Chosen Soldier: The Making of a Special Forces Warrior

( 35 )

Overview

In combating terror, America can no longer depend on its conventional military superiority and the use of sophisticated technology. More than ever, we need men like those of the Army Special Forces-the legendary Green Berets.

In Chosen Soldier, Dick Couch draws on nearly a year spent at Special Forces training facilities and offers an unprecedented view of the education of these men. Following the experiences of one class of soldiers as they endure this physically and mentally ...

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Chosen Soldier: The Making of a Special Forces Warrior

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More About This Book

Overview

In combating terror, America can no longer depend on its conventional military superiority and the use of sophisticated technology. More than ever, we need men like those of the Army Special Forces-the legendary Green Berets.

In Chosen Soldier, Dick Couch draws on nearly a year spent at Special Forces training facilities and offers an unprecedented view of the education of these men. Following the experiences of one class of soldiers as they endure this physically and mentally exhausting ordeal, Couch spells out in fascinating detail the demanding selection process and grueling field exercises, the high-level technical training and intensive language courses, and the simulated battle problems that test everything from how well SF candidates gather operational intelligence to their skills at negotiating with volatile, often hostile, local leaders. Chosen Soldier paints a vivid portrait of an elite group, and a process that forges America's smartest, most versatile, and most valuable fighting force.

About the Author:
Dick Couch, a former Navy SEAL, is the author of The Warrior Elite: The Forging of SEAL Class 228

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Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

Among America's Special Forces, the Green Berets stand out because they can "do it all," according to this enthusiastic account of their training. Ex-SEAL Couch (Down Range) explains that Green Berets not only fight, they teach: living in the world's hot spots, they speak the language, win the trust of the locals, and train and fight alongside them to defeat a common enemy. They are the "Peace Corps with guns" and the key to winning the war on terror, he asserts. Only the most fit, smart, stable and multilingual need apply, but training is so rigorous that recruits first undergo 25 days of pretraining, from which only one-third proceed to Green Beret school, where attrition continues. Military buffs will enjoy the descriptions of exhausting marches, realistic combat simulations, high-tech weapons and dramatic instructor/student interactions. Though Thomas Ricks showed in Making the Corpsthat one can write an admiring account of an elite military unit without neglecting its warts and missteps, Couch loves the Green Berets too much to look beneath the surface; still. he tells an entertaining story. 16-page full-color insert. (Mar.)

Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
Former Navy SEAL Couch redeploys the you-are-there approach of The Warrior Elite (2001) to depict the grueling training undergone by Army Special Forces Class 8-04. Popularly known as the Green Berets, this elite program has a graduation rate of less than one in five. Beginning in August 2004, the author stayed for ten months at Camp Mackall in North Carolina, following the men closely as they were winnowed and hardened by the Special Forces Qualification Course and subsequent specialized training programs. First, however, Couch gives civilian readers some basic information about the mission and organization of Special Forces, a group that he believes is essential to winning the global war on terrorism. Standards are high, and candidates undergo mental and psychological screening as well as physical and professional assessment. The Green Berets, Couch stresses, are soldier-teachers who must be able to connect with and train local people to battle insurgents in their own country. Using lots of army acronyms and lingo, the veteran novelist (Silent Descent, 1993, etc.) creates an on-the-spot picture of the men's tough, dirty and exhausting daily life. Couch not only observes and reports on the exceptionally demanding classroom- and field-training, he interviews many students and their instructors. Class members, here given pseudonyms, seem to talk freely about their reasons for being in the program and their reactions to the training; staff comments about the men (including those who leave, voluntarily or involuntarily) are also frank. Macho prose full of praise for would-be warriors and the men who train them, seemingly designed to enthrall young men, boost recruitment and please the army.
From the Publisher
"Definitive . . . insightful . . . should be read by every American who despairs [about] current tumult." —-Linda Robinson, author of Masters of Chaos
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780307339393
  • Publisher: Crown Publishing Group
  • Publication date: 3/25/2008
  • Edition description: Reprint
  • Pages: 416
  • Sales rank: 153,233
  • Product dimensions: 5.16 (w) x 7.98 (h) x 0.87 (d)

