Relentless Strike: The Secret History of Joint Special Operations Command

by Sean Naylor

Overview

The New York Times Bestseller and Winner of the 2015 Army Historical Foundation Distinguished Writing Award for Unit History.

Since the attacks of September 11, one organization has been at the forefront of America's military response. Its efforts turned the tide against al-Qaida in Iraq, killed Bin Laden and Zarqawi, rescued Captain Phillips and captured Saddam Hussein. Its commander can direct cruise missile strikes from nuclear submarines and conduct special operations raids anywhere in the world.

Relentless Strike tells the inside story of Joint Special Operations Command, the secret military organization that during the past decade has revolutionized counterterrorism, seamlessly fusing intelligence and operational skills to conduct missions that hit the headlines, and those that have remained in the shadows-until now. Because JSOC includes the military's most storied special operations units-Delta Force, SEAL Team 6, the 75th Ranger Regiment-as well as America's most secret aviation and intelligence units, this is their story, too.

Relentless Strike reveals tension-drenched meetings in war rooms from the Pentagon to Iraq and special operations battles from the cabin of an MH-60 Black Hawk to the driver's seat of Delta Force's Pinzgauer vehicles as they approach their targets. Through exclusive interviews, reporter Sean Naylor uses his unique access to reveal how an organization designed in the 1980s for a very limited mission set transformed itself after 9/11 to become the military's premier weapon in the war against terrorism and how it continues to evolve today.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250105479
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	10/11/2016
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	560
Sales rank:	129,447
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.50(d)

About the Author

SEAN NAYLOR is the author of Relentless Strike. An award-winning defense journalist, he is the only reporter who focused on U.S. special ops forces as an exclusive beat for Army Times and he has consistently broken news on JSOC operations since 9/11. He has reported on military operations from Somalia to the Balkans to Afghanistan and Iraq. He writes for Foreign Policy and contributes to the New York Times. He has earned the White House Correspondents' Association's prestigious Edgar A. Poe Award for his coverage of Operation Anaconda, which led to his New York Times bestselling book about the operation, Not a Good Day to Die. He contributed to the explosive New York Times investigative piece "SEAL Team 6: A Secret History of Quiet Killings and Blurred Lines".

Table of Contents

Author's Note
Glossary
Prologue
Part I – The Ferrari in the Garage
Part II – A New Era Dawns
Part III – Building the Machine
Part IV – A Global Campaign
Endnotes
Bibliography
Acknowledgments

Editorial Reviews

Naylor informs and provokes . . . . His interviews with inside sources endow the narrative with a wealth of information, and the book benefits from Mr. Naylor’s familiarity with the subject . . . . Naylor succeeds splendidly in showing how and why the Joint Special Operations Command evolved—and why it will remain a valuable weapon.” —Wall Street Journal

"[An] explosive new history of American special operations." - The Washington Post

"A must-read book . . . A splendid — and real — adventure read." —The Washington Times

“All the intrigue one would expect from the stories of America's most highly classified and secretive military units. . . . Relentless Strike is likely the best definitive history of how America's special operations community rose like a Phoenix from the ashes of the Desert One fiasco to become the most capable elite fighting force in the world.” —Washington Monthly

“Naylor provides a step-by-step, mission-by-mission, behind-the-scenes account as special operations units under JSOC's umbrella, such as Delta Force and SEAL Team 6, along with its use of drone aircraft to monitor and attack terrorist targets, became better known than JSOC itself. Along the way, he offers numerous revelations.” —Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

“A comprehensive new book about U.S. special operations . . . . well-sourced and researched.” —Washington Examiner

“Fascinating…[Relentless Strike] might’ve sunk from the weight of its alphabet-agency acronyms in lesser hands. But Naylor, who spent 23 years covering military affairs at Army Times, often accompanying units into battle, sprinkles his 518 pages of heavily footnoted text with plenty of headline-worthy anecdotes. Naylor clearly admires the skill, tenacity and creativity of such troops. You’d think that the U.S. Special Operations Command…would quietly, if not publicly, appreciate the publication of this authoritative, largely admiring, history.” —Newsweek

"Relentless Strike [is] the real thing. . . . You will be fascinated. . . . Naylor has an unusual problem for a writer: He knows too damn much." - Foreign Policy


“Naylor (Not a Good Day to Die), a journalist who specializes in covering special operations, has produced the most complete history to date of the most secret organization within the U.S. military: the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). Given the organization's super-secret status, much of Naylor's engrossing material was gleaned from hundreds of interviews with former members. . . . Naylor's powerful and informative history is essential to understanding America's evolving military capability and the on-going war against global terrorism.” —Publishers Weekly

“A highly readable book that is part military history and part Tom Clancy novel, drawing the reader into tales of bravery and sacrifice on a sometimes unimaginable scale. . . . The history of America's most elite fighting force is told with panache and critical analysis, making this one of the must-read military history books of the year.” —NY Journal of Books

