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SEALs: The US Navy's Elite Fighting Force
Since the US Navy SEALs came into existence, they have become famous for their daring missions, advanced and unconventional tactics, hard training and hard-fought successes. SEALs have taken part in numerous conflicts ranging from Grenada in 1983, the invasion of Panama and operations in Somalia, Bosnia, Haiti, and Liberia. Most recently, SEAL units have participated in the ongoing missions of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq. This book focuses primarily on modern combat operations between 1983 and 2006, as Mir Bahmanyar and Chris Osman examine various combat operations, the SEALs’ intense training regimes, and the development of tactics and weapons. It includes first-hand accounts from SEALs on the ground - including revealing accounts from those currently involved in operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. This is an eye-opening insight into the shadowy world of the SEALs.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published October 21, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 30, 2016
I really like these kinds of books because I like learning about our U.S. war history like for example the Cold War, World War I and II too, and how the U.S. army works and all the tanks, trucks, humv's (big tough hummer truck) fire power and what our army has been through ever since all the war had happened.
This book is mainly about how the SEALs are trained (by the way U.S. Navy SEALs stands for. According to Free dictionary, Navy's Sea, Air and Land Teams, commonly known as the Navy SEALs, are the U.S. Navy's principal special operations force and a part of the Naval Special Warfare Command and United States Special Operations Command), how to use a gun correctly and safety too to protect others and see learn how they work as a group to collaborate tougher to kill a big threat to the U.S. or something like that.
whoever likes these kinds of U.S. War history books, you should really read this book it tells you all of the important events and horrific strategies that happened with the Navy SEALs and know how they work and prepare for secret attacks and just get readying for what ever would happen during war.
This book is mainly about how the SEALs are trained (by the way U.S. Navy SEALs stands for. According to Free dictionary, Navy's Sea, Air and Land Teams, commonly known as the Navy SEALs, are the U.S. Navy's principal special operations force and a part of the Naval Special Warfare Command and United States Special Operations Command), how to use a gun correctly and safety too to protect others and see learn how they work as a group to collaborate tougher to kill a big threat to the U.S. or something like that.
whoever likes these kinds of U.S. War history books, you should really read this book it tells you all of the important events and horrific strategies that happened with the Navy SEALs and know how they work and prepare for secret attacks and just get readying for what ever would happen during war.
March 11, 2012
What a horrible pile of drivel. I sincerely regret buying this book. It just has too many quirks that overshadow any good things it may have.
This is definitely not the "definitive book" on SEALs. Let me quote from Bahmanyar's preface:
"The story begins in 1987 with the creation of the Naval Special Warfare Command and ends with actions in Iraq around 2007. We did not research every detail or cover every operation."
Well, let me tell you guys, you can't write the definitive "IT" book on SEALs and only tell half their history.
"We did not interview anyone who had any active participation in Somalia, the Phillippine Islands, or Peru.."
Well, guys, that doesn't make the book any better now ,does it?
He then mentions that Operation Anaconda happened in 2003.WRONG!It was 2002.
Marcus Luttrell then insults my intelligence, writing that "Contrary to popular belief SEALs are not bulletproof, we don't wear capes..." Wow, I'm not that much of an idiot.
the accounts of SEAL organization and training were decent, but the author annoyingly keeps quoting HUGE portions of interviews: 28 PAGES' WORTH!
He then writes a decent, detailed account of operations in Panama. Then he launches into a ridiculously short, extremely bland, superficial chapter on counter-drug operations in Bolivia.
After a decent account of Balkan operations, he begins Afghanistan.
Although he promised at the preface not to cover the "political" aspect of war, he details people's viewpoints that Islamists hate us because of our support for oppressive Arab regimes and Israel, "the perception that we control the Muslim world's oil production, our support for Israel and for countries that oppress Muslims," etc., etc. He writes decent chapters on Afghanistan and joint operations with Germany, but RANDOMLY, out of the blue, writes how cool and professional German soldiers are, just to remind us that America isn't the only country with badass special forces. He insists on calling the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment by their old 1980s name Task Force 160. At the end of the chapter, he made me roll my eyes when he stated that Operation Enduring Freedom began in 1999.
A few chapters into Iraq, he has a chapter named "Baghdad", but devotes only one paragraph to SEAL operations in that city, and even includes pictures from Afghanistan. in one of the book's finest word salads, he writes "Paul ranged his shooter at a target of 997 yards." What?
