A comprehensive illustrated overview of the dynamic operations that have saved lives in hostage situations around the world. Based on strategies proven successful in numerous incidents, including the landmark SAS rescue at Prince’s Gate, London, and compiled by an author with intimate and practical knowledge of the field, this book explains why the success of a rescue is often determined in the hours leading up to confrontation. Once an incident is contained, a large share of the responsibility for a successful conclusion rests with the hostage negotiator, whose job is to save the lives of both hostage and hostage-taker. But if negotiations fail, it becomes necessary to send in the hostage-rescue team to resolve the situation by force and skill. Hostage Rescue Manual explains the complex factors that determine the entry methods undertaken by a team, with discussion of the pros and cons of stealth versus dynamic approaches, plus the significance of distraction in securing successful site entry. Operations in widely differing locations from nuclear power plants to airliners are detailed, as are the range of special weapons available to the men and women tackling each incident. We learn of the multiple roles played by participants, such as the use of snipers as intelligence sources. With vivid photographs and diagrams of rescue units in action, Hostage Rescue Manual is the complete reference work on counter-terrorist procedures all over the world. This revised edition updates the book with an entirely new section devoted to developments in hostage rescue, among them operations in Russia and Iraq, since first publication.

For the first time a member of the F.B.I.Us elite Hostage Rescue Team--its most highly trained and specialized squadron that handles large-scale emergencies in the U.S.--reveals his experiences, describing in breathtaking detail the brutal training, the weapons and tactics, and the dramatic showdowns that marked many of his missions, including Ruby Ridge and Waco.

When the lives of hostages are on the line, the soldiers of elite hostage-rescue units must act quickly and with skill. In a chaotic situation, soldiers must rely on their training, and each other, to save lives in danger. Take a look at how elite hostage-rescue units operate. Find out about the equipment that elite soldiers use and the training they must undergo. Learn about the different skills elite soldiers use, including: • fast-entry tactics through doors and windows using explosives. • building attacks using assault ladders and mountain-climbing techniques. • rescues from inside an aircraft. • negotiation techniques to calm a situation. • clues that tell when a terrorist is lying.

The Hostage Rescue Manual is a comprehensive, illustrated source on the dynamic operations which have saved hundreds of lives in hostage situations around the world. It is based on strategies that have proved successful in numerous incidents, including the landmark SAS rescue at Prince's Gate, London, and is compiled by an author with intimate and practical knowledge of the field.

Only 200 people have ever been in Christopher Whitcomb's elite branch of the F.B.I. The Hostage Rescue Team is its most highly trained and specialized squadron -- equivalent to the Navy's Seals and the Army's Delta Force -- charged with terrorist capture, hostage situations, and other large-scale emergencies in the U.S. and around the world. Whitcomb is the first HRT member ever to write about his experience. With breathtaking immediacy, Whitcomb describes the brutal training, the weapons and tactics, and the unbreakable camaraderie of the HRT. In short order, after joining HRT in 1991, Whitcomb was sent on missions to Ruby Ridge and Waco, and his frank assessment of those missions is must reading for anyone interested in modern law enforcement. Only rarely does a writer this accomplished have a life this dramatic. Cold Zero is a book of rare action and emotion, and one that introduces a remarkable new writer to the world.

Operation Eagle Claw was tactically feasible, operationally vacant, and strategically risky. This paper examines the failed hostage rescue mission conducted by the U.S. in Iran during April of 1980. The following text will recreate the rescue mission in its historical context while identifying factors across the three levels of war which contributed to its outcome. The three levels of war referred to in this discussion are the tactical, operational and strategic levels. This study concludes that (1) The fall of the Shah unearthed a gap in U.S. military influence in the Middle East which could not rapidly be overcome; (2) the hostage rescue mission, although tied directly to the strategic objective of returning the 53 American hostages, provided little influence in terms of salvaging U.S. honor and interests in the Middle East. In reality, it is probable that mission failure protracted eventual diplomatic resolution of the crisis; (3) the hostage rescue mission, a limited objective and high risk raid, should only have been executed in the event that hostages lives were directly threatened; and (4) since 1961, sixty-six separate hostage, kidnapping, or hijacking incidents have occurred involving U.S. diplomats, servicemen, and private citizens. The frequency of these actions equate to 1.6 per year over the past 41 years. This data demonstrates the relevancy of the subject and the frequency of its occurrence.