The Special Ops Workout: The Elite Exercise Program Inspired by the United States Special Operations Command Review

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(More customer reviews)Before I get accused of plagarism, I have to state that I DID NOT write the book - I wrote the workout portion and added some helpful hints on mental toughness, swimming and wrote the foreword, but I did not write the meat of the book. Nor did I write the tips on rucking - the US Army did...they know rucking better than any of us.
I gave the book five stars because it is good. Mike Mejia is a great fitness writer who added a creative and effective 12 week program to get ready for the advanced 6 weeks workouts I wrote on Army, Navy and Air Force Special Ops training.
The workouts are tested over 2-3 years of clients who successfully completed all of the above training. The workouts work and the info on SOCOM is a plus...

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Due to recent events, all eyes have been on the American military, especially the elite Special Operations teams: Army Special Forces, Army Rangers, Navy SEALS, and Air Force Special Ops that truly are the best of the best in the military. These teams of specially trained warriors perform the most difficult, politically sensitive, and dangerous missions known to the US military.The Special Ops Workout: The Elite Exercise Program Inspired by the United States Special Operations Command gives an inside look at the intense physical preparation required to become part of one of these elite teams. The men of the Special Ops are in the best physical shape of their lives, and the combination of conditioning workouts, nutritional information, and inside looks into training and selection guidelines outlined in The Special Ops Workout show just how they get that way.Nationally known fitness expert Mike Mejia and former US Navy SEAL and fitness author Stewart Smith teamed up to give an insider's look into some of the toughest military training in the world. By focusing on the strength and endurance conditioning essential to success in Special Operations teams, these experts show how to use real Special Ops workouts to get in the best physical shape of your life. Whether your goal is to make it into the Special Forces, or just bring extra intensity into your regular workout routine, The Special Ops Workoutis a resource that will add a powerful boost to any fitness regimen. The Special Ops Workout features:• A specially formulated 12-week total body conditioning workout• The Army Ranger and Green Beret 6-week workout• The Air Force PJ/CCT 6-week workout• The Navy SEAL 6-week workout• The ultimate in high-powered nutrition info• An insider's view of Special Ops training with our exclusive "Real Deal" insider tips

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Chosen Soldier: The Making of a Special Forces Warrior Review

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(More customer reviews)I believe this is the first comprehensive look at the entire U.S. Army Special Forces selection, qualification and training process; certainly the most updated (as of around 2004-5). Couch, a former Navy SEAL, is full of praise for the abilities and character of those young sergeants and junior officers who earn their Green Beret. And while the prose at times lags with over emphasis on procedure, it is still a fascinating look at a world very few of us will ever experience.
The main strength of the book is that it's more than an anecdotal telling of what these candidates had to go through. Couch also explores what the SF cadre instructors and trainers bring to the process as well. For instance, I was surprised to learn that there was little of the shouting and hazing that I suppose I'd expect to read about. Instead, Couch shows that throughout all four Phases, the cadre sergeants and officers are extremely considerate AND dedicated military professionals.
Although this kind of experience is no longer for me, I believe this is an excellent book for those contemplating a military career in Special Forces. Couch spends a lot of time on each Phase, as well as each Special Forces specialty (communications, engineering, weapons, medical, etc.).
There's also a section devoted to the preparation officers undergo to become ODA leaders, although I felt this was where Couch was at his most dryly procedural, whereas I wanted to read more about their field exercises. Finally, the book concludes with a satisfying overview of Robin Sage, the final Phase IV unconventional wargame exercise.
Strongly recommended.

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Elite Forces Manual of Mental and Physical Endurance: How to Reach Your Physical and Mental Peak Review

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(More customer reviews)As a combat veteran, former paratrooper, and 20-year combatives student/teacher, I thought this book would be interesting and maybe I would learn something new. However, I was pretty disappointed. Maybe for someone who knows very little (like almost nothing) about fitness, nutrition, and the military there would be some useful knowledge, but I see little value beyond that. The book teaches the same tired old nutritional nonsense that has been making this nation fatter and fatter for the last 20 years, namely the high grain, high carbohydrate, low protein prescription for weakness. I know it's what the 'food pyramid' preaches, but just look around and ask yourself if it seems to be working! Do a Google search for 'TBK fitness', dig around on that site and you will have a much better shot at learning something truely useful about nutrition and fitness, and it won't cost you a thing. (No, I'm not affiliated with TBK, it's just a good no-nonsense fitness/nutritional site). The military content of this book can also easily be replaced with a small amount of Google-work; I'd recommend passing on this one.

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Gain an edge bytraining with the techniques of the most elite special forces units

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Suffer in Silence Review

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(More customer reviews)I decided to read this book because I had a friend that went through SEAL training. I was always curious about his experience. I got much more than I bargained for, inspiring me to write my first amazon review. Starting to read the book was like stepping into a roller coaster - once on, I couldn't step off till the ride was over! I was in the world... to the point where I was shivering every time they got surf torture.
After finishing Suffer in Silence, I was pretty disturbed. I couldn't believe that anyone (let alone anyone I knew) could/would go through this kind of experience. I asked my friend about his SEAL experience, specifically about the interaction with the instructors. He was surprised at what I knew, and pretty much confirmed that the kind of stuff portrayed in Suffer in Silence really happens. When I told him that I got the info from a book, he said that he wished he had read it to be able to mentally prepare himself before he had gone!
I feel pretty lucky to have had such a window into a world that I could otherwise never know, and I'm grateful for the new sense of connection that I feel with my friend. An outstanding book on every level!!

