The Complete Idiot's Guide to the U.S. Special Ops Forces [Paperback]

Marc Cerasini (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Alpha; 1st edition (April 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0028643739
• ISBN-13: 978-0028643731
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #650,163 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars NOT just for IDIOTS, June 15, 2002

By 

Troy A. Lettieri "Professional Warrior" (NC, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Complete Idiot's Guide to the U.S. Special Ops Forces (Paperback)

I bought this book for my parents after September 11th, when our military presence heated up. I been serving in special operations capable and special operations units for 14 years, and my parents had no clue what I did (I think they thought I drove a tank or something) and when they became glue to the TV and heard all this stuff about SF, I began to get the phone calls (by this time I was well away from home), so I had this sent to my parents. This book was my final attempt to show them the light. This book did it, it made them armchair spec op specialist. They now know the difference from SEALs and Green Berets, and that Special Forces are Green Berets, and that the berets are just the headgear they wear. They also know that the Army are not Rangers because they stole the Black berets. They also got a history lesson from WWII to Afghanistan. They just loved the book and I still here about it. Now I finally got some respect from them!! Anyone who needs a crash course in SPEC OPS this book is for you.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent U.S. Special Ops Book!, March 2, 2003

By 

Matt - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete Idiot's Guide to the U.S. Special Ops Forces (Paperback)

Mr.Cerasini does a great job of explaining the differences between the various special ops divisions.He also makes learning the history of U.S. Special Ops totally interesting!

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in U.S. Special Ops forces.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars very informative, February 4, 2004

By 

Haseeb - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete Idiot's Guide to the U.S. Special Ops Forces (Paperback)

Army Green Berets, Army Rangers, Navy SEALS (which is actually an acronym Sea, Air and Land), Delta Force (Army), PJs and Combat Controllers (Air Force) and a more obscure group called the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Army) all are military special operations forces which are given very good treatment in this book.

Without being dull pointing out a bunch of dates and times, the author of this book starts out by getting into the history of special ops going all the way back to the Civil War and further. We learn about how the Rangers started out as a rag tag group of misfits and how through major conflicts they've come to become highly regarded and respected. It also explains how the first Underwater Units evolved into UDTs (Underwater Domolitian Teams) and ultimately SEAL teams. A whole chapter was devoted to how American special forces where patterned after foreign special forces. I like how the book brings up the US special operations failures as well as their successes.

About half way into the book, the command structure of different special ops groups is given. We learn that the US Army has the largest special operations organization of any of the other brances and also has considerable jurisdiction over the others (with the exception of the Marines). The US Special Operations Command is run by an Army general who oversees activities by special ops units from the Navy, Air Force and Army.

Later in the book we learn about the different types of missions each unit may be called to do (although there is considerable overlap) and how the operators are trained and selected. We are given a glimpse into the brutal training regimens of some of the toughest and most experienced special operations units in the world.

Many who have a fairly good knowledge of special operations have also heard of the Marine's Force Recon and Marine Expeditionary Units (MEUs). Interestingly, very little is said about the Marines Special Ops forces in this book. The Marine's Special Ops Forces fall under a different command from the others (Army, Navy and Airforce special ops).