Bob Mayer's Blog, page 52
November 1, 2019
Do The Ends Justify The Means? Operation Paperclip
At the end of World War II, there was a race between the Russians and the Americans to plunder the scientific knowledge of the Nazi regime. Operation Paperclip was the code name this technically illegal program operated under.
The was also Unit 731 run by the Japanese that focused on biological warfare and conducted experiments that rivaled anything the Nazis were doing.
Here’s more info in a free slideshare about Paperclip:
What Was Operation Paperclip? from Bob Mayer
October 30, 2019
29 October 1969: The First Internet Message Was Sent– then the network crashed
That’s called foreshadowing. The message was supposed to be L-O-G-I-N, but after the L-O the system crashed. It was going from a lab at UCLA to one at Stanford.
It’s interesting that the internet came about as computing faced a crossroads in development: whether to have large, centralized computers or smaller and more, decentralized ones. The internet allowed the latter to develop,
For more:
29 October 1969: The Birth of the Internet from Bob Mayer
October 29, 2019
90 years later: Black Tuesday–What If It Hadn’t Happened?
Tuesday, 29 October 1929. The day that changed the world. Ushered in the Great Depression which would end with World War II.
What if it hadn’t occurred? What if history was changed on that day?
And on other 29 Octobers throughout history?
What if Sir Walter Raleigh wasn’t executed on 29 October 1618?
What if the last test flight of Operation Credible Sport, the planned second Iranian Hostage Mission, hadn’t failed in a crash? And the mission had gone on?
The first Internet message was sent on 29 October 1969. What if it hadn’t been sent? Would the Internet have developed as it has?
The core of each Time Patrol book is that the same day, such as 29 October, is being attacked by a force known only as the Shadow; the same force that destroyed Atlantis in pre-history. They try to change six of those days. If they succeed on all six, our present would be wiped out in a Time Tsunami,
It’s up to the Time Patrol to ensure our history remains the same, no matter the cost.
October 28, 2019
How To Prepare For and Survive Wildfires
Wildfires are a very nasty natural disaster– not that any of them are good. They are deadly, move fast and are unpredictable. We had one here in East TN a few years ago that killed 14, hurt many more and destroyed a number of residences. I recently drove through the area and in most places, you can’t even see there was a fire, because it moved so fast it didn’t burn the trees, just the undergrowth. And man-made residences.
Drought is a precondition for wildfires but they can occur almost any time. When we lived in Colorado we could sometimes see the smoke from wildfires in the foothills. We also saw when they would set preventative fires. There were also areas that had burned many years earlier and there, the tree had been burned and the land was still scorched.
Here is a free downloadable slideshow on wildfires. I’ve got a bunch of these free slideshows on various survival topics (as well as history, New York City, writing and more) on my Slideshows page. Feel free to take a look.
How to Prepare for and Survive a WILDFIRE from Bob Mayer
October 26, 2019
The Unit Meets Warehouse 13
Based at The Ranch, just outside of Area 51, the Nightstalkers are the elite Special Operations unit that takes care of the things that go bump in the night.
They ‘correct’ the mistakes of scientists. They are our last defense against self-annihilation. They’re also a little bit crazy, a little bit mad, and a long way outside the bell curve.
I had tons of fun writing Nightstalkers, especially Scout. For whom our latest dog is named.
There are three pure Nightstalkers books: Nightstalkers, Book of Truths and The Rift. Then the team morphs into the Time Patrol in that title and future titles in that series.
Here’s more on them:
The Nightstalkers: The Unit Meets Warehouse 13 from Bob Mayer
October 25, 2019
Preparing for NanoWrimo?
November is when many writers go into hyper speed and participate in Nanowrimo. It stands for National Novel Writing Month. It doesn’t mean you have to write a novel in a month, but it’s a way of helping people set goals and encourage each other to write.
Pretty much every month has been like that for me over three decades of writing, but I think the program is a positive for many writers, both aspiring and published. I have a free downloadable powerpoint designed specifically for the month (below). I also have numerous other slideshows on writing on my web site HERE.
I hope you find them useful and all the best with your writing!
Preparing For Nanowrimo Success from Bob Mayer
October 23, 2019
Who Polices the World of Covert Operations? Free today
What is the unit that polices the ranks of elite, covert units? Stops operatives who are too dangerous for the police and, more importantly, know too many secrets to ever be brought to trial?
