Trigger Men: Shadow Team, Spider-Man, the Magnificent Bastards, and the American Combat Sniper (Kindle Edition)

by Hans Halberstadt (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Halberstadt (Roughneck Nine-One), a prolific chronicler of the U.S. military, pulls no punches in this uncompromising examination of the shadowy world of the combat sniper. Halberstadt warns forthrightly that this is a book about "the business of hunting people . . . and killing them in a calculated, methodical way" and "requires brave readers." Drawing on the observations of thirty military snipers and his own time shadowing Army Sniper Class 2006-3 through five weeks of grueling training, the author methodically surveys the training, weapons, traditions, and missions of modern military snipers. There is ample technical information about the snipers' primary weapons-the M24 and M40 sniper rifles-and the vagaries of engaging long-range targets-referred to as voodoo ballistics by practitioners. There also is an insightful analysis-with first-person commentary from veterans of Iraq-of the changing role of the sniper on the modern urban battlefield. No longer the "unloved stepchild," today's sniper is a major part of the new battle space and is responsible for a disproportionate number of enemy casualties. As Halberstadt warns, this book is not for the squeamish, but for those looking for a thorough primer on the role of the military sniper in today's counterinsurgency missions, this is a solid introduction.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"A chilling look inside what a sniper's effect has on both friend and foe. Straightforward and insightful.”--Jack Coughlin, Gunnery Sergeant, USMC (Ret.), and New York Times bestselling author of SHOOTER

Praise for ROUGHNECK NINE ONE:

"A gritty inside look at a Special Forces team at work." --Publishers Weekly

"A rare glimpse into the inner workings of a Special Forces A-team...A true story that is easy to read and hard to put down." --Army Magazine

 “A gripping account…A notable contribution to the literature on both the Iraq war and the capabilities of special-ops units.” --Booklist

“A terrific inside look at a Special Forces A-Team at war.” –Sean Naylor, author of Not a Good Day to Die

 “ROUGHNECK NINE ONE takes you behind the scenes into the struggles, complications, preparation, training, and turf issues faced by our most elite forces as they go into battle.” --Col. Gerald Schumacher, US Army Special Forces (Retired), author of TO BE A US ARMY GREEN BERET

 “A powerful no-holds barred, first-hand account of actual ground combat in Iraq. ROUGHNECK NINE ONE most definitely captures the professionalism, comradeship, self-sacrifice, and courage that define the heart and soul of America’s finest warriors---US Army Special Forces. A must-read book!” --Col. Tom Yarborough, USAF, author of DA NANG DIARY

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• Print Length: 304 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin; Reprint edition (April 14, 2009)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services
• ASIN: B0028QGXOQ
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #7,546 in Kindle Store (See Bestsellers in Kindle Store)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars RICK "SHAQ" GOLDSTEIN SAYS: "SNIPERS: FROM VIET NAM TO PANAMA TO IRAQ!", March 25, 2008

By	Rick Shaq Goldstein "Rick Shaq Goldstein" (Danville, Ca, USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

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This review is from: Trigger Men: Shadow Team, Spider-Man, the Magnificent Bastards, and the American Combat Sniper (Hardcover)

A sniper's preferred method of killing people is when they are not expecting to be killed. "This is the story of the ways people are selected and slain, sometimes at long range, sometimes at very close quarters, by soldiers who are, in effect, invisible to their targets. This is the story of the art and science of precision long-range marksmanship and the effect of a bullet on the human body. It is about ambush, battle, mayhem, slaughter, winning, losing, living, dying, and war." "The sniper community is incredibly tiny; add up all snipers from the Marines, the U.S. Army, the SEALs, and the Rangers who are behind a gun in a combat zone at any one minute, and they will add up to about a few hundred men and no women." "Add up the kills these snipers make and compare them to the results of infantry battalions and brigades and divisions, and you'll find that many of them individually make more kills than entire battalions or brigades operating at the same time in the same area."

I am a Viet Nam era veteran and I find the study of the changing landscape of battle since the time I served extremely interesting. I believe the biggest change is in the evolution of the "SNIPER". One of the most powerful components this book provides is detailed reporting of not only the role "sniper/scouts" play in the current war in the Middle East, but also their prior roles in Viet Nam and even Panama. (Operation Just Cause). The United States has absorbed a hard earned education. Whereas in the past, a couple of snipers or marksman would accompany a battalion and all their armored equipment, now in today's urban, building to building fighting, the battalion and armored vehicles support the sniper teams.

This book details the training required not only in structured schools, but also in on-the-job-training, when the need for additional sniping/scouting/spotting personnel is immediate and on the battlefront. One of the real life stories involves successfully adding two cooks to the sniper team. This tale is at its absolute best when being narrated by actual snipers. At times the author bogs down the flow with too much minutiae about the weapons themselves. I have read many sniper books recently, and this one not only doesn't pull any punches about the "unique" mindset of the type of individual that would fit the parameters of a successful sniper, it also doesn't shy away from the celebration accorded the up close and personal ending of an enemy combatant's life.

