Inside the Green Berets: The First Thirty Years; A History of the U.S. Army Special Forces

xxii, [2], 258, [6] pages. Illustrations. Maps. Cover/spine worn, torn, and creased. Some page discoloration noted. This was a Military Book Club main selection. Includes Foreword by William P. Yarborough, Preface, Epilogue, and Index. Also includes chapters on Guerrilla Warfare; Predecessors of Special Forces; The Kind of Man It Took; The Rucksack, Book, and Beret; SF Prepares for Guerilla Warfare; Revolutionary war and Counterinsurgency; New Missions and Big Publicity; Special Missions: Africa, Latin America; Laos and Thailand; Vietnam: CIDG (Civilian Irregular Defense Group); the Katu and the Bru; Expansion: Cambodes, Hoa Hao, and Cao Dai; The Mobile Strike (Mike) Forces; Recovery Operations; Special Operations and Unconventional Warfare; Civic Action and Psy Ops, Vietnam; Special Support and Special Problems; Intelligence; Civic Action Around the World; Vietnamization of CIDG, 1966-1971; and The Future of Special Forces. The reader cannot fail to be impressed with the book's depth of understanding of guerrilla warfare and how it works. This book deals with that small part of the United States' fighting forces who understand that money cannot win battles. It does not shy way from American military mistakes and weaknesses. Still, the author is optimistic and proud. William Simpson was the son of a career soldier. He attended West Point Military Academy (Class of 1947) and served as an infantry officer. He saw service in Korea and Vietnam and served ten years with the Army Special Forces (Green Berets). He retired from the Army in 1973. While on active duty, William Simpson received the Silver Star, three Bronze Stars for Valor, Purple Heart, four Legions of Merit, Army Commendation Ribbon, five Air Medals . Korean, Japanese, Taiwanese, Vietnamese, Thai, and Indonesian jump wings; and two awards of the Combat Infantryman Badge (for Korea and Vietnam). Following retirement Simpson joined the BDM Corporation, a Washington D.C. "think-tank" and contributed to numerous studies regarding political and military issues. The United States Army Special Forces, colloquially known as the "Green Berets" due to their distinctive service headgear, are a special operations force of the United States Army that are designed to deploy and execute 9 doctrinal missions: unconventional warfare, foreign internal defense, direct action, counterinsurgency, special reconnaissance, counter-terrorism, information operations, counterproliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and security force assistance. The first two missions, unconventional warfare and foreign internal defenses emphasize language, cultural, and training skills in working with foreign troops. Other Special Forces missions, known as secondary missions, include: combat search and rescue (CSAR), counter-narcotics, hostage rescue, humanitarian assistance, humanitarian demining, information operations, peacekeeping, and manhunts. Other components of the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM) or other U.S. government activities may also specialize in these secondary missions. The Special Forces conduct these missions via seven geographically focused groups. Many of their operational techniques are classified, but some nonfiction works and doctrinal manuals are available. As special operations units, Special Forces are not necessarily under the command authority of the ground commanders in those countries. Instead, while in theater, SF units may report directly to a geographic combatant command, USSOCOM, or other command authorities. The Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) highly secretive Special Activities Center (formerly known as the "Special Activities Division") and more specifically its Special Operations Group (SOG) recruits from the U.S. Army's Special Forces. Joint CIA-Army Special Forces operations go back to the MACV-SOG branch during the Vietnam War. The cooperation still exists today and is seen in the War in Afghanistan. Berkley edition [stated]. Later printing.…