What do you think?
Rate this book
Guided Tour
Special Forces: A Guided Tour of U.S. Army Special Forces
They are sent to the world's hot spots-on covert missions fraught with danger. They are called on to perform at the peak of their physical and mental capabilities, primed for combat and surveillance, yet ready to pitch in with disaster relief operations. They are the Army's Special Forces Groups. Now follow Tom Clancy as he delves into the training and tools, missions and mindset of these elite operatives.
Special Forces includes:
The making of Special Forces personnel: recruitment and training
A rare look at actual Special Forces Group deployment Exercises
Tools of the trade: weapons, communications and sensor equipment, survival gear
Roles and missions: a mini-novel illustrates a probable scenario of Special Forces intervention
Exclusive photographs, illustrations and diagrams
Plus: an interview with General Hugh Shelton, USA, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (and the former Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Special Operations Command-USSOCOM)
Special Forces includes:
The making of Special Forces personnel: recruitment and training
A rare look at actual Special Forces Group deployment Exercises
Tools of the trade: weapons, communications and sensor equipment, survival gear
Roles and missions: a mini-novel illustrates a probable scenario of Special Forces intervention
Exclusive photographs, illustrations and diagrams
Plus: an interview with General Hugh Shelton, USA, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (and the former Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Special Operations Command-USSOCOM)
366 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2001
60 people are currently reading
915 people want to read
About the author
Tom Clancy
977 books9,061 followersThomas Leo Clancy Jr. was an American novelist and military-political thriller pioneer. Raised in a middle-class Irish-American family, he developed an early fascination with military history. Despite initially studying physics at Loyola College, he switched to English literature, graduating in 1969 with a modest GPA. His aspirations of serving in the military were dashed due to severe myopia, leading him instead to a career in the insurance business.
While working at a small insurance agency, Clancy spent his spare time writing what would become The Hunt for Red October (1984). Published by the Naval Institute Press for an advance of $5,000, the book received an unexpected boost when President Ronald Reagan praised it as “the best yarn.” This propelled Clancy to national fame, selling millions of copies and establishing his reputation for technical accuracy in military and intelligence matters. His meticulous research and storytelling ability granted him access to high-ranking U.S. military officials, further enriching his novels.
Clancy’s works often featured heroic protagonists such as Jack Ryan and John Clark, emphasizing themes of patriotism, military expertise, and political intrigue. Throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, he became one of the best-selling authors in America, with titles like Red Storm Rising (1986), Patriot Games (1987), Clear and Present Danger (1989), and The Sum of All Fears (1991) dominating bestseller lists. Several of these were adapted into commercially successful films.
In addition to novels, Clancy co-authored nonfiction works on military topics and lent his name to numerous book series and video game franchises, including Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon, and Splinter Cell. His influence extended beyond literature, as he became a part-owner of the Baltimore Orioles baseball team and was involved in various business ventures, including a failed attempt to purchase the Minnesota Vikings.
Politically, Clancy was a staunch conservative, often weaving his views into his books and publicly criticizing left-leaning policies. He gained further attention after the September 11 attacks, discussing intelligence failures and counterterrorism strategies on news platforms.
Clancy’s financial success was immense. By the late 1990s, his publishing deals were worth tens of millions of dollars. He lived on an expansive Maryland estate featuring a World War II Sherman tank and later purchased a luxury penthouse in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.
He was married twice, first to Wanda Thomas King, with whom he had four children, and later to journalist Alexandra Marie Llewellyn, with whom he had one daughter.
Tom Clancy passed away on October 1, 2013, at the age of 66 due to heart failure. His legacy endures through his novels, their adaptations, and the continuation of the Jack Ryan series by other writers.
While working at a small insurance agency, Clancy spent his spare time writing what would become The Hunt for Red October (1984). Published by the Naval Institute Press for an advance of $5,000, the book received an unexpected boost when President Ronald Reagan praised it as “the best yarn.” This propelled Clancy to national fame, selling millions of copies and establishing his reputation for technical accuracy in military and intelligence matters. His meticulous research and storytelling ability granted him access to high-ranking U.S. military officials, further enriching his novels.
