US Navy SEALs

Osprey Elite #113

by Mir Bahmanyar, Michael Welply (Illustrator)

After the United States' failures in special operations missions during the late 1970s and 1980, a decision was made to revamp its unconventional military capabilities. The subsequent reorganization and redesignation in 1983 created the SEALs as they are known today, and later the all-encompassing command for US special operations forces under which they operate. Since then, these Navy Special Warfare (NSW) forces have operated in Grenada, the Persian Gulf, Panama, Somalia, Bosnia, Haiti, and Liberia. NSW units have also participated in the ongoing missions of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq. This book looks at the history, organization, training, uniforms, equipment and missions of the US Navy SEALs since their redesignation until the recent conflict in the Gulf.

Genres: Military History

64 pages, Paperback

First published August 10, 2005

Reviews

[Martin Koenigsberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice little book about America's Naval Special operations forces from 1987 to about 2004, when the book was written. So this book covers the renaissance of Naval Special ops after the Failed Desert One raid- and then its use in Grenada, Panama, Somalia, The Second and Third Gulf wars, and Afghanistan. It's filled with History, Technical Information (Great TO&E passages), great pictures and as usual a great Colour section in the middle with all the uniforms and weapons show for you to paint up your models and/or Wargame forces. A great use of the classic Osprey 64 page format.
The level of detail is impressive for so few pages. Mir Bahmanyar the author does a great job of giving history with some context while pumping out background information on the units. Without any of the community/resistance building assignments that the Army's Delta Force/Green Berets often fulfil- the SEALS are all "sharp end"- and this book details that well. But the author still finds time for a few anecdotes that also illustrate the keenness of the SEALs. Time is taken with the contact at Takur Ghar in Afghanistan in 2002 to show how the SEALs operate when things go awry.
This is a fine book for a junior reader down to about 10 -a great book for a report or project in school. For the Gamer/Modeller/Military Enthusiast this is a real great little tome. Lots of content, lots of B/W and Colour pictures -and that great colour section to help you with projects. I think that Scenarios/Dioramas will certainly benefit from access to this book, no matter what scale you work in from 6mm to 1/35. A strong recommendation for a nice little book.

[Almantas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Osprey Publishing Elite publication.