Product Description

The complete, uncensored history of AF special operations: history that had been up to now shrouded in cover stories, secrecy, & deception. Whether they called themselves Air Commandos, Carpetbaggers, or Ravens, they were the ones called on to do the "impossible" jobs -- that other AF units couldn t, or wouldn't, do. Describes the action going back to WWII. Helicopter insertion of agents into enemy territory during the Korean War, clandestine CIA missions in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War, infiltrating intelligence teams during Desert Storm & current-day operations throughout the world are all included in this exciting & unique history.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2669788 in Books
• Published on: 1996-09-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 340 pages

From Publishers Weekly
The U.S. military has done a generally excellent job of publicizing the glamorous, dangerous and vital work performed by its special forces. The Air Force, however, has maintained relative silence on the exploits, indeed the existence, of its own commando units. This is partly because, traditionally, Air Force special ops teams have been particularly fond of deception and averse to record keeping. Military affairs specialist Kelly (Brave Men?Dark Waters) has undertaken the laborious task of writing the history of these secretive commandos. Relying on old-fashioned detective work, he has pieced together records and remembrances dating from the 1943-era "Project 9" in Burma to present-day operations. The resulting stories are as bizarre as anything to emerge from the annals of special forces?such as the 1944 mission to deliver British army mules behind enemy lines in Burma via balsa-wood gliders, or the courageous yet ultimately unnecessary 1975 mission to rescue the crew of the U.S.S. Mayaguez from captivity in Cambodia. But despite many episodes of high jinks and adventure, this isn't a puff book. Kelly records victory as well as defeat, analyzing what has worked and what has not for air commandos. His fine work should be of great interest and usefulness both to casual readers and to uniformed students of special ops. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
For the first time in one volume, Kelly (Never Fight Fair, Presidio, 1995) recounts the story of the USAF Special Operations. He focuses on the little-known "air commandos," as they called themselves during World War II. Special Operations Air involves work behind enemy lines?inserting solitary agents and entire units, establishing small airfield bridgeheads, and supplying troops with stores and weapons. Kelly begins with Chindit operations in Burma and support of Resistance members in France and Tito's forces in Yugoslavia and Southern Europe; he then proceeds to little-known Korean engagements and the coming-of-age operations in Vietnam and continues through hostage rescues to Desert Storm and present-day challenges. Kelly's narrative is lively, and his mix of broad overview and personal experience makes for smooth reading. Recommended for public libraries.?David Lee Poremba, Detroit P.L.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Kelly does for U.S. Air Force Special Operations what he did for the SEALs in Brave Men--Dark Waters (1992) and does it just as well. He starts with his collective hero's early work supplying guerrillas in Burma and occupied Europe during World War II and proceeds to spy-dropping operations in Korea and then to Vietnam. In Vietnam, Air Force Special Operations really came into its own, with defoliation, air rescue, the use of gunships converted from C-47s, C-119s, and C-130s, and support of CIA activities. Since Vietnam, there have been dark moments such as the Iran hostage rescue and brighter ones such as the Panamanian affair and the Gulf War. Kelly relies heavily on interviews, many of them with the enlisted men who rode the rescue probes, loaded the guns, and guided the planes into landings on covert fields. A well-conceived and well-executed, well-deserved tribute to an uncommonly fine body of American warriors. Roland Green

Customer Reviews

Good overview of AF special ops history, but many errors.
Orr Kelly is somewhat of a specialist in the special operations genre. This book provides a good overview of USAF experience in that area. However, Kelly falls victim (as many have before him) to embellished stories. Some of these are recognizable as such on their face and should certainly not be repeated, no matter how lurid material may help sales. I was particularly irritated that Kelly checked some detail with me, received a correction, and then printed his version! He also has a problem with incorrect numbers sneaking through his proofing process. Thus, WWII B-24 production becomes 1800 vice the actual 18,000. Estimated 15,000 NVA dead becomes 1500. Range of the ZSU-23 (not ZPU-23 as he writes) becomes 20,000 feet vice its actual max effective range of 6000 feet. And so on. The number of these sort of errors casts doubt on the accuracy of the rest of the book. Good overview, unreliable history. Karl Polifka RAVEN 45 1969

Just the facts, Ma'am...
While much of what the modern AFSOC is engaged in globally is classified, there still should have been a lot more regarding the present day Ops (which IS readily available)...sadly, there wasn't.
The upside to the book was the fascinating account of the beginnings of the Air Force special ops, from the early pathfinders and OSS. Again, this could have been better had more photos from that era been included, along with declassified maps, tactical data, and so on.

There were a few glaring inconsistencies, but much of this could be attributable to typos, and not necessarily the author per se.

Overall, this is a decent book about a group of people coming together to form one of America's most potent forces for freedom and democracy.

If this were to be a great book, it would have to have more photos, corrections to the errors, and less "dramatic license" in retelling the stories. When it comes to military actions, the MORE facts...the better!

Good overview, but a little more
Good historical synopsis and background, in a readable format. But I was a trifle disappointed in ther author's coverage of present-day AFSOC. After all, the back cover blurb tells us that Air Force STTs "swim like Navy SEALs, attack like the Army's Delta Force, and fight lke hell anywhere, anytime." Yet Mr. Kelly hardly goes into any detail about the training the PJs and combat controllers go through. It would be great to know what their PT requirements are, hand-to-hand combat training, types of different small arms utilized, marksmanship standards, etc. Considering how unheralded and underappreciated Air Force special ops teams are compared to the endless volumes written on SEALs, Green Berets, etc., the above-mentioned types details would provide valuable insight into just how good these guys really are. But hey, any book written by someone with "Orr" in their name has to be doing something right!