No Front Line: Australian special forces at war in Afghanistan: Australia's Special Forces at War in Afghanistan

by Chris Masters

The soldiers of the SAS, the Commandos and Special Operations Engineer Regiment are Australia's most highly trained soldiers. Their work is often secret, their bravery undeniable and for thirteen years they were at the forefront of Australia's longest war. Shunning acclaim, they are the Australian Defence Forces' brightest and best skilled.

In an extraordinary investigation undertaken over ten years, Chris Masters opens up the heart of Australia's Special Forces and their war in Afghanistan. He gives voice to the soldiers, he takes us to the centre of some of the fiercest combat Australia has ever experienced and provides the most intimate examination of what it is like to be a member of this country's elite fighting forces. But he also asks difficult questions that reveal controversial clouds hanging over our Special Operations mission in Afghanistan.

For Australia, there is no more important war to examine in detail. Afghanistan lives in our recent past and will continue to occupy our future. Masterfully told, No Front Line will find a place as one of Australia's finest books on contemporary soldiering.

'In this remarkable book about the intense combat environment experienced by our soldiers in Afghanistan, Chris Masters captures the highs, the lows, the courage and the sacrifice of Australian warriors and their loved ones in our longest war.' - Air Chief Marshal Sir Angus Houston AK, AFC (Ret'd)

'This book tells a story that many of us had not told our loved ones and will no doubt help to articulate and heal all those who sacrificed much in and out of uniform.' - Commando Warrant Officer

'I was impressed by [No Front Line's] detail, quality and objectivity...I wanted to reassure you that most Regiment members understand this and are speaking positively about the book.' - Former SASR Patrol Sergeant

'Thank you Chris Masters for your dedication and attention to detail in documenting this most comprehensive story of Australian Special Forces in Afghanistan.' - Former Commando corporal

'I have always felt that 90% of the blokes in the unit would be supportive of the book...' - SASR Troop Sergeant

'Brilliant. There's seriously no one else in Australia with the knowledge that Chris Masters has in relation to Australian Special Forces in Afghanistan. Lots of lessons learned and examples of heroism that if not for Chris Masters would be lost forever.' - Former Commando Major

'Thanks for your professionalism and intellectual honesty. It is much needed in this space.' - Former SASR Trooper

'Well done. Great to see the boys being recognised for their sacrifice.' - Former Commando Lance Corporal

'I think you captured the feelings of many of us at the end of that deployment perfectly.' - Former Special Forces Major

Genres: Nonfiction, War, Military Fiction, History, Australia

610 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 25, 2017

About the author

Christopher "Chris" Wayne Masters (born 4 December 1948 in Grafton, New South Wales) is a multi-Walkley Award winning and Logie Award winning Australian journalist and author.

Reviews

[Barry Sierer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chris Masters manages to sketch a decent overview of the Australian Special Forces units (primarily the SASR and the Commandos) that served in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2013. Masters touches on the political and operation issues, but only at a skin deep level. Towards the end the book, the author seems to adopt the lingo of these troops to the point of distraction, such as “tactical compensation payment”.

While I was in the middle of this book, the Australian Defense Force announced a report that 39 people may have been “unlawfully killed” by Special Forces soldiers during Afghan operations. It should be noted that these killings did not occur in the confusion of battle.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-austra...

I have to admit that this really put a damper on my enthusiasm for the subject.

The more stories I read, the more it also became clear how easy it was for non-combatants to be killed in these operations, and how heart breaking the results were for the families of those that were lost.

As for the soldiers themselves; it seemed like the bravery and sacrifice of many of these men was slowly squandered as they turned over their work to Afghan units with dubious motivation and methods that eroded the support of the Afghan population.

This book should still be appreciated for clear the overall picture it provides even though the details can become exasperating.

[Christopher Elliott · Rating 2 out of 5]

Encyclopedic. Good reference for dates, rotations, personalities etc. Not enough scrutiny of the criminal aspects of SOTG and as others have pointed out it seems to have been written partially as an homage to Masters’ operator sources. Some of the incidents where so-called “squirters” were killed were clearly war crimes - the infamous video-taped murder of Dad Mohammed being a shining example of where the written record departs from what actually occurred. Many of the stories are now better described as over-mythologized fiction. As we know now via the Brereton Report, the rotations between 2009 and 2013 were not “meritorious”. With the exception of some disruption to drug cash flows, the work of the SOTGs in later years was largely counterproductive to the actual mission at hand - a cost which was borne by Afghans and likely the conventional forces in theatre as well. Nevertheless this book did provide a good chronology for more thorough investigations to spring from. Chris can be thanked for putting some early signposts on the page.

