Adams, James. Secret Armies: Inside the American, Soviet and European Special Forces. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1988. 440 pages.
This book begins by noting that in 1986 alone there were over 40 instances of sustained armed conflict involving 45 of the world's 165 nations. In light of new challenges such as international terrorism and new concepts like "low intensity conflict," the author makes the case that conventional wars may be a thing of the past. "Instead, a new, secret, battlefield has appeared where special operations forces act out their deadly games in a clandestine environment that is only rarely visible to the public."Author James Adams, defense correspondent for The Sunday Times in London, frequently seems overly enthusiastic, as if he were writing ad copy in a magazine for would-be mercenaries. But you work with what's available, and Adams does manage some credible reporting on Britain's Special Air Service (SAS) and their efforts against the IRA, the war in Afghanistan, and the series of complete screw-ups in Grenada (which the U.S. press failed to notice during their love affair with Reagan). Other chapters deal with special forces training and equipment, Charles Beckwith's Delta Force, and Soviet operations. There is also a bibliography with 90 titles, and a 13-page appendix that describes special forces alphabetically by country.
Here are the names most frequently mentioned in the above books:
ABRAMS ELLIOTT L ADDABBO JOSEPH (D-NY) AMES ROBERT CLAYTON AMIN HAFIZULLAH ARMITAGE RICHARD L BAADER ANDREAS BABRAK KARMAL BANK AARON BECKWITH CHARLES A BERZIN JAN BISH MILAN DAVID BISHOP MAURICE (PM) BLACKBURN DONALD D (GEN) BUCKLEY WILLIAM (CIA) BURT RICHARD R BUSINESS SECURITY INTERNATIONAL CALVERT MIKE CARLUCCI FRANK CHARLES CAVE GEORGE W CHARTERS DAVID A COARD BERNARD COOPER WILLIAM J CORBETT WILLIAM (COL) COURTNEY ROGER DANIEL DAN DAVIES BARRY DEFENCE SYSTEMS LIMITED DEFENSE ADVANCED RESEARCH PROJECTS AGENCY DELTA FORCE DONOVAN WILLIAM JOSEPH DOUGLAS-HOME ALEC DOZIER JAMES LEE DUBCEK ALEXANDER DUBS ADOLPH DUNCAN DALE C DZIAK JOHN J EL SALVADOR CIA IN ELIAS MIROSLAV EPISHEV ALEXEI A FALL BERNARD B FERRARO NEIL GABRIEL CHARLES A (GEN) GARRISON WILLIAM F GERAGHTY TIMOTHY GHORBANIFAR MANUCHER GLOVER JAMES GORMAN PAUL F (GEN) GRITZ JAMES G (BO) HAKIM ALBERT HAQ ABDUL HASENFUS EUGENE HOLLOWAY JAMES L III (ADM) HUSSEIN KING INTELLIGENCE SUPPORT ACTIVITY KELLEY PAUL XAVIER KENNEDY JOHN FITZGERALD KHALED LEILA KHASHOGGI ADNAN KINGSTON ROBERT CHARLES (GEN) KMS COMPANY KOCH NOEL C KRIEGEL FRANTISEK LAINGEN L BRUCE LEDEEN MICHAEL A LEWY GUENTER LINDSAY JAMES J (GEN) LUTZ JOSEPH C (GEN) LYALIN OLEG A MARIGHELLA CARLOS MASSOUD AHMED SHAH MCCLURE ROBERT A (GEN) MCDONALD WESLEY (ADM) MCFARLANE ROBERT C (BUD) MEADOWS RICHARD J MERRITT JACK H METCALF JOSEPH (VADM) MEYER EDWARD C (SHY) MLYNAR ZDENEK MOLNAR BOHUMIL MOREAU ARTHUR S JR (VADM) MORRISON ALASTAIR MOUNTEL ROBERT MUSSOLINI BENITO NETANYAHU JONATHAN NICHOLSON ARTHUR D NIDAL ABU NIMRODI YAAKOV NIR AMIRAM NORTH OLIVER L NUTTING WALLACE H OPERATION PHOENIX PACE FRANK JR PAVLOVSKII IVAN G POINDEXTER JOHN M QADDAFI MUAMMAR RICE WESLEY H ROGERS BERNARD W (GEN) ROPKA LAWRENCE JR RYPL JOSEF SCHLACHTER DOUGLAS M JR SCHLEYER HANNS-MARTIN SCHOLTES RICHARD A SCHWIMMER ADOLPH SCOON PAUL N SECORD RICHARD V SECURITY ASSISTANCE SERVICES SHENANDOAH AEROLEASE SHULTZ GEORGE PRATT SIMONS ARTHUR D (BULL) SINGLAUB JOHN K SKORZENY OTTO SPECIAL AIR SERVICE STACHOVSKY FRANTISEK STEINER CARL STILWELL RICHARD GILES STIRLING DAVID SUMMERS HARRY G JR (COL) TARAKI NUR MOHAMMED TASK FORCE 160 TEICHER HOWARD J THAYER PAUL THOMPSON ROBERT G.K. TROBAUGH EDWARD TUGWELL MAURICE VANCE CYRUS ROBERTS VAUGHT JAMES B (GEN) VESSEY JOHN W JR (GEN) VOLKMANN RUSSELL W VON HUSS ERNIE WAITE TERRY WALKER DAVID (SAS) WEGENER ULRICH WEINBERGER CASPAR W WICKHAM JOHN A JR (GEN) WILLIFORD SHERMAN H WILSON EDWIN PAUL WISEMAN JOHN (SAS) WISNER FRANK GARDNER YARBOROUGH WILLIAM P (GEN) ZAITSEV MIKHAIL M ZELIOTIS NICHOLAS
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