“The deeply reported, richly sourced, heavily footnoted tome tells the story of the creation of the world’s most effective and lethal manhunting organization. . . . What makes Relentless Strike an indispensable history and a hell of a read is how Naylor uses his tremendous access to the community, a treasure of existing literature and documents on the subject, and superb insight to craft a book that informs and entertains.” —Tampa Bay Tribune

“A superb piece of writing . . . . An exceptionally well written, lucid and comprehensive account as to the rise and supremacy of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) on today’s battlefields. . . . The book is extraordinary and is probably better and more detailed than that which would be produced by the several Command historians.” —Foreign Policy

“Over the past quarter-century, Sean Naylor has become one of the country's foremost experts on special operations forces.” —Military Times

“A smoothly penned and thoroughly researched account of an important military asset in the ongoing U.S. war against terrorism.” —Library Journal

“A history of the Joint Special Operations Command, one of the most elite and little-understood pieces of the American military. While most people know about Delta Force and SEAL Team 6, few have heard of their umbrella group, JSOC. . . . Naylor delivers an unquestionably comprehensive history.” —Kirkus Reviews

"Increasingly viewed as a 'must read' in the defense community" - Mark Safranski, Zenpundit.com

From the Publisher

07/13/2015
Naylor (Not a Good Day to Die), a journalist who specializes in covering special operations, has produced the most complete history to date of the most secret organization within the U.S. military: the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC). Given the organization’s super-secret status, much of Naylor’s engrossing material was gleaned from hundreds of interviews with former members. He traces the evolution of the organization, its tactics, and its missions, beginning with JSOC’s inauspicious conception in the wake of the failed 1979 Iran hostage rescue mission and ending in 2014 with the successful rescue of an American and a Danish aid worker abducted by Somali pirates. According to Naylor, after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, JSOC’s mission set, size, and capabilities expanded significantly, to the point where it became “America’s premier weapon in the war against terrorism.” Over the course of the Iraq War, JSOC developed a sophisticated global intelligence capability that rivaled the CIA’s, and was linked to America’s elite commando units. Naylor’s narrative covers everything from briefings in the White House to SEAL firefights in the mountains of Afghanistan. He also describes the failures, rivalries, conflicts of personality, and arguments over strategy that are as characteristic of JSOC as its tactical excellence. Naylor’s powerful and informative history is essential to understanding America’s evolving military capability and the on-going war against global terrorism. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

07/01/2015
All nations have secrets, and their militaries doubly so. The operations of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) represents one of the most secretive U.S. military units. Formed in 1980 after President Jimmy Carter's failed effort to rescue the Iran hostages, JSOC has developed into a highly efficient antiterrorist organization nestled inside the complex U.S. military command. Within JSOC are some of the most storied special ops groups including Delta Force, SEAL Team Six, and other top-secret counterterrorism forces. For such a concealed topic, it's remarkable how much information is available, and Naylor (Not a Good Day To Die) appears to have used them all. Off-the-record interviews with current members of these groups add impressive detail. Naylor knows his subject well, especially the recent American military involvement in Afghanistan, and has a sure handle on the acronym-filled nature of the contemporary American military. Having been a reporter for Army Times, the author provides a valuable synthesis of the secret organization that sponsored the killing of Osama bin Laden. VERDICT A smoothly penned and thoroughly researched account of an important military asset in the ongoing U.S. war against terrorism.—Ed Goedeken, Iowa State Univ. Lib., Ames

Library Journal

2015-06-16
A history of the Joint Special Operations Command, one of the most elite and little-understood pieces of the American military. While most people know about Delta Force and SEAL Team 6, few have heard of their umbrella group, JSOC. The secret organization was first designed to rescue American captives during the Iran hostage crisis, and although the crisis was resolved before JSOC could unleash its elite units, the group grew exponentially over the next two decades. Naylor (Not a Good Day to Die: The Untold Story of Operation Anaconda, 2005) provides a whirlwind tour of the organization's many covert operations, from apprehending Manuel Noriega in Panama to hunting war criminals in the former Yugoslavia. But the author's primary interest is the war on terror, beginning with 9/11. Not only does he characterize JSOC as the allied forces' most essential wing, but he also describes the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq as a major opportunity for American task forces. As Lt. Col. Pete Blaber put it, "At this point, the staff of our higher headquarters was ready to approve just about anything we brought to them—and they did." Naylor delivers an unquestionably comprehensive history, but the prose sometimes drowns in names, dates, and clinical anecdotes. Occasionally, the author provides vivid visual descriptions, but most of the book is devoid of human faces. The prose is written in emotionless Army-speak, and many of Naylor's sources spoke, as can be expected in such a book, on condition of anonymity. As one nameless official describes JSOC, "It was so, so top secret that it was extremely difficult to do our job." In the prologue, the author admits that this secrecy slowed his research. His information is strong, but his story is monotonous, and the final chapter dully peters out.Packed with anecdotes that will appeal to dedicated military buffs, but the encyclopedic prose will lose average readers.

Kirkus Reviews