米大統領は重大な作戦を実行する際、必ず米軍の特殊部隊に任務を与えます。2011年5月、SEAL（米海軍特殊部隊）チーム6名は、10年近くに及んだ捜索の末、真夜中にパキスタンにあったウサーマ・ビン・ラーディンの屋敷に潜入・殺害し、遺体をアフガニスタンに回収することに成功しました。これによって特殊部隊に対する注目は一気に高まりました。
米国民は特殊部隊を圧倒的に支持し、諸外国は彼らを米国で最も有能な戦闘部隊と認識しています。特殊部隊とはどのような起源を持ち、軍隊組織の中でどのような役割を担い、どのような任務を遂行して、何を達成することが期待されているのでしょうか。本書は、米国家安全保障アーカイブのジョン・プラドスが、その深い専門知識を生かして、世界最強のエリート部隊について簡潔な概要を提供します。米軍は長いこと特殊部隊を採用してきましたが、現在の形になったのは冷戦時代で、本格的な運用はベトナム戦争からです。冷戦後はテロを安全保障上の脅威として認識しながら、特殊部隊を急速に縮小した時期があり、これをレーガン政権下で復活させることになります。9.11以降は爆発的な成長を遂げ、現在では正規軍の多くの機能を引き継ぎ、米軍の戦略・戦術の中心的役割を担う存在になっています。そうした歴史的経緯をたどり、特殊部隊が果たすさまざまな役割について考察します。
    

• Tackles a fascinating subject of widespread general interest
• Includes short biographies of major figures in the forces along with the history of the the SEALs, Delta Force, the Green Berets, and the USAF's Special Tactics squad
• Outlines the role the forces play in the larger military structure, what trainees go through, and the types of missions they perform
• Written in an easily-accessible Q&A format

 
The assassination of Osama bin Laden by SEAL Team 6 in May 2011 will certainly figure among the greatest achievements of US Special Forces. After nearly ten years of searching, they descended into his Pakistan compound in the middle of the night, killed him, and secreted the body back into Afghanistan. Interest in these forces had always been high, but it spiked to new levels following this success. There was a larger lesson here too. For serious jobs, the president invariably turns to the US Special Forces: the SEALs, Delta Force, the Green Berets, and the USAF's Special Tactics squad. Given that secretive grab-and-snatch operations in remote locales characterize contemporary warfare as much as traditional firefights, the Special Forces now fill a central role in American military strategy and tactics. 
   
Not surprisingly, the daring and secretive nature of these commando operations has generated a great deal of interest. The American public has an overwhelmingly favorable view of the forces, and nations around the world recognize them as the most capable fighting units: the tip of the American spear, so to speak. But how much do we know about them? What are their origins? What function do they fill in the larger military structure? Who can become a member? What do trainees have to go through? What sort of missions do Special Forces perform, and what are they expected to accomplish? Despite their importance, much of what they do remains a mystery because their operations are clandestine and the sources elusive. 
      
In The US Special Forces: What Everyone Needs to Know, eminent scholar John Prados brings his deep expertise to the subject and provides a pithy primer on the various components of America's special forces. The US military has long employed Special Forces in some form or another, but it was in the Cold War when they assumed their present form, and in Vietnam where they achieved critical mass. Interestingly, the Special Forces suffered a rapid decline in numbers after that conflict despite the fact that the United States had already identified terrorism as a growing security threat. The revival of Special Forces began under the Reagan administration. After 9/11 they experienced explosive growth, and are now integral to all US military missions. Prados traces how this happened and examines the various roles the Special Forces now play. They have taken over many functions of the regular military, a trend that Prados does not expect will end any time soon. 
     
This will be a definitive primer on the elite units in the most powerful military the world has ever known.