity warfare and peacekeeping operations, in all climates and all terrains. Each skill is supported by a relevant military anecdote - some poignant, some horrifying, all laced with McAleese's wry humour. Aimed at serving soldiers, those who have recently left the forces and are seeking jobs in the quasi-mercenary world, weekend survivalists, paintballers and military buffs, this is the fighting manual - an informative, exciting and entertaining read.

    In Shakespeare's words, the sea is the country's 'moat defensive', and the ships of the Royal Navy are the natural guardians of this barrier. As the 18th century lawyer Sir William Blackstone observed, 'the Royal Navy of England hath ever been its defense and ornament; it is its ancient and natural strength; the floating bulwark of the island'.In this beautifully illustrated and highly readable history, John Winton records the history of the Royal Navy with consummate skill. Beginning in the reign of King John, he shows how important progress in the establishment of a standing navy was made during the reigns of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, the monarch against whom Spain pitted the Armada. Subsequent chapters then detail the two centuries of war between 1600 and 1800, when Britain was almost constantly engaged in either conflict or alliance with France, Spain and Netherlands; the period of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, the time of Nelson and Trafalgar; the 19th-century Pax Britannica; the Dreadnought era and the First World War when technological advance in the form of armor, big guns and submarines changed the face of naval warfare fundamentally; the interwar period and global conflict during the Second World War; and finally the Nuclear Age, during which the Navy has had to accommodate itself to a new world order, new forms of warfare, new weapons, and a new role. Updated to include recent operations in the first and second Gulf wars.

    The building of the new Dreadnought battleships and the controversial battlecruisers are covered in this book, as well as developments in the design of cruisers and smaller craft, and the new weapons of naval warfare--submarines and aircraft carriers. Brown provides a full analysis of the experience of battle damage along with an examination of the effect that damage had on post-World War I designs to the Washington Naval Treaty of 1923. Heavily illustrated with 200 contemporary photographs and line drawings of the most significant ships, this book will be a vital addition to the collections of naval historians and enthusiasts.

    This clear, accessible, and profusely illustrated guide makes the Daily 16 available to men and women of all ages and at all levels of fitness. The intensely focused, hour-long workout includes ¸  Dynamic stretches ¸  Static stretches ¸  Conditioning exercises ¸  Conditioning runs ¸  Cool-downThese segments of the workouts are all balanced to help you attain the superb level of fitness Marine recruits must achieve. With tables to chart aerobic fitness, standard requirements for Marine Recruit Training tests, and an Introduction by L. M. Palm, Major General, USMC (Ret.), and executive director of the Marine Corps Association, Marine Corps Daily 16 Workouts is a no-frills, no-nonsense, whole-body training program.

    - data tables, operational summaries and a collection of illustrations including rare Italian photographs - a separate set of large-scale plans for modelmakers of the British X-Craft and the German Seehund.

    The focus then shifts to military wives, women employed by the DoD, and female civilian military instructors whose work is less visible but no less essential to the institution. The book also examines the experiences of women outside of the military, such as "comfort women" near U.S. bases, women engaged in peacework, and women workers affected by military spending in the federal budget.Analytic chapters are juxtaposed with first-person narratives by women who have actually been there, including a member of the first gender-integrated class at West Point, the first female civilian instructors at the U.S. Naval Academy, and an African American Air Force Nurse Corps veteran.Contributors include Connie Reeves, Georgia Clark Sadler, Gwyn Kirk, and Joan Furey.

    “Heinie” Aderholt worked at the heart of both the U.S. Air Force and CIA special operations worldwide. In 1964 he became commander of the famed First Air Commando Wing, fighting to build up special operations capabilities among the American and South Vietnamese airmen. In 1966 and 1967 he and his men set the record for interdicting the flow of enemy trucks over the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos and North Vietnam.Drawing on official records, personal papers, and interviews with Aderholt and many who worked with him, Air Force historian Warren A. Trest details the life and career of this charismatic, unconventional military leader who has become a legend of the Cold War Air Force. He tells how Aderholt’s vigorous support of low-flying, propeller-driven aircraft and nonnuclear munitions pitted him against his superiors, who were steeped in doctrines of massive retaliation and “higher and faster” tactical air power. In the mid-1960s Aderholt’s clash with Seventh Air Force Commander General William W. Momyer reflected a schism that still exists between the traditional Air Force and its unconventional special operations wings. The book also integrates U.S. Air Force and CIA accounts of some of the most pivotal events of the past fifty years.