That was the idea behind the Cellar. The first book in this series, Bodyguard of Lies, is free today (10/23).
Lost Girls is the second book in that series. Also, the Cellar is making an appearance in my latest series, the Will Kane Green Beret books, which are set in 1977, before Bodyguard of Lies. That’s because the Cellar was created by Presidential mandate at the end of World War II.
BTW: Walk on the Wild Side will be out on 9 December and the Cellar plays a big role near the end of the book.
Nothing but good times ahead!
October 21, 2019
Who Dares Wins: Special Operations Strategies for Success– free today
For today, 10/21, only, this book is free on Kindle.
I took what we did in Special Operations and built templates that anyone can use for themselves or their organization.
Special Operations Forces are the most elite and flexible units in the world. Green Berets, Navy SEALs, Rangers, Nightstalkers, Special Operations Wing: these are the warriors trained to perform beyond the ordinary and to make the impossible, possible. The author, a former Green Beret, takes you inside their shadowy world, laying out their history and lineage. More importantly, he delves into the mindset and training that makes them special. He gives strategic and tactical templates you can apply to yourself and your team. He uses narrative examples, both factual and fictional to illustrate his points.
This book shows you how to Dare to be like the elite, sharing with you the secrets of success needed to conquer fear and succeed.
“Success in life–as in combat–has always demanded depth of character. Who Dares Wins reveals what it takes for you to move into the world of elite warriors and how their training developed that Can Do spirit and Special Forces ethos of excellence.”
Lewis C. Merletti: Director United States Secret Service (retired), Former Sgt 5th Special Forces Group (Vietnam); Cleveland Browns Executive Vice President & COO
About the author: Bob Mayer is a NY Times bestselling author, former Green Beret and CEO of Cool Gus Publishing. He graduated from the Military Academy at West Point, served in the Infantry and Special Forces, commanded a Special Forces A-Team, taught at the JFK Special Warfare Center & School at Fort Bragg and served in other Special Operations assignments. He has over 70 books published with over 5 million sold and has been on the numerous bestseller lists including The Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly & US Today.
In 2011 he made the leap from traditional to indie publishing and built a seven-figure business within 18 months.
He is an international speaker and consultant. He has done interviews/appeared in/on the Wall Street Journal, NY Times, Forbes, Psychology Today, Sports Illustrated, PBS, NPR, the Discovery Channel, the SyFy Channel and others.
October 13, 2019
I Used To Wonder Once We Went Wheels Up, What If . . .
We got our code word to conduct our war time assigned mission?
We ran lots of training exercises in Special Forces. I don’t believe we were ever alerted at 9:00 AM on a Monday. It was usually odd hours on odds days.
Occasionally the alert was real: something that had to be done. But we also had a war plan for if the balloon went up on World War III. My team had a specific mission and target assigned to us, as did every team.
Sometimes our alerts said it was for this mission. We’d load on the aircraft with our gear, go wheels up and start flying. If we got our GO codeword, we were going.
This is the scenario played out in the epic movie and book Fail Safe.
It was a scenario that I used for the very first book I wrote which eventually became Dragon Sim-13 (The Green Berets). The title is the name of a simulation of a mission that gets the actual code word to go. Except it wasn’t supposed to happen!
Here is more:
What Happens When A Training Exercise Becomes the Real Thing? from Bob Mayer
October 12, 2019
Which is more important: Honor or Loyalty?
Many people consider the two the same, but I don’t. One is inward oriented, the other outward.
At West Point we had to memorize quite a bit of ‘trivia’ otherwise known as Plebe Poop, which is self-explanatory. One bothered me a lot: In 60 major battles of the Civil War, West Pointers commanded both sides in 55 and one side in the other 5. It made me wonder how men who’d sworn an oath to the Constitution, the same one I did in the same place I did on the Plain at West Point, went against that oath?
The Civil War has always fascinated me. I’ve walked many of the battlefields. Wrote the Gettysburg Staff Walk for the JFK Special Warfare Center, read many books on it.
It was inevitable then that I ended up writing a book, actually, three about West Point and the Civil War. The first book, Duty, is free on all eBook platforms. I do plan on getting back to the series and pushing further into the war, but it starts at West Point in 1842. Here is a slideshow overview:
Duty, Honor, Country an epic series about West Point & The Civil War from Bob Mayer
