Featuring Nebula Award Nominee Finalist Richard Fox, as well as other well know authors such as MD Cooper, C.J. Carella, and Josh Hayes. Let the explosions begin! Humans have spread to the stars, taking their warlike nature with them. This anthology contains eleven incredible tales. Heroic warriors wage intergalactic war against their unrelenting foe. Watch these men and women display wanton courage under fire, despite the odds! Follow them on their quest for galactic supremacy. Do your part to conquer the galaxy! Buy a copy of Backblast Area Clear today. Stories: Richard Fox - Going Dark which has been nominated for the Nebula Award MD Cooper - Rika Crucible C.J. Carella - Bushido Jackson and the Kaiji Menance Josh Hayes - A Prelude to Valor Tim C Taylor - The Hero of Azoth Zol J.R Handley & Chris Winder - God Save the Queen Scott Moon - Ash Roland Logan Scott - Complacency's Grave JR Castle - Beginning of Chaos Navin Weeraratne - The Battle Purple Rick Partlow - The Great Wide Open

Over 2,800 total pages ... INTRODUCTION Today’s operational environment presents threats the Army has not faced in nearly 20 years. Against peer competitors, the joint force may face air parity or even localized enemy air overmatch, challenging the assumption of air superiority the joint force has held since the Korean War. This will make maneuver forces vulnerable to air attack by fixed- and rotary-wing aircraft, unmanned aircraft systems, and cruise missiles. Maneuver forces lack capacity and capability to address these threats and the Army requires a speedy response. Stinger missiles provide a key capability for maneuver forces to defend themselves from aerial observation and attack. However, without direct involvement from senior brigade combat team leaders and effective leader training, these missiles will become dead weight at best or a fratricide in waiting at worst. Units must plan effectively to utilize this capability and ensure it ties directly to their scheme of maneuver as opposed to simply task-organizing one Stinger team per company. Just a SAMPLE of the CONTENTS CALL HANDBOOK NO. 18-16 Maneuver Leader’s Guide to Stinger - Lessons and Best Practices (2018) INTRODUCTION TO MANPORTABLE (Stinger) AIR DEFENSE WEAPON SYSTEM - SUBCOURSE NO. AD 0575 (no date) FM 3-23.25 SHOULDER-LAUNCHED MUNITIONS (2006) FM 10-550/TO 13C7-22-71 AIRDROP OF SUPPLIES AND EQUIPMENT: RIGGING STINGER WEAPON SYSTEMS AND MISSILES (2000) FM 44-18-1 STINGER TEAM OPERATIONS (1984) FM 3-01.11 (FM 44-100-2) AIR DEFENSE ARTILLERY REFERENCE HANDBOOK (2000) MCRP 3-25.10A Low Altitude Air Defense (LAAD) Gunner’s Handbook (2011) TM 9-1425-429-12 OPERATOR'S AND ORGANIZATIONAL MAINTENANCE MANUAL: STINGER GUIDED MISSILE SYSTEM (1980) TM 9-1425-429-12-HR HAND RECEIPT MANUAL COVERING SYSTEM COMPONENTS OF END ITEM (COEI) BASIC ISSUE ITEMS (BII), AND ADDITIONAL AUTHORIZATION LIST (AAL) FOR STINGER AIR DEFENSE GUIDED MISSILE SYSTEM, STINGER TRAINING SET GUIDED MISSILE SYSTEM M134, COOLANT RECHARGING UNIT TRAINING SYSTEM M80, AND BATTERY CHARGER PP-7309/T (1983) TM 55-1425-429-14 TECHNICAL MANUAL TRANSPORTABILITY GUIDANCE STINGER WEAPON SYSTEM (1981) TM 9-1265-209-10 TECHNICAL MANUAL OPERATOR’S MANUAL FOR MULTIPLE INTEGRATED LASER ENGAGEMENT SYSTEM (MILES) SIMULATOR SYSTEM, FIRING, LASER: M74 NSN 1265-01-159-0485 FOR STINGER WEAPON SYSTEM (1987) TM 9-2330-357-14&P TECHNICAL MANUAL OPERATOR'S, ORGANIZATIONAL, DIRECT SUPPORT, AND GENERAL SUPPORT MAINTENANCE MANUAL (INCLUDING REPAIR PARTS AND SPECIAL TOOLS LISTS) FOR SEMITRAILER, FLATBED: RADAR SET AND LAUNCHING STATION M860A1 (NSN 2330-01-117-3280) (1993)

