The US Special Forces

John Prados is a Senior Fellow of the National Security Archive and the author of Islands of Destiny, Vietnam, and Lost Crusader.

• Introduction ; Acronyms ; Prologue: Bookends on a War ; Chapter 1. Origin of the Species ; What about the Trojan Horse? ; What happened in World War II? ; Where did Special Forces go after the war? ; How about Special Forces in Korea? ; What happened in the Cold War? ; Chapter 2. Parallax Shift ; How did President John F. Kennedy change Special Forces? ; What happened in Vietnam? ; Who were the 'montagnards'? ; What happened to the Rangers? ; What was the 'Green Beret Affair? ; What was the Studies and Observation Group? ; What was the Sontay raid? ; Chapter 3. Ebb and Flow ; How did Air Force special warfare evolve? ; What about the Navy? ; How about elsewhere? Che Guevara? ; What tensions existed between Special Forces and the conventional military? ; Why did Special Forces go into decline after Vietnam? ; What is low intensity conflict? ; Did rising concern about terrorism influence SOF trends and when did the change take hold? What is Delta Force? ; What does Iran have to do with Special Forces? ; What happened in Operation 'Eagle Claw?' ; What was the Holloway Report? ; What else changed? ; Chapter 4. Toward New Horizons ; What happened in Grenada? ; What did Ronald Reagan do? ; What innovations came to SOF? ; What is Special Operations Command? ; Was there resentment in the military when SOF got their own command? ; What happened in the Persian Gulf? ; What happened in Panama? ; Was Panama the apex of Special Forces' work in the first Bush administration? ; How has the changing nature of United States interventions impacted on the role of the Special Operations Forces? ; What other missions did Special Forces conduct? ; Are Special Forces suitable in all types of warfare? ; What is the relationship between Special Forces and the CIA? ; Have SOF officers ever headed the U.S. military? ; Chapter 5. After September 11 ; What is a joint task force? ; What happened after Tora Bora? ; What happened in Iraq? ; What is nodal analysis? ; What didn't Saddam's capture stop the insurgency? ; What about SOF and torture? ; Who killed al Zarqawi? ; How effective were the night raids? ; Did the Iraq and Afghan wars oblige SOF to change or refine practices and doctrines? ; Tell me about the Marine Special Operations Command ; Did the wars changes Special Forces relationship with the CIA? ; How about SOF and the 'private military contractors?' ; What is the role of Special Forces in drone warfare? ; Are there 'special targets' ; What are the moral and legal implications of identifying 'special targets' ; Chapter 6. What Future? ; What tensions exist within the Special Operations community today? ; Are there cost-effectiveness issues? ; Are there predictable social issues on the horizon? ; So you want to be an operator? ; Tell me about Fayetteville ; Who's Who in Special Forces ; Bibliography