The author and "ALL" the snipers portrayed, make it blatantly obvious to anyone who has ever served in combat, that more care and regard to the "RULES OF ENGAGEMENT" (ROE) are observed by our American troops in a week, than all our enemies combined do in a lifetime. I shudder at the thought of how many American lives have been lost while we go through chain of command before we shoot, as compared to terrorists walking into schools, restaurants and places of worship, and with no conscience at all, destroy uncounted civilian lives from toddlers to adults.

It takes a very, very, unique individual to be a United States Sniper. And as it's obvious to see, the ranks of these highly qualified warriors must increase for us to be successful in today's type of war. It should be noted that one of the main pre-requisites as stated in "DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY SNIPER TRAINING FIELD MANUAL FM-23-10 SECTION 1-3 (Washington DC,1994)": "THE SNIPER MUST BE ABLE TO CALMLY AND DELIBERATELY KILL TARGETS THAT MAY NOT POSE AN IMMEDIATE THREAT TO HIM. IT IS MUCH EASIER TO KILL IN SELF-DEFENSE OF OTHERS THAN IT IS TO KILL WITHOUT APPARENT PROVOCATION. THE SNIPER MUST NOT BE SUSCEPTIBLE TO EMOTIONS SUCH AS ANXIETY OR REMORSE."

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars New Wars and Old Games, March 19, 2008

By	Gregory Mast (San Jose, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Trigger Men: Shadow Team, Spider-Man, the Magnificent Bastards, and the American Combat Sniper (Hardcover)

In the spirit of full disclosure, I've known Hans Halberstadt for nearly 20 years. He and I worked on a couple of books together and I followed his progress as he put this book together over the past two years. When I got my advance copy of the book I was, even after all the hours of discussion with Hans about the content, thoroughly engaged by the stories inside "Trigger Men". In particular, the stories from Iraq drive home the point that the ancient craft of sniping is rapidly adapting to the dynamics of a new type of war.

Hans strips away the delicate Pentagonese that is often used to describe a sniper's job, the sanitary euphemisms that cloak the brutally efficient task of killing people, one bullet at a time. This is not a glorification of murder but an honest account of what happens when a country asks men (and sometimes women) to take up the difficult and isolated task of eliminating specific targets with a well aimed rifle shot.

I can recommend this thought provoking book on several levels but I found it most interesting as an oral history of a topic that is not often covered.

[This review was edited to correct spelling errors]

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fascinating and deeply researched story , March 25, 2008

By	Dalton Fury (Phoenix, AZ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Trigger Men: Shadow Team, Spider-Man, the Magnificent Bastards, and the American Combat Sniper (Hardcover)

This book couldn't have been written before the tragic events of 9/11. Not because snipers on the battlefield are a new weapon of war but rather how snipers have reshaped and marketed themselves as much more than a "one shot, one kill" asset. In fact, as Hans Halberstadt makes perfectly clear with exceptionally thorough and smooth writing, snipers in the war on terror seldom leave the comfort of their firebase with a single shot and scoot mentality. The numerous fascinating vignettes of real 21st century snipers, using both Vietnam era rifles or today's most advanced weaponry, are a lesson in true courage, deadly skill, and rifle scope face-to-face reality of executioner within the limits of a sometimes shifting combat rules of engagement. And although Hans leaves little to the imagination, and does without apology, the subtle but inarguable lesson is that the snipers' work has evolved. Iraq presents an urban jungle of high angles, dilapidated structures and stairwells, and narrow dark alleys spaghettied with low hanging high power lines. And although the sniper seeks secreted points of domination to overwatch a specific area for insurgent activity, it still requires a gutsy commander to approve the operation. Hans tells us how it took awhile, sometimes years actually, for many peacetime commanders to finally realize that a risk averse mindset actually led to more casualties of their own as IEDs were planted with impunity, insurgents established armed checkpoints, or ambushed passer bys at will. Hans tells us how snipers in Iraq were initially misunderstood, not employed with any imagination, and kept on a close leash for fear a sniper team might be overrun. Fortunately this paradigm has been shattered, as Hans explains with incredible skill of prose, as the asymmetrical advantage of today's snipers can't be denied by skiddish commanders. The talented and brave snipers in this book tell you just why that is so. Ultimately, nobody truly wants to go to war and Trigger Men is a story many probably would prefer as fiction. However, the reality is that today's efforts absolutely require men (and sometimes women it seems) that can aim a rifle, settle the crosshairs, control their heartbeat, and squeeze out a few pounds of trigger pressure. The feedback is immediate as the destruction is obvious, and although Hans tells us they execute their job "without remorse" even when the target is unfortunately a child, the chronic mental struggles and deep dark demons are baggage the commander can rationalize and ignore - it certainly is a different story for the trigger men. A truly fascinating story of brave modern day warriors.