Clancy’s works often featured heroic protagonists such as Jack Ryan and John Clark, emphasizing themes of patriotism, military expertise, and political intrigue. Throughout the late 1980s and 1990s, he became one of the best-selling authors in America, with titles like Red Storm Rising (1986), Patriot Games (1987), Clear and Present Danger (1989), and The Sum of All Fears (1991) dominating bestseller lists. Several of these were adapted into commercially successful films.
In addition to novels, Clancy co-authored nonfiction works on military topics and lent his name to numerous book series and video game franchises, including Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon, and Splinter Cell. His influence extended beyond literature, as he became a part-owner of the Baltimore Orioles baseball team and was involved in various business ventures, including a failed attempt to purchase the Minnesota Vikings.
Politically, Clancy was a staunch conservative, often weaving his views into his books and publicly criticizing left-leaning policies. He gained further attention after the September 11 attacks, discussing intelligence failures and counterterrorism strategies on news platforms.
Clancy’s financial success was immense. By the late 1990s, his publishing deals were worth tens of millions of dollars. He lived on an expansive Maryland estate featuring a World War II Sherman tank and later purchased a luxury penthouse in Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.
He was married twice, first to Wanda Thomas King, with whom he had four children, and later to journalist Alexandra Marie Llewellyn, with whom he had one daughter.
Tom Clancy passed away on October 1, 2013, at the age of 66 due to heart failure. His legacy endures through his novels, their adaptations, and the continuation of the Jack Ryan series by other writers.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
January 13, 2025
eponymous sentence:
p22: In their own minds, however, they are Special Forces--or officially, the U.S. Army Special Forces.
ocr:
p24: SOF units are a natural development of modem military doctrine, which tends to create purpose-designed forces for a wider variety of specific roles and missions.
p26: The first application of modem Special Forces principles occurred during World War I, when the German Army trained special infiltration units prior to their western offensive in the spring of 1918.
p93: Official U.S. Aamy photo
p94: Land Navigation/Fietdcraft
p94: One of the more creative solutions involves removing a wheel, leaving only two on opposing comers, and then running poles across the hood and rear bed and tying them down with ropes.
p108: Even if that point does get made, the sparnng between the "G" Chief and student ODA members will likely go on for days.
p123: An outgrowth of the old World War II rifle grenade, the modem grenade launcher is actually a short-barreled projector for shells that may contain a variety of useful payloads.
p124: The modem hand grenade is a far cry from the "pineapple" weapons of World War II.
p124: The modem land mine is a mixed blessing.
p139: Eventually these systems and their successors (which will include small, lightweight, forward-looking infrared--FLIP--thermal imagers, the first of which are now being used on M16A2s) will be integrated into the "Digital Soldier" ensembles being prepared for Army service in the early twenty-first century.
p145: John D Grfsham
p151: Colonel Bank is considered the founding father of the modem Special Forces, and commanded the 10th Special Forces Group.
p157: For one thing, the cost turned out to be very low (due partly to the excellent training and partly to hick)--total cost was an F-105G Wild Weasel aircraft shot down during the decoy raids (both crewmen ejected and were rescued), and a single SF soldier with an injured leg.
p159: John D. Graham
p190: Obviously, SF personnel love to use heavy-lift transports like C-17A Globemaster Ills, which can carry most everything in one big lift, but such operations are costly, and TRANSCOM (Air Force Transportation Command) doesn't have many of them.
p191: The ODAs would normally establish a communications center (actually a bench) in a comer of the team house.
p207: CA001 was designed to assess the morale and political leanings of civilians (contract roleplayers in this case) in the Carnis Village area (an artificial training town located in the Northwest comer of the exercise area).
p210: In a comer a sergeant was "stripping" down packages of Meals Ready to Eat of their excess packaging (cardboard boxes).
p215: The JTF (Cortina) 1/10th Mountain headquarters were inside a large warehouse at one end of the compound; SOCCE (Cortina) was located at a comer of the warehouse, with plywood walls separating them from the rest of the 1/10th headquarters TOC.