Meet the Author


Dick Couch is a 1967 graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy. He graduated from BUD/S Class 45 in 1969, and was the class Honorman. As Whiskey Platoon Commander with SEAL Team One in Vietnam, he led one of the only successful POW rescue operations of that conflict. Following his releas from active duty in the Navy, he served as a maritime and paramilitary case officer with the CIA. In 1997, he retired from the Naval Reserve with the rank of Captain. Dick is also the author ofThe Finishing School, Chosen Soldier, and Down Range, as well as four novels: Seal Team One, Pressure Point, Silent Descent, and Rising Wind. He lives with his wife, Julia, in Ketchum, Idaho. Kevin Foley has over thirty years' experience in radio and television broadcasting, commercial voice-overs, and audiobook narration. He has recorded over 150 audiobooks, including Storm Rising by Gary Naiman, 100 Ways to Bring Out Your Best by Roger Fritz, The Last Witness by Joel Goldman, and River Thunder by Gary McCarthy, for which he earned a Spur Award for Best Audiobook from the Western Writers of America. He has also won an Earphones Award from AudioFile magazine for his narration of Cognitive Surplus by Clay Shirky.
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Table of Contents

Foreword   Robert D. Kaplan     xiii
Introduction     1
Special Forces 101-History, Training, and Organization     21
Recruiting the Unconventional     45
The Preparation     61
The Selection     99
Special Forces Tactics     153
The 18 Series     209
The Detachment Commander     251
Robin Sage     287
Epilogue: After-Action Review     367
Glossary of Acronyms and Military Nomenclature     394
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Customer Reviews

Average Rating 4
( 35 )
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(16)

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(11)

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See All Sort by: Showing 1 – 20 of 36 Customer Reviews

  • Posted November 30, 2009

    more from this reviewer

    I Also Recommend:

    The Finishing School: Earning the Navy SEAL Trident
    Down Range: Navy SEALs in the War on Terrorism
    The Warrior Elite: The Forging of SEAL Class 228

    A poignant observation of US Army Special Forces Training

    Mr. Couch knows how to really put into writing the trials that are endured in the course of training US military special operators for duty, and this book is no exception. His writing is clear and concise, yet moving all the same. You feel as if you also get to know these Special Forces candidates as individuals with hopes and aspirations and not just as names.

    Likewise, if it's detail you're after, Dick Couch does not disappoint. Those familiar with his writings on SEAL team training will find this book covers different ground, which is expected since the Special Forces mission tasking is a good bit different from that of SEALs. Nevertheless, you'll be taken on the training ranges with these courageous, spirited men and slog through a land navigation practical right along with them, among many other training evolutions.

    If this is the first taste of Dick Couch's non-fiction, I believe you'll be pleasantly surprised and engrossed. If you're an old hand though, there's no disappointment to be found here. I'm anxiously awaiting to see if Mr. Couch is granted access to other special operations training venues. I think he's certainly found one more calling to add to an already impressive list of lifetime literary and military accomplishments.

    HOO YAH, Mr. Couch!

    4 out of 4 people found this review helpful.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted August 1, 2012

    Mehhh!

    Not that great of a book. I guess i might have expected to much and was let down

    1 out of 3 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted May 30, 2012

    more from this reviewer

    I Also Recommend:

    The Finishing School: Earning the Navy SEAL Trident

    Mr. Couch brings exceptional attention to detail, a passion for

    Mr. Couch brings exceptional attention to detail, a passion for interacting with the current generation of special operations personnel, and his own perspective as a retired US Navy SEAL officer & CIA case officer to his observations of Special Forces training. He thanks the chain of command for the exceptional access that he was granted, and draws the reader into the story by going beyond the details of the training evolutions & military hardware into the personal lives of the SF trainees and their instructors (while changing names as appropriate). I was slightly disappointed by the subtle change in passion from the author relative to his previous works on SEAL training (i.e., The Finishing School), but I'd still strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning about the training and missions of the US Army Special Forces ("Green Berets"). Finally, I'd like to state that I completely support the author's assertion that the "by, with, and through" approach of the SF is critical to our engagements in Iraq & Afghanistan. As a former Marine, I have been very impressed by Mr. Couch's books.

    1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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  • Posted February 23, 2009

    I Also Recommend:

    Masters of Chaos: The Secret History of the Special Forces

    fantastic book

    great informative book about not only knowing what it take's, but what it take's to become part of a select brotherhood in the US Army!

    0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

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