Spec Ops Theory [Archive] - SOCNET: The Special Operations Community Network

Jims

11 May 2000, 17:24

Has anyone read William McRaven's 'Spec Ops: Case studies in Special Warfare: Theory and Practice'. It is a really good book and I was wondering what other people's thoughts were.

PathfinderJr3325

11 May 2000, 17:36

outstanding book. I've used his sections on Son Tay and Entebbe as teaching examples in leadership and planning classes

Scout

11 May 2000, 18:23

EXCELLENT book!!! I read it for personal interest, then used it on a couple reseach assignments. And McRaven--what an appropriate name for a SEAL!

specwarnet

12 May 2000, 19:15

Great book. Good material. I have had one Israeli note an innacuracy in the Entebbe raid section concerning the XO of the mission, but other than that It's definately in my top 5 must-reads

Sweetbriar

12 May 2000, 21:00

specwarnet, what are the other four in the top five (in your opinion) ? (I very much agree, it is a tremendous book.)

IAN0321

12 May 2000, 21:59

WHERE WOULD ONE FIND THIS BOOK??? COULD YOU HELP ME WITH THIS AS I WOULD LIKE TO READ IT..
THANKS GUYS.. SEMPER FI

IAN0321

12 May 2000, 21:59

WHERE WOULD ONE FIND THIS BOOK??? COULD YOU HELP ME WITH THIS AS I WOULD LIKE TO READ IT..
THANKS GUYS.. SEMPER FI

Scout

12 May 2000, 23:43

Ian,

Barnes and Noble has it, sometimes you can get it at a used book store. I got my copy on Ebay, a great palce to find books cheap, but its really hit or miss.

Scout

Sweetbriar

13 May 2000, 11:03

McRaven's book is still in print, so B&N or amazon.com can get it for you. I saw a copy in the local used book store, so you might try yours. For out-of-print books, alibris.com and bookfinder.com are good sources of used/old/rare books.

IAN0321

15 May 2000, 01:51

WELL I BOUGHT THE BOOK GUYS AND ITS GREAT .. I LIKE HOW HE GRAPHS EERYTHING LIKE RS AFTER EACH CASE STUDY.. THANK YOU FOR TURNING ME ON TO THIS GREAT BOOK !!!!!!!!

Michael Robertson Moore

15 May 2000, 14:32

For anyone in the Los Angeles area: last time I was in that used book store just up the street from Canter's on Fairfax, they had a hardback copy of McRaven's book in excellent condition (and I think the price was right.) Made me kick myself for having bought it in paperback. If you're in the neighborhood, pounce. Otherwise, I've been able to find a lot of out of print titles at www.bibliofind.com (http://www.bibliofind.com) and www.bookfinder.com. (http://www.bookfinder.com.)

specwarnet

24 May 2000, 13:24

RE: the five top books.
I'm at work now so I don't have my collection in front of me.. so forgive me if I get a title wrong. ALso these are in no particular order -- they're all good
1: SpecOps Willaim McRaven
2: Blackhawk Down Mark Bowden
3: The Commandos Douglas Waller
4: SEAL! Mike Walsh
5: SOG John Plaster

Daredevil

24 May 2000, 14:08

I've read 2,3, and 4 and they're indeed very good. "Point Man" by Patches Watson is very good also.

I may be confused with another book on the subject but wasn't Plaster discredited as a phony?

Jims

24 May 2000, 14:12

I'm not a smart man, and as I am not an operator I don't know what books should contain, exactly, to make them of value to anyone on this board, but I suggest the following in addition to McRaven's book:

Learning from Conflict-Richard Duncan Downie
In the Midst of Wars-Gen. Edward Geary Lansdale
War and Antiwar-Heidi and Alvin Toffler
The Future of War-George and Meredith Friedman (george is founder of STRATFOR)
Strategy by Edward Luttwak
and, of course, The Art of War (cartoon version) by Sun Tzu

These books provide a reader with a good foundation for understanding how conflict has started, how it was fought, how to fight it better and how to possibly predict it in the future. With the exception of Friedman and Downie I know that all these authors have "I was there" credits.