p247: The series and the companion book take the "long" view that the conflict has roots hundreds of years deep; yet they also presume that the leaderships of the various modem factions (much like Hitler and the Nazis) have made use of the ancient ethnic symbols to validate recent hatreds and their own self-serving policies.
p275: This man was no old-fashioned Latin "Jefe" (chief, strongman), but the best kind of modem military leader.
p283: Starting early that morning, Tom McCollum and I caught a commuter flight (this time aboard a modem turboprop ATR-72) to the tiny airport at Santa Barbara, where we met a pair of SF soldiers from ODA 746 (which was assigned to work with the Army troops of the Venezuelan 107th Special Forces Battalion).
p406: Each gallon of water weighs about 8Ib. Even with a consumption of just a gallon pr day, on a six-day mission, each SF soldier would have to carry almost 50Ib. of water... and containers.
homonym:
p112: For example, a jumper equipped with a small GPS receiver can drop just outside an enemy's boarder, and then glide to a precision landing well inside denied territory.
It gets more exciting after the interview.
p22: In their own minds, however, they are Special Forces--or officially, the U.S. Army Special Forces.
ocr:
p24: SOF units are a natural development of modem military doctrine, which tends to create purpose-designed forces for a wider variety of specific roles and missions.
p26: The first application of modem Special Forces principles occurred during World War I, when the German Army trained special infiltration units prior to their western offensive in the spring of 1918.
p93: Official U.S. Aamy photo
p94: Land Navigation/Fietdcraft
p94: One of the more creative solutions involves removing a wheel, leaving only two on opposing comers, and then running poles across the hood and rear bed and tying them down with ropes.
p108: Even if that point does get made, the sparnng between the "G" Chief and student ODA members will likely go on for days.
p123: An outgrowth of the old World War II rifle grenade, the modem grenade launcher is actually a short-barreled projector for shells that may contain a variety of useful payloads.
p124: The modem hand grenade is a far cry from the "pineapple" weapons of World War II.
p124: The modem land mine is a mixed blessing.
p139: Eventually these systems and their successors (which will include small, lightweight, forward-looking infrared--FLIP--thermal imagers, the first of which are now being used on M16A2s) will be integrated into the "Digital Soldier" ensembles being prepared for Army service in the early twenty-first century.
p145: John D Grfsham
p151: Colonel Bank is considered the founding father of the modem Special Forces, and commanded the 10th Special Forces Group.
p157: For one thing, the cost turned out to be very low (due partly to the excellent training and partly to hick)--total cost was an F-105G Wild Weasel aircraft shot down during the decoy raids (both crewmen ejected and were rescued), and a single SF soldier with an injured leg.
p159: John D. Graham
p190: Obviously, SF personnel love to use heavy-lift transports like C-17A Globemaster Ills, which can carry most everything in one big lift, but such operations are costly, and TRANSCOM (Air Force Transportation Command) doesn't have many of them.
p191: The ODAs would normally establish a communications center (actually a bench) in a comer of the team house.
p207: CA001 was designed to assess the morale and political leanings of civilians (contract roleplayers in this case) in the Carnis Village area (an artificial training town located in the Northwest comer of the exercise area).
p210: In a comer a sergeant was "stripping" down packages of Meals Ready to Eat of their excess packaging (cardboard boxes).
p215: The JTF (Cortina) 1/10th Mountain headquarters were inside a large warehouse at one end of the compound; SOCCE (Cortina) was located at a comer of the warehouse, with plywood walls separating them from the rest of the 1/10th headquarters TOC.
p247: The series and the companion book take the "long" view that the conflict has roots hundreds of years deep; yet they also presume that the leaderships of the various modem factions (much like Hitler and the Nazis) have made use of the ancient ethnic symbols to validate recent hatreds and their own self-serving policies.
p275: This man was no old-fashioned Latin "Jefe" (chief, strongman), but the best kind of modem military leader.
p283: Starting early that morning, Tom McCollum and I caught a commuter flight (this time aboard a modem turboprop ATR-72) to the tiny airport at Santa Barbara, where we met a pair of SF soldiers from ODA 746 (which was assigned to work with the Army troops of the Venezuelan 107th Special Forces Battalion).
p406: Each gallon of water weighs about 8Ib. Even with a consumption of just a gallon pr day, on a six-day mission, each SF soldier would have to carry almost 50Ib. of water... and containers.
homonym:
p112: For example, a jumper equipped with a small GPS receiver can drop just outside an enemy's boarder, and then glide to a precision landing well inside denied territory.