“As America assesses the value of our intervention in Afghanistan and involvement in future foreign wars, we must always consider the price. Andrew and his friends’ service was valorous and honorable. His authentic perspective of the environment and the eye-opening costs to our soldiers is sobering. These accounts should be mandatory reading for foreign policy makers and defense department leaders.” — Major General (Ret.) Brian Mennes, United States Army, Former Fury 6 “The Devil’s Playground” was anything south of the second canal to the men of Charlie Company’s 2nd Platoon—Two Charlie—during their 2009–2010 deployment to the Arghandab River Valley in Afghanistan. The valley had been a notorious hot spot throughout history, with the Russians unable to maintain a foothold in the 80s and Coalition forces now facing the same problem during Operation Enduring Freedom. The Two Charlie paratroopers deployed as part of the 2-508th PIR, Two Fury, of the 82nd Airborne Division, but always seemed to be on their own. They started their deployment attached to Canadian forces in Panjwai but were shortly moved into the Arghandab with one of the battalion’s biggest Areas of Operation. They inherited a bare bones outpost that they worked hard to turn into the defendable position known as COP Tynes, while patrolling the grape fields and orchards of the valley. Little did they know that when the leaves returned to the valley in the spring, so too would the fighting. As the fighting picked up in the valley, the men of Two Charlie continued to sustain casualties as they fought day in and day out. There was never a dull moment in the Arghandab, and the fact that Two Charlie had to patrol, act as a quick reaction force, and secure their outpost on their own ensured that they never stopped. The men were constantly brought to their breaking point as their numbers dwindled and the fighting intensified. The men all started to believe that they weren’t going to make it out of the valley alive. The one rule of the valley would be proved time and time again: in the end, the valley always wins. This book shares the story of the men of Two Charlie and their fight for survival in the Arghandab River Valley, the Devil’s Playground.

Includes 35 illustrations. Since 2001, the US Army in Afghanistan has been conducting complex operations in a difficult, often dangerous environment. Living in isolated outposts and working under austere conditions, US Soldiers have carried out missions that require in equal parts a warrior’s courage and a diplomat’s restraint. In the larger discussions of the Afghanistan campaign, the experiences of these Soldiers-especially the young sergeants and lieutenants that lead small units-often go undocumented. But, as we all know, success in Afghanistan ultimately depends on these small units and their leaders, making their stories all the more important. In 2010, as the scale and tempo of Coalition operations in Afghanistan increased, so did the need for historical accounts of small-unit actions. As commander of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), I commissioned the Combat Studies Institute to research and write the cases collected in this volume and in those that will follow. By capturing key insights from both lethal and non-lethal operations, I hoped these accounts would be of immediate utility to sergeants and lieutenants at the center of future operations. The eight actions described in these pages take the reader through a wide range of platoon-level operations, from an intense firefight near Kandahar to an intricate civic action project in Kunar Province. Drawing from dozens of Soldier interviews, these accounts vividly depict the actions themselves and offer critical insights of greatest benefit to the small-unit leaders of today and tomorrow. The US Army always has prided itself as an institution of constant learning, strongly committed to drawing lessons from its past. This volume from the CSI is an excellent example of that long and honorable tradition. I hope that you will find the actions related in Vanguard of Valor to be both instructive and compelling. I am sure that you will find them to be inspirational. Gen. Petraeus