This study of the US Army Ranger takes the reader through the distinct stages of training and acceptance, including the Ranger Indoctrination Program and Ranger Battalion training, and details the developments in Ranger weaponry, equipment and clothing since the early 1980s. Using first hand accounts, it shows what it was like to fight in Panama in 1989, in raid missions in Iraq in 1991 and Somalia in 1993, and brings the unit up to date with the 3rd Battalion's deployment to Afghanistan in Operation Enduring Freedom. It also covers the culture of the Rangers, from their special language and terminology, to the rites of passage that lie behind the formal training program.

As part of an elite special operations unit at the fighting edge of the Global War on Terrorism, Nicholas Moore spent over a decade with the US Army's 75th Ranger Regiment on the battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq. In this compelling biography, a detailed narrative of gruelling life on the ground combines with accounts of some of the most dramatic search and rescue operations of the period to tell the true story of life on the line in the War on Terror. Charting his rise from private to senior non-commissioned officer, this title follows Moore as he embarks on a series of dangerous deployments, engaging in brutal street combat and traversing inhospitable terrain in pursuit of Taliban fighters and Iraq's Most Wanted. Including revelatory first-hand accounts of high-profile special operations missions including the tense rescue of Private First Class Jessica Lynch and the search and rescue mission for US Navy Seal Marcus Luttrell, Moore recounts, in vivid detail, the realities of life on the front line.

Written by an expert on modern Special Forces units and the operations they undertake, this book explains the evolution of the Rangers' missions in Panama, the first Gulf War, Somalia and the post 9/11 invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan. It reveals the training and organizational changes that the unit has undergone and investigates in particular how their doctrine and tactics have changed during the 14-year war in Afghanistan. At the beginning of the war the Rangers were an elite light infantry unit of picked men tasked with short duration recon raids and securing ground behind enemy lines in support of Special Forces; they have since evolved into a special-mission unit themselves – on the cusp of being assigned to the Joint Special Operations Command.

The outlook for a victory by the Allied Powers was in doubt in 1942. When only two untested American divisions arrived in the European theatre, Gen. Lucien K. Truscott conceived the plan of organizing an American commando unit to be known as the “Rangers.” Maj. William O. Darby was placed in command of the first Ranger Battalion and proved himself an officer of such extraordinary leadership that his unit became known as “Darby’s Rangers.” The Spearheaders is an account from an enlisted man’s point of view of the intensely dramatic career of the Rangers.

This study of the US Army Ranger takes the reader through the distinct stages of training and acceptance, including the Ranger Indoctrination Program and Ranger Battalion training, and details the developments in Ranger weaponry, equipment and clothing since the early 1980s. Using first hand accounts, it shows what it was like to fight in Panama in 1989, in raid missions in Iraq in 1991 and Somalia in 1993, and brings the unit up to date with the 3rd Battalion's deployment to Afghanistan in Operation Enduring Freedom. It also covers the culture of the Rangers, from their special language and terminology, to the rites of passage that lie behind the formal training program.

Filled with entertaining anecdotes and an insider's knowledge, Ranger Knowledge is a must-read for prospective rangers and armchair military enthusiasts everywhere. Written by a former 75th Ranger Regiment soldier, "Marty" will take you inside the Ranger Assessment and Selection Program and the Special Forces Assessment and Selection Program to teach prospective Special Operations soldiers the ins and outs of each unit's selection program. As someone who also runs a train-up program for soldiers going into the military on Ranger and Special Forces contracts, Marty is uniquely suited to write a program of instruction which walks would-be Special Operations troops through the course and tells them how to get from A to B and achieve their goals in the Special Operations community.

This study of the US Army Ranger takes the reader through the distinct stages of training and acceptance, including the Ranger Indoctrination Program and Ranger Battalion training, and details the developments in Ranger weaponry, equipment and clothing since the early 1980s. Using first hand accounts, it shows what it was like to fight in Panama in 1989, in raid missions in Iraq in 1991 and Somalia in 1993, and brings the unit up to date with the 3rd Battalion's deployment to Afghanistan in Operation Enduring Freedom. It also covers the culture of the Rangers, from their special language and terminology, to the rites of passage that lie behind the formal training program.