It gets more exciting after the interview.
September 28, 2011
I bought this book because I wanted to learn more about the special forces: what they are, how they practise, where they are deployd. But the text in which these facts were presented was, like they say here, very, very dry. And that was the reason that I did not get past page 100. I usually give a book 100 pages. If it doesn't get me or annoys me, I leave it.
I left it with a sense of disappointmet, because I would have liked to learn some more about this part of the armed forces.
I left it with a sense of disappointmet, because I would have liked to learn some more about this part of the armed forces.
April 11, 2019
Tom Clancy's "Special Forces: A Guided Tour of U.S. Army Special Forces" is a well-written but uncritical overview of the training, equipment and organization of U.S. Army Special Forces for readers without prior knowledge of the topic.
Published in early 2001 this book was intended to provide the average reader with a better understanding of what U.S. Army Special Forces were and what they did. The onset of the Global War on Terror of course gave much publicity to these units and they also saw much action in a variety of theatres of operation, which was very unlike the training and liaison missions Clancy describes in the book. Besides the issue of outdated information on equipment the different mission profiles of Special Forces routinely hunting down terrorists in direct action missions is the most striking disadvantage of the age of the book, which is signified by JSOC being mentioned only in passing. Readers looking for information on this will thus be disappointed.
As in other book of the series Clancy starts out with a short introduction into the history of U.S. Special Forces to provide some background and show their relevance, which is not disputed anymore today. He then follows the familiar pattern of a lengthy interview with a prominent flag officer of the force, in this case General Henry H. Shelton, who sheds some light on his career within Special Forces and the changes he witnessed. As the Special Forces do not primarily rely on certain weapon systems the author than goes into the details of Special Forces training, which is described vividly for the reader and illustrated with photos. OF course Clancy then goes into much detail when describing Special Forces equipment, for which he always has a passion. Sadly much of this information is by now obsolete as equipment changes over time. A surprisingly large part of the book then details the organization of the Special Forces Command with its groups, detachments and teams. Here the reader needs to understand the scope of the book only encompasses Army Special Forces and neither includes Rangers, nor Delta Force or JSOC but concentrates on Army Special Forces.
A very nice description is then presented of an Operational Detachment Alpha during an exercise at the Joint Readiness Training Center. Here the reader gets a good feeling for the different capabilities and their employment during a mission. The description of different missions and capabilities Special Forces do employ on a day to day basis without the public being aware of it is provided in the next chapter, where a variety of training and cooperation missions in foreign countries is presented. The following chapter on the future of Special Forces has basically been overtaken by events of the Global War on Terror but still has some interesting points. The fictitious story of Operation Merdeka is a nice read but does not hold up to descriptions of actual operations from Afghanistan or Iraq by now. The attached glossary and bibliography provide a good supplement to get deeper into the topic.
Overall, this is likely the least outdated book of Clancy’s military reference series and it still provides a very good overview and much relevant information on a specific scope of Special Forces for readers without prior knowledge of the topic.
Published in early 2001 this book was intended to provide the average reader with a better understanding of what U.S. Army Special Forces were and what they did. The onset of the Global War on Terror of course gave much publicity to these units and they also saw much action in a variety of theatres of operation, which was very unlike the training and liaison missions Clancy describes in the book. Besides the issue of outdated information on equipment the different mission profiles of Special Forces routinely hunting down terrorists in direct action missions is the most striking disadvantage of the age of the book, which is signified by JSOC being mentioned only in passing. Readers looking for information on this will thus be disappointed.
