Customer Rating: 
Summary: Spec Ops Tops!
Comment: Well written, easy and clear to read. If you are interested in military special operations, this is a classic. I couldn't put it down.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Expert insight into some amazing missions
Comment: Mcraven's research into the missions detailed in the book is incredible. I read and reread the introduction and first chapters over and over again. It was such an incredible, point by point analysis of what it takes to make a successful special operations mission. I appreciated the writing style, but it is not light reading. Very thorough, very interesting. Great book.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent blend of the academic and practical.
Comment: Admiral McRaven USN enjoys the credibility not shared by many to comment on the secretive world of special operations (SPCOPS).
SPEC OPS illustrates with well-researched and analyzed case scenarios the incredible dedication of various commando operations. It is immediately obvious that the author has "been there and done that." Additionally, and possibly more importantly, he achieves a synergistic effect by combining the traditionally polar disciplines of academics and practical applications into a total work that is truly greater than the sum of its individual parts.
This is a book that I've read more than once and learn something new each time.
For those involved in or studying military affairs read it ...pay attention.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Excellent Primer For Special Ops Studies
Comment: McRaven's breakdown of special operations theory (or "direct action theory," for those applying these principles for light infantry purposes) is succinct, honest, and practical. Whereas others in the craft often feel the need to mythologize spec ops practices, Mcraven's account is completely candid and methodical. Drawing on case studies from WW2 onward, he makes a good, round examination of how and why spec ops missions succeed or fail.
Simplicity in planning, security in preparing, repetition in training, and surprise, speed, and purpose in execution make for relative superiority: the strength in small numbers. The author's rational formula for examining these factors is crucial, making a science of what many would have you believe is simply "shooting from the hip."
Given the challenges facing the average infantryman in Iraq and Afghanistan, often forced to enter citadels of rubble in small units, this book could be equally well-applied to light infantry action. If you're an NCO on your way to Tikrit, you may want to grab yourself a copy for the plane ride over. (Couple it with a copy of Poole's "The Tiger's Way" while you're at it.)
Customer Rating:
Summary: This includes Every Detail that you need!!!
Comment: I studied Spec Ops for quite a while.
But all the information I gather was not complete.
Especially those Ops for 20-30 years.But this book really makes a difference.
Every detail of the Op that you want to know was in it.
Location. situation and planning...results
I think this is a wonderful book for those
who want to study Spec Op Cases!!!