[Bill Perrin · Rating 2 out of 5]

One wonders who paid for this book. It comprises mostly of detailed descriptions of combat and drug enforcement activities thrown in with some politics and personal stories of soldiers.
What is missing is the context of the Afghan war. There is little attempt at any detailed or deep analysis of why the carnage continues in Afghanistan. The i doubt this is the purpose of the book.
I read the first couple of hundred pages carefully but then the depiction set in and i skim read the rest. Nothing much changed.
A pity because it was a opportunity for a journalist to educate people rather than edit military reports.

[Dennis · Rating 1 out of 5]

I only got about half way through and abandoned the book. I found it confusing and hard to follow. I have quite liked Chris Master's reports on Four Corners of a few years ago, but this one wasn't my cup of tea. It is very unusual for me to abandon a book, in fact I can't recall having ever done it before.

[Jas L · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chris does a masterful job of pulling a long and often incoherent campaign into some semblance of logic based on the limited information he had. Veterans of the mission will however be left wanting more as 4-6 month tours are often condensed into 15-20 pages. Reconciling those deeply personal experiences against a broad explanation of major events is difficult. It is clear the author at times struggled to get the story to flow with the information he was able to extract from SOCOMD. As a reader I found the forays back into the the conventional forces jarring at times as they felt out of place and used as bridges to link the SOF accounts. Since publishing the book has become somewhat controversial but to be honest there is nothing in the pages, particularly the references to the ‘beret wars’, that was not pretty common knowledge.

Of greatest interest to me was the impact each commander had on the conduct of the operation. This individual approach resulted in an often incoherent campaign (or perhaps more importantly was enabled by the lack of an effectively articulated campaign) that bounced back and forth between COIN and high value targeting.

The book is a classic example of that old saying that journalism is the first draft of history and I am sure it will leave all wanting the official histories currently being researched at the Australian War Memorial. I’m glad the ADF saw fit to support this work. As a first cut on our history it is vitally important and sets a solid baseline for future in-depth efforts on Australia’s contribution to the Forever War.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

An exhaustive account of Australian Special Forces operations in Afghanistan for the duration of the war going step by step through all 20 rotations.

It can be a hard book to follow at first until you get a handle on what is being described, but given the nature of these engagements, I suspect it would be hard to make it any clearer.

Some of the tales are harrowing in terms of the lives lost and permanent injuries sustained. The author certainly doesn’t sugarcoat anything, showing every possible aspect of the war from the soldiers on the ground, their foreign and native allies, the impact on (and of) civilians (both in Afghanistan and Australia), soldiers families, legal and political concerns, as well as technical details of weapons, vehicles, strategies and tactics.

The author managed to remain objective. There were conflicts, rivalries and controversies throughout. Whether it was the battle for public opinion, reports of misconduct, ambiguous loyalties of locals or the ongoing ‘beret wars’ between the Commandos and the SAS. All of these were laid out in detail with seemingly no side taken.

The amount and regularity of typos did become a source of annoyance. How this wasn’t avoided is all but inconceivable.

All up, an enlightening read.

[Barry Lacey · Rating 4 out of 5]

A comprehensive book on the Australian Special Forces in Afghanistan. It covers the progress of each deployment and different events that occurred during them. During the 2nd part of the book and at the end of it mentions the possibility of crimes been committed by ASF in Afghanistan and the start of the investigations. Mention’s plenty of known famous SF operators known outside of this book but also covers the stories of plenty who aren’t known as well.

[Melanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I struggled a bit with this book, as it didn't provide much context and assumed a lot of knowledge. It felt like a series of short vignettes about Australian soldier experiences and firefights in Afghanistan, which is interesting, but can be hard to follow.

Noting later revelations about some of the activities that occurred over there, it was hard to take on faith that everything was done for just cause.

Ended up skimming the book.

[Tianne Shaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent well written detailed journey with the teams on the ground. So well reported and described you are able to read at ease and feel like you understand much more than the normal reports give. As a lover of reading military accounts of conflicts this is up in the best written ones I have read.

[craig hurdle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good reading

I gave it a five star rating
It was a good book to read
About Australian special forces in Afghanistan
What they went through
I recommended it for military buffs