Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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."

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.

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]

My name is James "Rock" McGlynn. I was a Marine Scout/Sniper and I fought in Beirut Lebanon in 1983. Hans Halberstadt was gracious enough to interview me for this book and I think this book has the ability to give it's readers a much better understanding of what it means to be a "Sniper" on the modern battlefeild.
There are a whole handfull of books on store shelves about us.I have been written about in a few of them. Yet, "Trigger Men" will give you a view that not many of you have ever witnessed before. The art and the craft of being a Sniper has evolved into a new era. The Battles we are fighting in the Middleast and the urban settings in which those battles are taking place, have forced the modern day Sniper to adapt and overcome many obstacles that previous generations did not have to deal with.
This book tells the actual stories from those of us that have been there. I strongly reccomend this book to you. It is written well and it's told without being filtered. You get the realism that others may have lacked. Not because other books are not truthful but, because Hans has written it without being apologetic or fearful of offending.
Combat is the most Barbaric event that man can partake in but, killing the enemy is what it's all about. Snipers' kill with accuracy that our enemies have never seen before. "Trigger Men" will bring it home to you.
Thanks, Hans for writting a great book and I am honored to have been included in it.
Semper Fi
Rock McGlynn

I was looking for a book that had real-life stories of snipers in action, all from a fairly recent viewpoint (the war in Iraq and Afghanistan). This book fit the bill. While the author felt obligated to throw in the usual background info, how they are selected, how they train, ect., this was not as dull as I had expected, and in the parts about ballistics, weapons, and equipment, actually turned out to be fairly educational. It was amazing to read that the M-16 is actually considered a valid and highly effective sniper weapon now when used with a heavier barrel, decent sight, and 77 grain bullet that drops insurgents with the first shot (no more going straight through with no kill). The only drawbacks -- not nearly enough on Afghanistan, and despite the lengthy teaser about how the book was going to be gory, the kills themselves were fairly sugar-coated or censored. There was a little blurb on terminal ballistics, but not nearly enough, despite the intro that insinuated there would be. Still, great book, worth the money, and a fairly quick and educational read. This is the cutting edge on sniper ops in today's military in the war zone.

Good book. I know and have worked with Shadow-four(Joker-Four) as part of TF Dark-Eagle. I'd suggest reading this book if you want to learn about the reality of small-team counterinsurgency.

Much like Greg Mast, I must confess to being a dear friend of Hans. As one of the Commanders of a large regional SWAT Team, and the Sniper Element Commander of that team, I was delighted when Hans told me of his plans to write this superb book. Many previous works on sniping have documented the history of this deadly art, others have listed in great detail the hardware and tactics used by snipers, but none that I have read before have taken this approach of providing intimate, personal accounts of this specialized profession, straight from the mouths of the men in the field. I have also had the pleasure of meeting and sharing stories with Major Charles Greene, the inspiration for Trigger Men. This book is a fitting tribute to Greene and all the other military snipers who have proven time and time again that the most efficient, fearsome and cost-effective weapon on the battlefield is the sniper. Hans has done a magnificent job of turning these individual vignettes into an informative, insightful and thorough look into the world of combat sniping. No student of the military or the rifle should be without it.

Captain Nicholas Gottuso
SWAT/Sniper Team Commander

I got three things out of this book.
1) the .223 round stinks
2) the military brass doesn't know how to use snipers
3) the author approves of the marksman program.

Why did i get those three things out of the book, because the author brings it up aprox 10-15 times in various sized rants in between good well written content about other mini stories.

I felt like this book was a sermon wrapped between good bio's of real events of other soldiers during conflict. You will get to the point where you can tell which chapters about actual engagements and what are just rants and specs on weapons systems and find yourself skimming those chapters or skipping them all together.

2 stars because when the book is telling stories of real events (even though those events are well documented in countless other books and tv bio's) the book reads well.

I am the son of a Marine Corps veteran who fought in the Battle of Okinawa in WWII. For all my years I grew up hearing of the Corps. So it was no surprise when as the time came the men of our family joined the ranks. For years, I have been intrigued by the person of the sniper, realizing that he was a very unique and special person. Even as I read new stories and watch rerun accounts of snipers on the Military Channel, I am amazed at the skill and ability it takes to drop a speeding projectile onto a two inch spot from a mile away. I can't even see that far without visual aid. And the fact that the subject is a person and not a paper target is even more fascinating.

Trigger Men is a must-read book for anyone who is intrigued or even remotely interested in the craft of the sniper. Once a person comes to grips with the fact that the work of the sniper saves untold lives, the morality of the act is unquestioned. Men and women are living and walking today who would have been killed had the snipers of Halberstadt's book hesitated to take the shots. And, so when I decided to write a story relative to snipers, although it is only a short story, I knew I needed to have a resource that was totally accurate and believable. Trigger Men is painstakingly technical and true to the equipment and process of being a sniper. Although it is not written in a literary style that carries a plot and presents a story, the vignettes of the aspects of being a sniper during the conflicts since Vietnam are compelling and engrossing.

And, even though I know is was not Hadlerstadt's intent to provide a history of snipers since their inception, I would have much enjoyed the comparison of snipers of WWI and WWII with the modern day sniper. As a boy I still see visions of "Sgt. York" as played by Gary Cooper. I wonder if there was any sniper effort in the First World War. Of course, I also know of the legend of the Russian sniper, Vassili Zaitsev, and the German, Major Konig. Just a little history of that era would have been interesting.

As a conclusion, I find Trigger Men to be a fascinating book. It wasn't written to be a novel and doesn't read like one. However, it goes beyond my expectations for presenting the skill and process of the sniper in an easy and simple way so that I, as a novice, may write and converse reasonably accurately. It is an important book in my library.

This book was a wonderful look that most people don't see or think about of a very important function in our military. Never have so few people made such a large contribution to the battlefield environment. No other position offers such a enormous potential for one or two men to cause so much disruption in the enemy forces than the job of a sniper. It surly takes a special kind of person to take on a job like this. Of the many books that I have read about snipers, Trigger Men by Hans Halberstadt is one of the best ever. It takes you inside, right with the shooters and spotters for a very personal view of a misunderstood, high value, dangerous profession. I'd highly recommend it to anyone that has any interest in combat snipers. Trigger Men: Shadow Team, Spider-Man, the Magnificent Bastards, and the American Combat Sniper