Operation Anaconda - Roberts Ridge, Shahikot Afghanistan

Not a Good Day to Die
Not a Good Day to Die is clearly the equal to the likes of Black Hawk Down, We Were Soldiers...Once and Young, and Thunder Run. The book is simply one of the finest accounts of modern combat that has ever been written. With that being said however, it is difficult, in a short narrative, to describe all of the troubling aspects about Operation Anaconda. The book illustrates, only too clearly, the fallacy of the term "unity of command" that the services bandy about and the consequences that result when there was, in fact, no "unity of command" in Afghanistan at least where Anaconda was concerned. Not a Good Day... depicts the failure to understand, despite the marvels of modern technology, that even a subset of ground battle cannot be run from thousands of miles away by an Air Force general officer who doesn't understand what is transpiring on the battlefield, even the nature of ground combat, and who will not listen to the people on the ground who do understand what is taking place. Equally as troubling was the apparent prohibition by Rumsfeld and Franks prohibiting, in an attempt to reduce the size of the American footprint, the Army from employing the fire support needed by the infantry - a constraint not placed on Al Qaida. Troubling also was the ad-hoc nature with which the Army slapped together disparate units while attempting to achieve a certain level of manning and the desire to put an Afghan face on the battle. Also shown is that while there is clearly a role for precision guided munitions such as the JDAM they are not a replacement for integral fire support nor will close air support always be available when needed - as was the case of the AC-130 gunships which were not permitted, according to Air Force directives during Anaconda, to fly support missions in daylight. Troubling also is the apparent belief, by some, that "boat guys" (SEALS) can be given a "shake and bake" course and turned into infantrymen. A couple of SEAL units performed outstandingly-overall however, as a Team, the SEALS were found to be wanting. While the military declares Anaconda a success, it, like the earlier operation at Tora Bora, appears to have allowed most of the Al Qaida fighters in the Shahikot area to slip away to fight another day.

Operation Anaconda and Beyond
Although this is good book overall, but one may think the author is a former Delta Operator the way he kisses their ass. Also, he does nothing but badmouth and degrade Navy SEALs. In nearly every section where he is talking about the SEALs, he finds a way to make them seem amateurs in comparison to Delta, which isn't true. He does give a nod to the accomplishments of MAKO 26, but other than that he slags them for reasons I don't understand.

It takes a long time for the action to kick in, but once it starts it is very interesting and provides another example of how idiots often find themselves in top tier leadership roles within our military/Government.

Roberts Ridge
This is an account of a group of US Navy SEALS who are ambushed on a mountain in Afghanistan and require rescue by Army Ranger rapid response team. The Rangers are subsequently ambushed requiring yet another rescue team. The story is told from the perspective of the soldiers on the ground, facing unbelievably cold weather, horrible terrain and a lot of determined enemies. Quite a few don't make it, but the story is more about the determination of these highly trained warriors to never leave a comrade behind. The action is quite detailed and the reader almost feels like he is there with the troops. Highly recommended.

Shadow Wars
David Pugliese gives you the P.D.B. (Presidential Daily Briefing) digest of Special Operations in the recent campaign aginst terror. While the closing chapters are peppered with his political commentary on America's incursion into Iraq, his reporting on operations conducted by the elite forces of the world is a nice, tiddy historical record. The photos are interesting and it is an entertaining read for the history, military and special operations enthusiast. I enjoyed this book and highly recommend it- a fine addition to your military library.

Lots of information on SOF units in Iraq and Afghanistan, this book reads well and is jammed with pretty interesting photos. It includes almost 100 images including never before seen photos of Canada's Joint Task Force 2 (JTF2) in Afghanistan (which for me as a Canadian was worth the price of the book). Also included are pics of JTF2 Hummers and mountain operations,descriptions of their operations as well as Navy SEALs, Grom and a large chapter on the Aussie SAS (who come across really well as no-nonsense professionals.) There is also a good blow by blow account of the Moscow raid against Chechen terrorists in 2002. Up to date and worth the price.

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