Tom Clancy, Tony Koltz, Carl Stiner
Shadow Warriors: Inside the Special Forces
An unconventional war requires unconventional men — the Special Forces.
Green Berets Navy SEALS Rangers • Air Force Special Operations • PsyOps • Civil Affairs • and other special-mission units
The first two Commanders books, Every Man a Tiger and Into the Storm, provided masterly blends of history, biography, you-are-there narrative, insight into the practice of leadership, and plain old-fashioned storytelling. Shadow Warriors is all of that and more, a book of uncommon timeliness, for, in the words of Lieutenant General Bill Yarborough, "there are itches that only Special Forces can scratch." Now, Carl Stiner — the second commander of SOCOM, the U.S. Special Operations Command — and Tom Clancy trace the transformation of the Special Forces from the small core of outsiders of the 1950s, through the cauldron of Vietnam, to the rebirth of the SF in the late 1980s and 1990s, and on into the new century as the bearer of the largest, most mixed, and most complex set of missions in the U.S. military.
These are firsthand accounts of soldiers fighting outside the lines: counterterrorism, raids, hostage rescues, reconnaissance, counterinsurgency, and psychological operations — from Vietnam and Laos to Lebanon, Panama, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, and the new wars of today…
"Some action vignettes from [Special Forces] roots in WWII and Vietnam rival Clancy fiction."
— Kirkus Reviews
"The plethora of insider history and firsthand operation specifics… will please the historically minded."
— Publishers Weekly
DEDICATION
This book is dedicated to all the great soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines with whom and for whom I have been privileged to serve during my thirty-five years of service.
Among these, an elite brotherhood of warriors deserves the highest possible recognition — our nation's Special Operations Force, past and present.
To those who have sacrificed their lives in the defense of our freedoms, we owe our deepest respect and gratitude. And to their families, we offer our deepest sympathy and prayers for their future.
— General Carl Stiner (Ret.)
AUTHORS' NOTE
During any given week, an average of more than 3,500 Special Operations Forces (SOF) are deployed overseas in some sixty-nine countries. Their missions range from counterdrug assistance and demining to peacekeeping, disaster relief, military training assistance, and many other special mission activities. As such, they function as instruments of U.S. national policy, and develop relationships with the militaries and governments of the host nations in a way that best serves our national interests now and in the future.
In the writing of this book, we have attempted to include all the information possible about the capabilities of these unique forces, the sacrifices that they make, and the mission areas of their responsibility, as well as just tell some good stories. Needless to say, however, some of these missions and capabilities are sensitive and cannot be revealed for national security reasons. Likewise, the names of some of the personnel, as well as family members, must be protected for personal security reasons. We know the reader will understand that there are some details that are not appropriate for discussion here, and will pardon any necessary omissions.
— Tom Clancy and General Carl Stiner (Ret.)
I
MONDAY, OCTOBER 7, 1985
Brigadier General Carl Stiner, the commander of the Joint Special Operations Task Force, was returning from his morning run at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, when his J-2 intelligence officer, Colonel Mike Flynn, met him at the gate. "A cruise ship has been hijacked in the Mediterranean," Flynn told him coolly, but with urgency, "and Americans arc very likely on board."
No other organization had the capability to recapture a ship on the high seas, and Stiner knew they would certainly be called in, and soon.
Stiner was a slender man of six feet, with a crisp but not rigid military bearing and a comfortable, easy look. At the same time, he had always been driven by an underlying intensity and a deep competitiveness. It wasn't just that he wanted to be the best, or to lead his troops to be the best — all officers want that — but that he had time and again figured out ways to make it happen.
As he and Flynn hurried toward the headquarters building, Stiner was already processing the news. He knew that Flynn's sparse information was all that was then available, or else Flynn would have told him more. Even so, he had to begin initial actions based on that slender thread. Through long hours of intense planning, training, and rehearsal, JSOTF had developed force packages for virtually any anticipated crisis situation; these were always ready to go within a few hours, as long as there were airplanes available to haul his men. Based on the planning and rehearsals, Stiner focused on what he had to work out right away: "It's a tough target… got to get more detailed information," he thought to himself. "We'll have a long way to go and have to get on the road as soon as possible… must order up airlift now. And we must find out the location of the ship."
As these thoughts went through his mind, he remained calm. When Special Forces have a job to do, the job must be done fast, accurately, and efficiently. It is likely to be extremely complex, with many lives at risk, and many unknown variables. Facing those conditions, people in these units do not waste their time and effort expressing feelings. They are businesslike, always focusing on the mission at hand — looking especially for vulnerabilities that can be exploited to solve the problem in the cleanest, most complete way possible.
Once he reached the headquarters, he went without pausing to the Joint Operations Center (JOC), a high-tech war room, complete with computer workstations and secure communications to all JSOTF units, the Pentagon, and major commands throughout the world. There he would review the latest intelligence and learn firsthand everything anyone knew about the incident in the Mediterranean. His staff principals had already assembled, waiting for his guidance.
The Task Force maintained its own twenty-four-hour intelligence center, complete with "watch officers" — military officers and civilians expert at picking out intelligence indicators of an impending crisis — analysts, and databases covering every known terrorist organization. Terminals connected the command with all major news networks, including Reuters and the BBC — the first indication of a developing incident often appeared as a news item. JSOTF also had its own people resident in all U.S. intelligence agencies — always looking for indicators of terrorist activities, as well as already existing information that had not seemed important to analysts in those agencies.
In most cases, the headquarters learned of terrorist incidents early, and they usually had the most complete information about them.
Stiner knew that all available intelligence information had already been transmitted by the staff to the units that would be involved. This also meant that all his units would have begun to ready their forces for deployment, while anticipating further guidance from him. They always made maximum use of the time available. In this business, time was a most precious asset.
Before Stiner had taken this command, previous tours in the Middle East had taught him a lot about terrorists and how they operated. For instance, while he had been the chief of training for the modernization of the Saudi Arabian National Guard from 1975 to 1977, he had had a chance to take the measure of Yasir Arafat and his chief lieutenants. Along with other dignitaries from the region, the Palestinians had been invited to a graduation dinner for an officer candidate class by King Khalid and Prince Abdullah, the commander of the National Guard.