    There are historians who have sought for the origins of the Peninsular War far back in the eternal and inevitable conflict between democracy and privilege: there are others who—accepting the Emperor’s own version of the facts—have represented it as a fortuitous development arising from his plan of forcing the Continental System upon every state in Europe. To us it seems that the moment beyond which we need not search backward was that in which Bonaparte formulated to himself the idea that he was not the successor of the greatest of the Bourbons, but of the founder of the Holy Roman Empire. It is a different thing to claim to be the first of European monarchs, and to claim to be the king of kings. Louis XIV had wide-reaching ambitions for himself and for his family: but it was from his not very deep or accurate knowledge of Charlemagne that Napoleon had derived his idea of a single imperial power bestriding Europe, of a monarch whose writ ran alike at Paris and at Mainz, at Milan and at Hamburg, at Rome and at Barcelona, and whose vassal-princes brought him the tribute of all the lands of the Oder, the Elbe, and the middle Danube...

    This is the wartime autobiography of one of the first officers to join the British Army's Glider Pilot Wing, a unique force that was at the forefront of the invasion of France and Holland in 1944.

    The number one graduate of the West Point class of 1843, William Buel Franklin served in the U.S. Army's Corps of Topographical Engineers and contributed greatly to the building of the nation's internal improvements, including a stint as chief engineer in charge of construction of the U.S. Capitol's dome and extension from 1859 to 1861.During the Civil War Franklin ascended rapidly in rank and command authority, from command of a Union brigade at Bull Run, to leadership of the Sixth Corps of the Army of the Potomac on the Peninsula and during the Maryland Campaign, to command of the Left Grand Division, of that army at the terrible Battle of Fredericksburg. In the wake of Fredericksburg, Franklin was unjustly blamed for the Union army's defeat, not so much because of his generalship-or lack thereof-but because of his politics and the highly-charged political nature of high-level leadership in the Army of the Potomac. Censured by the notorious Joint Congressional Committee on the Conduct of the War, Franklin was banished to the Department of the Gulf, where he participated in the ill-fated Sabine Pass Expedition and Red River Campaign. Wounded during the Red River Campaign and captured by Confederate partisan rangers Franklin would escape his captors but could not escape the wrath of the Lincoln administration, which refused to place him back in command even though his old West Point classmate-U. S. Grant-personally requested his services.Franklin resigned his commission in 1866 and began a highly successful post-war career as Vice President and General Manager of Colt's Firearms Company in Hartford, Connecticut. A respected citizen of that city, Franklin continued to serve his country in a number of public positions, including leadership of a government bureau that eventually became the U.S. Veterans Administration. Snell's study of Franklin is evenly balanced, correctly pointing out Franklin's flaws and lapses of judgment-such as the Battle of Crampton's Gap on September 14, 1862-but giving him credit where he received none in the past. Snell provides readers with a complete picture of Franklin: brilliant engineer, doting husband, respected businessman, and controversial Union general. From First to Last will change the way historians interpret this important figure of American history.

    This definitive series chronicles the major junctures, personalities, campaigns, and strategies of the world's most consuming war.

    Together with the Order of Service for the opening of The Australian Service Nurses National Memorial, 2 October 1999

    Although naval forces did not play the central role, they fulfilled an important function throughout the operation, facing many formidable challenges and considerable risk. This book provides a close examination of the problems encountered by the Navy, both in the military situation and in dealing with the other services, and the decisions made to address these issues. While interservice rivalries sometimes intruded at higher levels, jointness at the tactical level often led to effective combined-arms operations.Despite the information revolution and improvements in technology, the Fog of War still obscured the battlefield and affected nearly all decisions. This study offers page-turning action, such as SEAL activity and combat search and rescue missions, as well as the exciting and dangerous surface operations that gained sea control of the northern Persian Gulf. Using primary sources such as interviews and many documents cleared only recently for public release, the author covers the relations between General Schwarzkopf and Vice Admirals Mauz and Arthur; the major contribution of Tomahawk cruise missiles to the first wave of attacks on Baghdad; the controversial use of aircraft carriers in the Gulf; as well as the Navy's possible role in the event of an amphibious assault into Kuwait. Those preparing to fight in future naval actions will learn much from this detailed analysis.

    Topic by topic, Norris McWhirter uses an eye-catching and easy-to-follow array of lists, timelines, and color photos to track the records set in prehistory; at the birth of Christ; at 1000 A.D., at the turn of the first millennium; and all the years in between. Special attention is focused on 20th- century breakthroughs, and the breadth of subjects covered in depth is simply astonishing: clothing; clocks and timekeeping; marriage and relationships; food and drink; mathematics; medicine; war, religion, astronomy, politics; sports of every type; the arts; space travel; the media; the great civilizations; and so much more. From unsung heroes to extraordinary events, Norris McWhirter gives "snapshots" of the world's progress that put flesh on the bare bones of history 224 pages (all in color), 8 5/8 x 11 5/8.