SAS and Elite Forces Guide Manhunt

Alexander Stillwell has written and edited numerous books on sports, outdoor pursuits, and military skills. He spent five years in the BritishArmy, where he gained invaluable training in survival skills, first-aid procedures, and escape and evasion techniques. In his spare time, he enjoys cross-country and marathon running. He is the author of The Encyclopedia of Survival Techniques, published by the Lyons Press, which has sold nearly 50,000 copies in the United States and Canada.

• ManhuntCase study 1 (part 1)The greatest manhunt in history—finding Bin LadenPerpetrator of the greatest terrorist crime in human history, Osama Bin Laden was target number one for the world's only superpower. This chapter describes the intelligence and military operations around the massive manhunt between 11 September 2009 and 2 May 2011 when Bin Laden was finally tracked down… IntroductionDescribes the principles involved in manhunts; the background to tracking, including a history of famous trackers, including native American trackers and western trackers who learned their skills; animal tracking; how tracking was quickly recognised as a military asset; how tracking continues to be relevant today and is taught to special forces and elite personnel as part of active tracking and of escape and evasion exercises. Chapter 1: TrainingThis chapter will guide the reader through the training principles involved in military manhunts and in escape and evasion. It will cover the training given to special forces units such as the British SAS, US Delta Force, US Navy SEALs as well as special forces from other countries. Case study 2Classic manhuntsConcise descriptions of some of the great manhunts in history, which may include:· The capture of the Aztec leader Montezuma II by the Spanish invader Hernán Cortés.· Daniel Boone pursues Shawnee raiding party to rescue his daughter and friends· US forces pursue Black Hawk and Geronimo after Indian wars· The assassination of Reinhard Heydrich in Czechoslovakia by the British Special Operations Executive.· The capture of German General Kreipe on Crete during the Second World War by British and partisan forces led by Patrick Leigh-Fermor and Stanley Moss· The pursuit of Che Guevara by the Bolivian armed forces· Israeli 'Wrath of God' operations in response to Black September Munich Olympics killings· Operations by Selous Scouts between 1967 and 1980 in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe.· British SAS operations in Borneo against Indonesian infiltration involved man-tracking with the help of local Iban and other forces.· US special operations and elite forces pursue General Aidid in Somalia.· Operation Kratos: British response to 11 September 2001 attacks in US resulted in short-notice tracking and elimination techniques being developed by British special forces. Chapter 2: Principles of Tracking in the FieldThis chapter will cover in detail the methods used to track people in a field or rural environment and in a variety of seasonal regional situations. It will discuss principles that cross over from animal tracking to human tracking and the various clues that are used by trackers, ranging from obvious signs such as footprints (these can be analysed in greater depth than may first appear) to less obvious clues which include minor disturbances in the natural environment that would be invisible to the untrained observer as well as animal behaviour, which may indicate the presence of a person. Case Study 3Chasing the Balkan War CriminalsManhunts were instigated by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia which issued warrants for a large number of individuals suspected of war crimes. Special forces from the United States, United Kingdom, the Netherlands and others were involved in tracking down dangerous suspects such as Simo Drljaca, Milan Kovacevic and General Stanislav Galic. The most notorious and elusive targets were Radovan Karadzic and General Ratko Mladic, the latter only recently captured. Chapter 3: Urban TrackingUrban tracking is perhaps the most challenging aspect of tracking, whether it is military or police tracking, as the environment is less susceptible to impressions and indications, such as footprints. However, a skilled tracker can use a range of clues, ranging from the identification of a hair on a windowsill to fingerprints or the redolence of body sprays. This chapter will analyse both the forensic and intuitive skills that make an urban manhunt successful. Case study 4The Quest for Saddam HusseinThe successful though controversial invasion of Iraq was not complete while the embodiment of the defiant and cruel former Iraqi regime remained at large. Finding him was like looking for a needle in a haystack and it was not clear whether he was still in the country or had managed to escape into exile. This chapter analyses the highs and lows of the ultimately successful operation. Chapter 4: High techThis chapter discusses the range of high tech surveillance and tracking options available to military forces, including satellites, drones and the intelligence gathered by professional state security services, including the CIA, FBI and MI6. Case study 5Nemesis in Iraq: the search for Abu Musab al-ZarqawiZarqawi was considered by the US to be one of the most dangerous opponents during their struggle against the insurgency in Iraq and a massive operation was organised to eliminate him. Chapter 5: Contact!This chapter will discuss actions from both sides when a tracking operation is successful and the final approach is being made. Options will be examined from both the perspective of the hunter and the hunted and it will include the use of dogs and how they can be evaded. Case study 1 conclusionThe end of Osama bin LadenDetails the final hours of Bin Laden and what happened inside the compound.GlossaryIndex