As in other book of the series Clancy starts out with a short introduction into the history of U.S. Special Forces to provide some background and show their relevance, which is not disputed anymore today. He then follows the familiar pattern of a lengthy interview with a prominent flag officer of the force, in this case General Henry H. Shelton, who sheds some light on his career within Special Forces and the changes he witnessed. As the Special Forces do not primarily rely on certain weapon systems the author than goes into the details of Special Forces training, which is described vividly for the reader and illustrated with photos. OF course Clancy then goes into much detail when describing Special Forces equipment, for which he always has a passion. Sadly much of this information is by now obsolete as equipment changes over time. A surprisingly large part of the book then details the organization of the Special Forces Command with its groups, detachments and teams. Here the reader needs to understand the scope of the book only encompasses Army Special Forces and neither includes Rangers, nor Delta Force or JSOC but concentrates on Army Special Forces.
A very nice description is then presented of an Operational Detachment Alpha during an exercise at the Joint Readiness Training Center. Here the reader gets a good feeling for the different capabilities and their employment during a mission. The description of different missions and capabilities Special Forces do employ on a day to day basis without the public being aware of it is provided in the next chapter, where a variety of training and cooperation missions in foreign countries is presented. The following chapter on the future of Special Forces has basically been overtaken by events of the Global War on Terror but still has some interesting points. The fictitious story of Operation Merdeka is a nice read but does not hold up to descriptions of actual operations from Afghanistan or Iraq by now. The attached glossary and bibliography provide a good supplement to get deeper into the topic.
Overall, this is likely the least outdated book of Clancy’s military reference series and it still provides a very good overview and much relevant information on a specific scope of Special Forces for readers without prior knowledge of the topic.
November 11, 2025
I've always loved Tom Clancy's non fiction books. this is no exception. its thoroughly enjoyable
May 18, 2013
This is a very thorough description of a misunderstood function of the U.S. military. Clancy shares the history, the typical functions, and, especially, the people who have made it happen. He includes a "mini-novel" at the end to describe their role at its best and to convey why we need it. It changed my opinion, somewhat, that our deployment to so many nations isn't as bad as I thought, but it didn't convince me we need to be the world's policeman. At least the role of Special Forces in other nations appears to both promote an appropriate image of America and to keep this thinly spread force sharp at a very low incremental cost.
February 13, 2016
I've never served in the military, so I read this as an outsider looking for some inside knowledge. Some parts are quite interesting; other parts read like a textbook. I enjoyed the interview with Gen. Hugh Shelton and the descriptions of military equipment, but the discussion of the chain of command was dull. I found that the training exercises described in the book were actually more interesting to read about than actual engagements.
May 21, 2017
Special Forces: A Guided Tour of US Army Special Forces by Tom Clancy and John Gresham (Berkeley Publishing 2001)(356.167). This is nonfiction Tom Clancy as he takes readers behind the scenes into the special operative training that is the special forces collectively. The training, tactics, goals, and history receive special emphasis. My rating: 7/10, finished 2005.
March 9, 2014
Enjoyed the detail in the training and types of missions associated with America's Special Forces, but I didn't care much for the mini-novel at the end. Nonetheless, Clancy's contribution to informing readers about the world's freedom fighters will be missed. RIP, Tom.
May 3, 2016
A fine, well-researched book by Clancy. He includes many intrinsic details about the U.S. Army's Special Forces - perhaps too many details for the casual reader. Unless you have a familiarity with Clancy's subject, you may find this book overwhelming.
October 27, 2009
Shadow Warriors looked at the history of the Special Forces. This book looks at Special Forces today. Still too much detail for me.
April 9, 2008
Intriguing explanation of how the Army special forces are organized and work.
April 22, 2008
Badass. Didnt know special ops have more than what i thought they had....
October 26, 2009
Pretty mediocre for my taste. It gives a fairly superficial look at the Special Forces organization in the 1990's. Pretty good for the armchair sergeant.
September 26, 2012
Very technical book on Special Forces...excellent for understanding the organizational aspects.
February 6, 2015
Solid overview of the community's structure
March 24, 2014
I very dry read. The technology portions of this book are probably very out dated. A good book for a basic understanding of Special Forces.
May 19, 2015
This was a very good book. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the military or special forces and what they do.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews