Blood Warriors: American Military Elites [Mass Market Paperback]

Col. Michael Lee Lanning (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 29, 2002

Rangers, Green Berets, SEALs, Delta Force, LRRPs, Force Recon—
and the struggle of the best and the bravest to keep America free

They’re some of the toughest and most highly trained fighting men in the world—going where no ordinary soldier would go and doing what no ordinary soldier would dare. Outnumbered and outgunned, operating in small teams of five or six-deep in enemy territory far from help, they rely on their wits, their skills, and each other to get out alive.

Blood Warriors is a penetrating, no-holds-barred account of the training, missions, and history of the military elites who mold America’s most dangerous and highly skilled warriors . . . from the navy’s SEALs and the Marine Corps’ Force Reconnaissance to the U.S. Army’s Delta Force, Rangers, and Special Forces. Here’s an in-depth look at each unit’s methods and standards: what’s required and what it takes to survive and succeed. Whether gathering intelligence, capturing prisoners, executing raids and ambushes, or just creating havoc in enemy territory, these men know that death is their constant companion—and one small misstep could mean body bags for everyone. Maybe that’s why America calls them heroes.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Rangers, Green Berets, SEALs, Delta Force, LRRPs, Force Recon?
and the struggle of the best and the bravest to keep America free

They?re some of the toughest and most highly trained fighting men in the world?going where no ordinary soldier would go and doing what no ordinary soldier would dare. Outnumbered and outgunned, operating in small teams of five or six-deep in enemy territory far from help, they rely on their wits, their skills, and each other to get out alive.

Blood Warriors is a penetrating, no-holds-barred account of the training, missions, and history of the military elites who mold America?s most dangerous and highly skilled warriors . . . from the navy?s SEALs and the Marine Corps? Force Reconnaissance to the U.S. Army?s Delta Force, Rangers, and Special Forces. Here?s an in-depth look at each unit?s methods and standards: what?s required and what it takes to survive and succeed. Whether gathering intelligence, capturing prisoners, executing raids and ambushes, or just creating havoc in enemy territory, these men know that death is their constant companion?and one small misstep could mean body bags for everyone. Maybe that?s why America calls them heroes.

About the Author

Michael Lee Lanning retired from the army as a lieutenant colonel after more than twenty years’ service. During his assignment to Vietnam, he served as both an infantry platoon leader and a company commander in the 199th Infantry Brigade (Light). He lives in Phoenix, Arizona.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books (October 29, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 034544891X
• ISBN-13: 978-0345448910
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1 x 6.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,244,538 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wealth of information, January 28, 2009

By 

Peter J. Latourette "shakespeare man" (Brooklyn,NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Blood Warriors: American Military Elites (Mass Market Paperback)

I would urge anyone with an interest in the Special Forces to buy this book. I am in the Army (actually writing this from afghanistan)and have read many military books and yet this one still had plenty of new things that i never hear before. President John Kennedys trip to Fort Bragg early in his term as well as the fact that Winston Churchill himself chose to call his elite troops "Commando" are just two examples of the kind of interesting details you will find in Michael Lannings pages.I liked the Daily Training schedule he included in the appendix and if someone is thinking of trying out for the Army Rangers,Delta Force or Navy Seals you would do well to have the information in this book.Lastly i wanted to mention the fact that you get the chapters set up where you get the history of a given unit first and then you read what the units responsibilities are Today.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Not impressed and a letdown for this author, November 7, 2002

By 

M. Flegal (CT) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Blood Warriors: American Military Elites (Mass Market Paperback)

It's difficult to believe that this book was written by the same man who wrote the excellent (if a bit dry) books about the Vietnam era Recon Marines and LRRPs. I get the impression that the book was quickly written to take advantage of the recent interest in the special operations elites of the US militaries.

Firstly, there is nothing new here at all. The background of the units might be of interest for those who don't want to buy a book dedicated to the individual units. However, it is quite abbreviated. The coverage of the units in the current day is even worse, there is nothing in there that is not covered more completely and for free on the web at sites like specialoperations.com or what have you. In addition, several of the entries, most notably the Delta Force one, looks like all of the research was done by reading older books on the subject already out there. The old story of Delta Force's racism is brought up again, which has as its sole source a poorly written special operations overview by an Italian author whose title I won't dignify by repeating. The fact that people, including former black Delta Force members have denied this is not even mentioned. The fact that most special operations forces have low nmumbers of minorities is never mentioned, except in the SF section where it is carefully explained away socially.

This book may have some use if you know nothing about these units and would like a relatively cheap primer. However, there are vastly better books already out there so save your money. And that is my main complaint with the book. There are already better books out there that do the same overview of America's units. Douglass Waller's "The Commandos" and David Bohrer's "America's Special Forces" come to mind. In addition, it repeats myths as fact, seemingly taken out of older, innaccurate books. In short, it's a book that tries to do what other books have already done and it does it poorly. It is simply another superficial "quickie overview of all of America's elite units or at least the ones with name recognition" book in a shelf already crowded with those books. From an author like this, who is simply the gold standard for special forces books along with Kevin Dockery, it is a true letdown. Also, the repeating every or two pages of the term "blood warriors" gets old, awfully fast. This seems to be the case of an exceptional author who, in this case, wrote a poor book.

Matt