The Truth About Navy SEAL Team Six (Paperback)

Paperback. What is the truth about Navy SEAL Team Six?Few military units have acquired such a formidable reputation-or generated so much myth, speculation and controversy. Known around the world as SEAL Team Six, the organisation has been associated with some of the most sensitive counter-terrorism operations in modern American history. Yet behind the headlines lies a far more complex story of failure, transformation, secrecy, sacrifice and extraordinary military capability.THE TRUTH ABOUT NAVY SEAL TEAM SIX: Inside America's Secret Counter-Terrorism Unit takes readers inside the publicly documented history of the organisation that evolved into the United States Naval Special Warfare Development Group-DEVGRU.The story begins not with victory, but disaster.In April 1980, Operation Eagle Claw-the attempt to rescue American hostages held in Iran-ended catastrophically at a remote staging area known as Desert One. Eight American servicemen were killed, and the failure exposed serious weaknesses in the way the United States coordinated complex special operations. The lessons would help transform American special warfare and provide the backdrop to the creation of an extraordinary new Navy counter-terrorism unit under the unconventional leadership of Richard Marcinko.From those turbulent beginnings, SEAL Team Six developed a culture centred on demanding training, adaptability and readiness for missions in which a single mistake could have international consequences. But the organisation familiar to the public today is not simply the original Team Six under another name. This book explores the transition to DEVGRU and its place within the wider American special-operations system, including its relationship with Joint Special Operations Command, Delta Force, specialised aviation and the intelligence community.Then came 11 September 2001.The War on Terror transformed the operational world. Afghanistan became a major battlefield as elite American forces pursued al-Qaeda and Taliban targets through an increasingly sophisticated network of intelligence, surveillance, aviation and rapid assault operations. DEVGRU moved from preparing for exceptional counter-terrorist emergencies to operating repeatedly in one of the most demanding conflicts of the modern era.At the centre of the book is Operation Neptune Spear-the May 2011 raid on Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. It was the mission that made SEAL Team Six a household name and transformed a secretive military organisation into a global phenomenon. Yet even this famous operation contains disputed details, conflicting participant accounts and years of mythology. Rather than choosing whichever version makes the most dramatic story, Jack R. Maddock examines what is established, what remains disputed and where the public record ends.The book also examines the devastating loss of Extortion 17, the Chinook helicopter shot down in Afghanistan in August 2011, killing all 38 people aboard. It confronts the misinformation and conspiracy theories that subsequently became attached to the tragedy and explains why separating documented history from speculation is essential when investigating secret military organisations.Inside you will discover the origins of SEAL Team Six, the influence of Richard Marcinko, the evolution of DEVGRU, the extraordinary demands of selection, the machinery behind American counter-terrorism operations, the war in Afghanistan, Operation Neptune Spear, Extortion 17, hostage-rescue missions and the complicated relationship between secrecy, celebrity and the truth. This item is printed on demand. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.…