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Weapon of Choice: U.S. Army Special Operations Forces in Afghanistan
First published in 2003, this is the first unclassified official history authored by the U.S. Army Special Operations Command relating to Operation Enduring Freedom. Contains extensive maps and illustrations. Previously difficult to obtain, this extensive study shows what Army Special Operations Forces (ARSOF) accomplished to drive the Taliban from power and to destroy al-Quaeda and Taliban strongholds as part of the global war on terrorism during Operation Enduring Freedom.
- GenresMilitary FictionHistory
438 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
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February 25, 2012
This is a tough book to find. The press run was limited, and copies have been snapped up by the SOF community. That's a shame, because this book is awesome, a must-read for anyone interested in special operations or how the war in Afghanistan kicked off.
"Weapon of Choice" is an authorized history of special operations forces in Afghanistan from September 12, 2001 to May 15, 2002. Practically every name is a pseudonym and practically everyone's face has a black box.
Unfortunately, it has no index or footnotes. The maps are fuzzy and you can't make out the names on them. It always italicizes "al-Qaeda" and "Taliban" as if they were obscure words.
"This is a carefully 'sanitized' rendering of selected combat operations..." it says in the intro.
The book starts off with a military history of Afghanistan up to September 10, 2001 and describes in detail the geographic, diplomatic, and military challenges of operating in Afghanistan.
However, it claims bin Laden formed al-Qaeda in 1998. Wrong.
It also says that Colonel Phillip McGee, the SOCOM deputy chief of staff for Resource Management began meetings on how to finance the war on September 9, 2001. Huh? al-Qaeda didn't even hit the WTC until September 11. How could McGee have planned the war before that?
It discusses in detail:
*the establishment of command-and-control, communications, and logistics support at Karshi-Khanabad air base in Uzbekistan
*coordination of 160th SOAR CSAR ops with 5th Special Forces Group and Joint Special Operations Air Component Command planners.
It mentions the October 19, 2001 Ranger raid on the "Rhino" airfield, but makes no mention of the Delta Force raid on Taliban leader Mullah Omar's compound other than as "another night raid."
It describes PSYOP units and their novel command structure, the development of the SOF campaign at SOCCENT, 5ht SFG's analysis of Afghanistan's ethnic/geographic make-up and the division of the country in sectors for the different JSOTFs, the conversion of HQ staffs to a war footing, and the establishment of communications, PSYOP cell, and planning for humanitarian assistance.
It describes the advance team sent to Karshi-Khanabad air base in Uzbekistan, the setup of their operations center, logistics arrangements, and their troublesome coordination with the Uzbeks.
The book then describes how cargo clogged up K2 and how the SOF overcame it, the clarification of the chain of command, the establishmentt of an intel section and Joint operations Center, problems with intel collection, collocating JSOAC with Task Force Dagger, communications support, and FINALLY, the insertion of Special Forces teams into Afghanistan.
If this sounds boring, too bad, but it demonstrates the necessity and breadth of the planning, communications, intelligence and logistics required to get the "real" soldiers into the action.
the book then describes supply airdrops and provides a brief account of the fighting for all of the different Afghan cities.
The book briefly recounts ODA 574's mission with Hamid Karzai and Marine operations at Rhino, but then RANDOMLY brings up the Rhino raid...AGAIN. The book details ODA 583's operations with Gul Agha Sherzai for Kandahar.
When describing ODA 505's operations, the book describes a "middle-aged Afghan man named Maqdoom who could speak English." It shows a picture with a strange caption: "A middle-aged Afghan man." OK, does that mean it's Maqdoom...? Or not?
The book goes on to describe aerial resupply to the ODAs, Ranger recons ("rat patrols"), Little Bird helicopter strikes, the printing of PSYOP leaflets, ODA 574 (again), the battle at Qala-i Jangi, ODA 583 (again),and Tora Bora.
On page 180 he misidentifies ODA 574 as ODA 583.
This book is very interesting. Anyone interested in the war in Afghanistan or special operations should check this out.
"Weapon of Choice" is an authorized history of special operations forces in Afghanistan from September 12, 2001 to May 15, 2002. Practically every name is a pseudonym and practically everyone's face has a black box.
Unfortunately, it has no index or footnotes. The maps are fuzzy and you can't make out the names on them. It always italicizes "al-Qaeda" and "Taliban" as if they were obscure words.
"This is a carefully 'sanitized' rendering of selected combat operations..." it says in the intro.
The book starts off with a military history of Afghanistan up to September 10, 2001 and describes in detail the geographic, diplomatic, and military challenges of operating in Afghanistan.
However, it claims bin Laden formed al-Qaeda in 1998. Wrong.
It also says that Colonel Phillip McGee, the SOCOM deputy chief of staff for Resource Management began meetings on how to finance the war on September 9, 2001. Huh? al-Qaeda didn't even hit the WTC until September 11. How could McGee have planned the war before that?
It discusses in detail:
*the establishment of command-and-control, communications, and logistics support at Karshi-Khanabad air base in Uzbekistan
*coordination of 160th SOAR CSAR ops with 5th Special Forces Group and Joint Special Operations Air Component Command planners.
It mentions the October 19, 2001 Ranger raid on the "Rhino" airfield, but makes no mention of the Delta Force raid on Taliban leader Mullah Omar's compound other than as "another night raid."
It describes PSYOP units and their novel command structure, the development of the SOF campaign at SOCCENT, 5ht SFG's analysis of Afghanistan's ethnic/geographic make-up and the division of the country in sectors for the different JSOTFs, the conversion of HQ staffs to a war footing, and the establishment of communications, PSYOP cell, and planning for humanitarian assistance.
It describes the advance team sent to Karshi-Khanabad air base in Uzbekistan, the setup of their operations center, logistics arrangements, and their troublesome coordination with the Uzbeks.
The book then describes how cargo clogged up K2 and how the SOF overcame it, the clarification of the chain of command, the establishmentt of an intel section and Joint operations Center, problems with intel collection, collocating JSOAC with Task Force Dagger, communications support, and FINALLY, the insertion of Special Forces teams into Afghanistan.
If this sounds boring, too bad, but it demonstrates the necessity and breadth of the planning, communications, intelligence and logistics required to get the "real" soldiers into the action.
the book then describes supply airdrops and provides a brief account of the fighting for all of the different Afghan cities.
The book briefly recounts ODA 574's mission with Hamid Karzai and Marine operations at Rhino, but then RANDOMLY brings up the Rhino raid...AGAIN. The book details ODA 583's operations with Gul Agha Sherzai for Kandahar.
When describing ODA 505's operations, the book describes a "middle-aged Afghan man named Maqdoom who could speak English." It shows a picture with a strange caption: "A middle-aged Afghan man." OK, does that mean it's Maqdoom...? Or not?
The book goes on to describe aerial resupply to the ODAs, Ranger recons ("rat patrols"), Little Bird helicopter strikes, the printing of PSYOP leaflets, ODA 574 (again), the battle at Qala-i Jangi, ODA 583 (again),and Tora Bora.
On page 180 he misidentifies ODA 574 as ODA 583.
This book is very interesting. Anyone interested in the war in Afghanistan or special operations should check this out.
Displaying 1 of 1 review