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It the pivotal test faced by every Navy SEAL: 120 sleepless hours of relentless physical punishment, interrupted only by hypothermia-inducing surf torture. Ensign Grey thought he knew what to expect, but when Seaman Murray attempts to blackmail an instructor who is determined to see him fail, Hell Week takes on a new meaning. With deteriorating health and a dangerous enemy in hot pursuit, the two unlikely friends struggle to survive. What happens in the darkness at the edge of the Pacific will change their lives forever.

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Ranger Handbook Review

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(More customer reviews)I went to Ranger School in 1973. After that the SF Q course. This book, so everyone knows, is small because it was not meant to be read in an armchair and sit in a library. It is the book that fits as the sole field reference book for a Ranger or Infantryman in general, in his BDU pocket. It is pocket sized for that reason only. Real Rangers and Infantrmen who would carry it to the field would put it inside a ziplock baggy to keep it dry and clean and stuff it in his rucksack or pocket and consider it a luxury item! I have about 6 or 7 editions/versions of this over my 30 year career. The book is printed by the print shop at Fort Benning, Georgia, and each Ranger school student gets a copy, and you can pick up a copy for free at the Fort Benning post publications center. You can also buy copies off base for a premium. The print of the Fort Benning issue copies is of course small, but very readable. And they are stapled together. Anything else is probably some publisher taking a copy, photocoping or camera copying the handbook, putting the resolutions in a computer, and printing their own version. The originals are printed under the USAIS (U.S. Army Infantry School) of which the U.S. Army Ranger School is a part of. This is a book that every member of the 75th Ranger Regiment )(the unit involved when someone says Army Rangers did this or that...). Going to Ranger school is not the same thing as being in the 75th Ranger Regiment, though nearly all members of the 75th RgrRegt have been to Ranger School, or will go as soon as they get a school slot. In the 75th all leaders of any rank have been to Ranger School. Only some of the newest privates who have volunteered to go, but not yet had a school slot have not been. Ranger School is just he "basics" of Ranger training for those in the 75th Ranger Regiment. Ranger school trained soldiers are common and in many units of the Army. The 75th Regt has a very elite and challenging work and training ethic befitting who they are and the missions given to them. This handbook is not their sole reference, not even close...FM 7-8, FM 7-10, FM 7-20, etc, etc are also their guiding books...but this is a handbook every Ranger has and often carries. If for no other reason that it is a lot simplier to look up the calculations, placement, and detonation for a specific demolitions charge for a specific target than try to memorize the tables. LOL The rest of the stuff in the book is trained on so throughly every Ranger pretty much could recite it, and more importantly, implement it when under fire in combat, automatically without hesitation and a second thought. Interested civilians might find this interesting. The handbook is a compilation of bits and pieces of information available in many other Army references (Field Manuals, Training Bulletins, etc) but is gathered together in the Ranger Handbook so it is in one small and useful resource.

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Paladin is now offering the most up-to-date version in print of the famed U.S. Army Ranger Handbook. This manual draws from bloody lessons learned from two centuries of special operations combat. Crammed with info on demolitions, booby traps, communications, patrolling, tactical movement, battle drills, combat intelligence and much more.

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Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit Review

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(More customer reviews)"Inside Delta Force: The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit," by Eric L. Haney, is a gripping book written by one of the organization's founding members. Haney retired from the U.S. Army as a Command Sergeant Major with over 20 years service. Early in the book Haney introduces the reader to Delta Force founder Colonel Charlie Beckwith, who had a vision of "a compact, highly skilled, and versatile unit able to undertake and execute difficult and unusual 'special' missions."
Haney describes in detail how, starting from Colonel Beckwith's vision, Delta Force was created from scratch. An early section of the book describes the torturous tests used on candidates for the newly forming unit. He also reveals the elements that Delta Force's creators drew upon as they shaped the emerging organization. Fundamentally modeled on the British Special Air Service commando organization, the new force drew its research and training from many sources: Secret Service snipers, Delta Airlines, the Department of Energy's Nuclear Emergency Search Teams, a veteran CIA agent, and more, including convicted criminals who provided insights into breaching and demolitions. We get to see how each ingredient is added into the potent mix. This glimpse into Delta Force's "DNA" is absolutely fascinating. Equally gripping is Haney's account of the actual training received by selectees for the new unit; the training includes a detailed espionage exercise that reads like something out of a suspense novel.
A high point in the book is the official "birth" of the new Delta Force as "a fully grown and reasoning predator, armed with fangs and claws and intelligence, able to run and to fight." Haney takes the reader beyond this milestone and into many missions undertaken by himself and other Delta Force operators: the botched attempt to rescue American hostages from Iran, an anti-sniper mission in Beirut, a seagoing countersmuggling operation off the coast of Central America, and more. Particularly interesting is Haney's account of the U.S. invasion of Grenada during the Reagan years; this section of the book includes a particularly powerful description of a combat helicopter assault.
I have read many military memoirs and historical accounts, and this book stands out in a number of ways. Its exploration of the building of a brand new unit from ground up is striking and important. Also significant is the glimpse Haney offers us into what he calls "Mr. Reagan's secret wars in Central America," which the author further notes "were always merciless affairs." The book is very well written; Haney particularly shines in the mode of storyteller. He is equally skilled at describing colorful, heroic personalities and intense scenes of violence and destruction. Haney includes a post-9/11 postscript in which he offers words of encouragement to the reader. I highly recommend this book to those who love military nonfiction.

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