When writing about the SEAL with the highest "kill count"(Chris Kyle, you may have read his memoir), Kyle makes lame halfhearted attempts to portray himself as just another soldier: "I would rather be the guy who didn't get the record and someone else gets all the attention."
the conclusion is really stupid:
"Almost all the Navy SEALs believe that the United States cannot win the war on terrorism. Not one offered a solution although in a hasty comment one said,'We apply the rule of 50.'When queried, he explained by saying that the Israelis destroy a suicide bomber's house as well as each neighboring home, thereby sending a warning to any supporter and potential bomber. That is the 'Rule of Three', and the SEALs would make it 50 instead of just three. It was pointed out that Israel is far from peaceful and secure and this particular ruthlessness has alienated and hardened the Palestinians even more. the SEAL agreed."
WHAT? That makes no sense at all.
This book sucks, DO NOT waste your money on it. Osman is an ex-SEAL and Bahmanyar an ex-Army Ranger, but it seems to me that they know very little about modern military operations/tactics. That Marcus Luttrell wrote a preface to this steaming pile of crap astounds me. He is a much better author than these two amateurs.
It's a good book for reading in the bathroom, however. If you run out of toilet paper, you can just rip pages out of the book and use them.
This is definitely not the "definitive book" on SEALs. Let me quote from Bahmanyar's preface:
"The story begins in 1987 with the creation of the Naval Special Warfare Command and ends with actions in Iraq around 2007. We did not research every detail or cover every operation."
Well, let me tell you guys, you can't write the definitive "IT" book on SEALs and only tell half their history.
"We did not interview anyone who had any active participation in Somalia, the Phillippine Islands, or Peru.."
Well, guys, that doesn't make the book any better now ,does it?
He then mentions that Operation Anaconda happened in 2003.WRONG!It was 2002.
Marcus Luttrell then insults my intelligence, writing that "Contrary to popular belief SEALs are not bulletproof, we don't wear capes..." Wow, I'm not that much of an idiot.
the accounts of SEAL organization and training were decent, but the author annoyingly keeps quoting HUGE portions of interviews: 28 PAGES' WORTH!
He then writes a decent, detailed account of operations in Panama. Then he launches into a ridiculously short, extremely bland, superficial chapter on counter-drug operations in Bolivia.
After a decent account of Balkan operations, he begins Afghanistan.
Although he promised at the preface not to cover the "political" aspect of war, he details people's viewpoints that Islamists hate us because of our support for oppressive Arab regimes and Israel, "the perception that we control the Muslim world's oil production, our support for Israel and for countries that oppress Muslims," etc., etc. He writes decent chapters on Afghanistan and joint operations with Germany, but RANDOMLY, out of the blue, writes how cool and professional German soldiers are, just to remind us that America isn't the only country with badass special forces. He insists on calling the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment by their old 1980s name Task Force 160. At the end of the chapter, he made me roll my eyes when he stated that Operation Enduring Freedom began in 1999.
A few chapters into Iraq, he has a chapter named "Baghdad", but devotes only one paragraph to SEAL operations in that city, and even includes pictures from Afghanistan. in one of the book's finest word salads, he writes "Paul ranged his shooter at a target of 997 yards." What?
When writing about the SEAL with the highest "kill count"(Chris Kyle, you may have read his memoir), Kyle makes lame halfhearted attempts to portray himself as just another soldier: "I would rather be the guy who didn't get the record and someone else gets all the attention."
the conclusion is really stupid:
"Almost all the Navy SEALs believe that the United States cannot win the war on terrorism. Not one offered a solution although in a hasty comment one said,'We apply the rule of 50.'When queried, he explained by saying that the Israelis destroy a suicide bomber's house as well as each neighboring home, thereby sending a warning to any supporter and potential bomber. That is the 'Rule of Three', and the SEALs would make it 50 instead of just three. It was pointed out that Israel is far from peaceful and secure and this particular ruthlessness has alienated and hardened the Palestinians even more. the SEAL agreed."
WHAT? That makes no sense at all.
This book sucks, DO NOT waste your money on it. Osman is an ex-SEAL and Bahmanyar an ex-Army Ranger, but it seems to me that they know very little about modern military operations/tactics. That Marcus Luttrell wrote a preface to this steaming pile of crap astounds me. He is a much better author than these two amateurs.
It's a good book for reading in the bathroom, however. If you run out of toilet paper, you can just rip pages out of the book and use them.
February 10, 2013
Originally posted on Sarahsbookshelf.com:
This book was a joint project by Mir Bahmanyar and Chris Osman. Bahmanyar, who did the lion’s share of the writing, served in the US Army’s 75th Ranger Regiment, so I found it interesting that he co-wrote this book with a retired Navy SEAL, who gathered most of the personal interviews. When I initially picked up this book, I had thought it was a memoir of Chris Osman’s service. I was a little bummed that it wasn’t, but happy that I gave the book a chance. For me, it was a fairly quick read (about a day), but I read pretty quickly–-plus, there were a LOT of pictures.
