Special Forces soldiers are daring, seasoned troops from America's heartland, selected in a tough competition and trained in an extraordinary range of skills. They know foreign languages and cultures and unconventional warfare better than any U.S. fighters, and while they prefer to stay out of the limelight, veteran war correspondent Linda Robinson gained access to their closed world. She traveled with them on the frontlines, interviewed them at length on their home bases, and studied their doctrine, methods and history. In Masters of Chaos she tells their story through a select group of senior sergeants and field-grade officers, a band of unforgettable characters like Rawhide, Killer, Michael T, and Alan -- led by the unflappable Lt. Col. Chris Conner and Col. Charlie Cleveland, a brilliant but self-effacing West Pointer who led the largest unconventional war campaign since Vietnam in northern Iraq.
Robinson follows the Special Forces from their first post-Vietnam combat in Panama, El Salvador, Desert Storm, Somalia, and the Balkans to their recent trials and triumphs in Afghanistan and Iraq. She witnessed their secret sleuthing and unsung successes in southern Iraq, and recounts here for the first time the dramatic firefights of the western desert. Her blow-by-blow story of the attack on Ansar al-Islam's international terrorist training camp has never been told before.
The most comprehensive account ever of the modern-day Special Forces in action, Masters of Chaos is filled with riveting, intimate detail in the words of a close-knit band of soldiers who have done it all.
An unprecedented portrait of the United States Special Forces from the perspective of the fighters who served in its ranks
"An intimate, valuable history of the Special Forces." -The New York Times
The U.S. Army Special Forces, commonly known as the Green Berets, were at the forefront of America's war in Afghanistan and counterterrorist campaigns. But little is known about the grave, seasoned individuals who belong to this secretive unit. Veteran war reporter Linda Robinson gained access to their closed community and traveled with them on the front lines. Based on dozens of interviews, she recounts in vivid detail the experiences of this post-Vietnam generation of commandos in Panama, El Salvador, Desert Storm in Kuwait, Somalia, the Balkans, Afghanistan, and Iraq, including accounts of dramatic, previously untold missions.
Masters of Chaos is a gripping history of a cadre of soldiers who pioneered tactics, technologies, and strategies that continue to define global conflicts today.
