U.S. Army Special Warfare: Its Origins: Revised Edition

Modern War Studies

by Alfred H. Paddock, Alfred H. Paddock

Special warfare was a key component of American military operations long before Afghanistan and even before the heroic deeds of the Green Berets. Alfred Paddock's revised edition of his classic study—for two decades the definitive word on the subject—honors the fiftieth anniversary of the organizations responsible for Army special warfare, and serves as a timely reminder of the likely role such forces can play in combating threats to American national security.

Based on exhaustive research in formerly classified documents, Paddock examines the U.S. Army's activities in psychological and unconventional warfare during World War II, Korea, and the early Cold War to determine the impetus for, and origins of, the "special warfare" capability established at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He describes the key role played by Major General Robert A. McClure, the "father of Army special warfare," to convince often reluctant military and civilian leaders to rebuild psychological warfare forces dissipated after World War II and to create Special Forces—the Army's first formal organization to conduct guerrilla warfare. Paddock also clearly establishes the influence of concepts pioneered by the Office of Strategic Services on the original design of Special Forces.

This revised edition draws on the newly available papers of Major General McClure and provides additional information on his role as Eisenhower's chief of psychological warfare in North Africa and Europe, his service as chief of information control in occupied Germany, and his assignment as chief of the New York Field Office of the Army's Civil Affairs Division. Paddock also includes new sections on American psychological warfare in the Pacific, the Army Rangers, the 1st Special Service Force, and American-led guerrillas in the Philippines.

In a reflective new epilogue that draws partly upon his own experience, Paddock also provides keen insights into the use of special warfare during Vietnam.

Genres: History

248 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1982

Reviews

[R. · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is one of the hardest books to finish that I have ever read in my life. You would think from the title that it would be pretty interesting, and you would be wrong. It is essentially a 160 page collection of Army memorandums and other official correspondence covering the political end of Special Forces and Psychological Warfare from WW2 to the first years of the Vietnam War. The other 80 pages of the book at the end is the bibliography. Yes, that's right, a 160 page book has an 80 page bibliography.

It's also a good thing that I read this as a textbook and that I didn't pay for it because I would have been irritated had I actually spent money on this. I hope that the other two books for me class are more exciting because this was the same type of reading that I do on a daily basis at work.

If you are doing advanced scholarly research into the subject this is a good book to have. If you want a reference book that you can keep on the shelf to pull out once every five or ten years for writing scholarly papers this is a good book to have. This is not a good book to sit down and read with the intent to enjoy yourself in my opinion.

[Von · Rating 2 out of 5]

I went ahead and read the through the whole text. Things took place. Events had occurred.

[Liam · Rating 3 out of 5]

A bit dry, as is typical of works written in a military context for a military audience, but extremely well researched. My only real complaint is that I would have liked this book to be expanded even more extensively for this revised edition. A much needed addition to the history of both USSF and Special/Unconventional Warfare in general.

[Darren Sapp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly academic look at how the famous Green Berets came to be. Those with a deep interest in the origins of U.S. Army psychological and unconventional warfare will appreciate this thoroughly researched book.