This book, unlike many I’ve read recently, goes more into the history of the SEALs and gives some background on various operations. Although the descriptions were brief for almost all the operations listed, I felt that they gave the reader a broad overview of the SEAL history and a flavor for the type of work SEALs do in combat. Because I’ve read quite a few contemporary memoirs, many of the interviewed SEALs had stories about individuals I was familiar with–-or at least as “familiar” as you can be when you read. The interviews were less filtered than some of the memoirs, so the interviews come off a little more raw. This language may disturb some readers, but I felt leaving it in made all the interviews more genuine. ROE and some politics were discussed, but only superficially.
This is a book that I would definitely recommend to any individual who is interested in becoming a SEAL. I think this book, in combination with other preparation, might better equip an individual in deciding whether this line of work is right for them. One thing I really liked was that it went into some detail on the various segments of the SEAL community. The different Teams, where their global focus is, and information on typical SEAL equipment were listed within the appendix.
I hope someday Chris Osman decides to write his own memoir. From what I’ve read and seen in interviews, I can imagine it would be a great story.
This book was a joint project by Mir Bahmanyar and Chris Osman. Bahmanyar, who did the lion’s share of the writing, served in the US Army’s 75th Ranger Regiment, so I found it interesting that he co-wrote this book with a retired Navy SEAL, who gathered most of the personal interviews. When I initially picked up this book, I had thought it was a memoir of Chris Osman’s service. I was a little bummed that it wasn’t, but happy that I gave the book a chance. For me, it was a fairly quick read (about a day), but I read pretty quickly–-plus, there were a LOT of pictures.
This book, unlike many I’ve read recently, goes more into the history of the SEALs and gives some background on various operations. Although the descriptions were brief for almost all the operations listed, I felt that they gave the reader a broad overview of the SEAL history and a flavor for the type of work SEALs do in combat. Because I’ve read quite a few contemporary memoirs, many of the interviewed SEALs had stories about individuals I was familiar with–-or at least as “familiar” as you can be when you read. The interviews were less filtered than some of the memoirs, so the interviews come off a little more raw. This language may disturb some readers, but I felt leaving it in made all the interviews more genuine. ROE and some politics were discussed, but only superficially.
This is a book that I would definitely recommend to any individual who is interested in becoming a SEAL. I think this book, in combination with other preparation, might better equip an individual in deciding whether this line of work is right for them. One thing I really liked was that it went into some detail on the various segments of the SEAL community. The different Teams, where their global focus is, and information on typical SEAL equipment were listed within the appendix.
I hope someday Chris Osman decides to write his own memoir. From what I’ve read and seen in interviews, I can imagine it would be a great story.
December 11, 2012
ugh. a trainwreck of a book. meandering between topics, full of useless maps, blurred out photos and redacted lines. why both with things like Captain S_____ and Gunner's Mate M_____? it just annoys the hell out of me. At one point one of the authors just stop trying to write at all and seems to just regurgitate and redact the exploits of a not particularly well spoken SEAL sniper.
On the plus side many of the stories will give you a keen insight as to why the rest of the world has a problem with the United States and why we can completely take over a country in less than a year and not manage to run it in more than 10.
On the plus side many of the stories will give you a keen insight as to why the rest of the world has a problem with the United States and why we can completely take over a country in less than a year and not manage to run it in more than 10.
May 29, 2023
Awesome book on US Navy SEALs
October 13, 2014
A decent read for anyone interested in the training/recent history of the US Navy Seals. Definitely would recommend this book to anyone interested in becoming a Seal. However, to the average American, the desire to know more about the Seals could be satisfied by going online and reading a Wikipedia article, so overall, the book has a niche audience.
January 27, 2014
This was engaging enough that I finished it, but I wouldn't say much more than that. It was VASTLY inferior to "The Heart and the Fist " by Eric Greitens, which was a much better take on SEAL training. Those guys are badass and deserve a book better than this.
September 7, 2018
Interesting Informative
Anyone who respects and admires the Special Forces of this great nation will enjoy reading this book. Fly Navy. Salute to all SEALS ! Past,, present,, future!
Anyone who respects and admires the Special Forces of this great nation will enjoy reading this book. Fly Navy. Salute to all SEALS ! Past,, present,, future!
February 7, 2010
I enjoyed
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews