Author Chronicles Secret History of Joint Special Operations Command
Author Chronicles Secret History of Joint Special Operations Command by Howard Altman, Tampa Tribune
There is an entire unit at U.S. Special Operations Command dedicated to lessons learned.
But those who don’t work there can learn a lot about commando actions via a new book — “Relentless Strike: The Secret History of Joint Special Operations Command,” by Sean Naylor, who has long chronicled the special operations community.
The book opens with the efforts to create a unified special operations command structure in the wake of the disastrous attempt to rescue 52 hostages held by Iran — Operation Eagle Claw, on April 24, 1980. The deeply reported, richly sourced, heavily footnoted tome tells the story of the creation of the world’s most effective and lethal manhunting organization.
But publishing the book was neither easy nor smooth, with opposition from service chiefs, interpersonal squabbles, special mission unit rivalries, baptisms by fire, and a lack of understanding by even senior most military leaders about what special operations forces do. One paragraph in particular, on the penultimate page of Naylor’s 439-page opus, explains the importance of “Relentless Strike” when it comes to lessons learned…
