Hunting Al Qaeda: A Take-No-Prisoners Account of Terror, Adventure, and Disillusionment

By Anonymous

Book Overview

Active-duty special forces units tend to look down their noses at National Guard special forces, calling them the "summer help." But the men of Beast 85 were much more than summer help. They were experienced, highly qualified Green Berets in every sense of the term, with the kind of exceptional skill and insight necessary to fight an unconventional war. They were anxious to prove themselves in Afghanistan. High adventure, heavy combat, but in the end, these Green Berets were left disillusioned by what might have been as overly cautious military and CIA superiors let Al Qaeda slip through their fingers.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0760337365
• ISBN13: 9780760337363
• Release Date: October 2009
• Publisher: Zenith Press
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.3" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Great book

I purchased this book last year and read it in a few days. As a former Guardsman I totally understood their plight and sentiments. Treated as the 'red headed step child' by their active duty SF counterparts, even though they all underwent the very same training process and some were former active duty SF, the book tells of their adventures in Afghanistan and how they made the best of a war bungled by career minded beauracracies. This team in fact found tons of munitions and captured one of the more notorious terrorists during their tour, all due to personal initiative instead of sitting around. That aspect of the story does in fact remind me of another excellent book I recently read, 'Roughneck Nine One.' As a footnote, the book reveals that in fact this particular Guard unit was used as a "test run" to see how the National Guard SF component compares to their active duty counterparts.

What's Wrong With The Military Bureaucracy?

This is a "hands-on", first person account of the courage, tenacity, and valor of America's Special Forces, in this case, drawn from our citizen-soldiers, the Reserves/National Guard. It personalizes and damns the way the military hierachy [REMFs] has impersonally and dangerously blunted the effectiveness of its most effective fighting forces against today's unconventional opponents for their own personal career gains. It is an excellent companion book for "Not A Good Day To Die", by Sean Naylor, which presents the same problem from a slightly different perspective. It is criminal that the military hierachy is allowed to spend enormous amounts of time and money to recruit, train, motivate, and deploy the best our nation has to offer, and then burden them with administrative, make-work assignments; micromanage their field operations; and try to smother their initiative and effectiveness. What is needed is for the military, all services, to shift field decision responsibility down to most the most effective common demoninator - the platoon/squad leader on the ground in the enemy, and do it immediately!

a real story of real men fighting in Afghanistan...

Definitely a book worth reading! With all the focus on Iraq, most have forgotten the earlier and still on-going battle of U.S. efforts in Afghanistan. Considering that the mission is fairly the same...stability, peace, and friendly relations with the U.S., I am surprised by the lack of media coverage in analyzing the successes and failures of Iraq's predecessor. For those who are seeking fast-paced adventure and action heros, stick to Tom Clancy and Hollywood. For those who want to try to understand how the U.S. is running military operations over in Afghanistan, then I would highly recommend this book. It is an unique opportunity to be able to read a first-hand account of what occurred to our men on the ground in a battle that continues. Instead of just buying into whatever the administration tells us, every American should inform him/herself on what our government and military are doing and not doing. Of course this book is just one SF team's account, but the truth it reveals should not be dismissed as "griping, whining, and complaining," especially by those who have not been in the same shoes. A salute for all the men of the Special Forces Team 2085 of the Virginia National Guard...and I commend the two authors for putting together their story despite the criticisms and backlash that they will undoubtedly have to face.

I recommend this book

Great book! Has wonderful insight about SF operations and shows the ingenuity SF guys will use in the face of adversity to accomplish their missions. Those who are in the military and understand the frustrations that regular army and Special Operations guys deal with, will fully appreciate this book. Civilians who are not in the special operations community and those who are just looking for a pure adrenaline rush from start to finish, will not find it in this book. Needless to say, this book needed to be written and I wish more people had the "balls" to expose things that are inherintly wrong with our military today. This book should be required reading for all special operations commanders. I know the commander of beast 85 personally and he is an incredible person, to say the least. It is people like him, who continue to sacrifice day after day for this country, that allow us all to sleep well at night. Keep up the fight Alan, and Good hunting! Go and buy the book!!! Zap

couldn't put it down

A Special Forces soldier's life is filled with waitings and emergencies. Yes, the 14-hour drives through bleak terrain, the (sometimes) lengthy ethnic, historical and cross-cultural considerations may be boring to some (though not to me) ; but the intense firefights that ensue are great stuff. If you prefer 100% action, then read Tom Clancy. But then this is the only book that truthfully captures the experience of Special Forces in Afghanistan, their victories, their self-doubts. Congrats to the men of Beast 85 for braving the military bureaucracy and coming out with such a rare, truthful account.