Special Forces: A Guided Tour of Us Army Special Forces [Paperback]

Strike 2 is how cursory the information is. Read Walker's "Commandos" for a much better over-view of the SF. This book goes into detail over the components of the MRE or what have you but glosses over things like the missions of the SF. Heck, the average TLC or Discovery Channel documentary has more information about these units than this book. Actually, there's more good information on-line at Socnetcentral.com than here. Very disappointing. For interests sake check how many details don't jibe with what is published in better books or just by asking a SF member. We're not talking altered for OPSEC here, it's just poorly researched.

Strike 3? The paper is barely newsprint and the pictures are grainy [...].

In sum, if you know nothing at all about the US Army's SF, maybe this book is worth a look see if better books like "America's Special Forces : Weapons, Missions, Training" by David Bohrer or
"U.S. Army Special Forces" by Fred Pushies are out of stock. If you are hoping to learn more about them than are in these books, I'd recommend enlisting and practicing your land navigation skills. You sure won't find it here.

Tom Clancy's soldier/sailor/airman/marine worship is just getting too much here. He practically grovels at their feet. It's one thing to pay proper respect to the men and women in uniform, it's another to act like one of the Fops, those baroque characters from Saturday Night Live who worshipped Norm McDonald. "Mr. Special Forces soldier, I have come to praise you! Fighting soldier from the sky, I praise thee! Ooh ooh ooh!" (Much hand waving.)

The book is written in schizophrenic style. Clancy allegedly "wrote" it, along with his researcher John Gresham. The tone of the book is always as a guide, and the author, whoever he is, refers to he and the reader as "we". Who is we? We never know when Clancy is writing or Gresham (except in the case of the interview with Gen. Shelton.) Clancy--or whoever--buddies up to the author, and his politics never seem far from the surface.

I haven't quite finished the book yet, but it appears as though Clancy continues his tradition of interviewing and talking only to officers--preferably short colonels and above. (Except for his beloved "gunnys".) This includes General Shelton. Reading his books, one sense the pattern that the people he talks to are probably the ones signing off on his tag-alongs, whether in a M-1, a CV, or a field exercise. It doesn't smell right. Just how much is this costing the taxpayers?

Special Forces is like fast food: it looks nice, it seems to cover all the bases, but in the end it leaves you with indigestion. While the book covers the training, weapons, and typical deployments of SF (esp. ODAs), it really doesn't capture the heart and soul of the people who run the organization the way past books have. Then again, Clancy has never been good at portraying people in Fiction or Nonfiction. The recent history is spotty: Somalia, Haiti, and Panama I've yet to see mentioned. For a better book on SF, try Col. Simpson's _Inside the Green Berets_. It's not as timely, but it does capture the heart of the organization and the characters who staff it. (Is this a joke? Simpson's book is NOT in the bibliography, but Clancy's book _Submarine: A Guided Tour_ is? What gives?)

Finally, I was rather disgusted by the ego-dripping photo of the author on the back page. There he is wearing a bomber jacket, a flight suit, a scarf of the American flag, a Navy cap with scrambled eggs, and aviator's sunglasses. Mr. Clancy, I never served, and despite all your ride-alongs and huddles with those who wear eagles and stars, neither did you. Can anyone say "poser"?

The book feels rushed and half-hearted. The information included, whether on weapons systems or unit history is spotty, at best, and missing or incorrect at worst. Delta, which admittedly is not officially operational, rates only a single, offhanded mention. There is a definite biased slant towards Army Special Forces at the expense of other branches, and while it would be expected if this were written by an USASOC denizen, it is inappropriate and unprofessionial in this context.

The photos are grainy and rather oddly chosen and the use of black and white printing, presumably to save money, shows a sincere lack of attention when the book shows different SF unit badges as uniformly gray patches.

This book pales when compared to earlier efforts like Marine or Carrier and comes across as a quickly produced reaction to growing interest in U.S. Special Operations.