Intrepid Warriors on Dangerous Missions Rangers, Scouts, and Raiders: Origin, Organization, and Operations of Selected Special Operations Forces. Michael Dilley. Casemate Publishers. 240 pages. $34.95 By Command Sgt. Maj. Jimmie Spencer, U.S. Army retired The need for military special mission units...

Today’s U.S. Army is in the midst of its most significant modernization transformation in more than 40 years. While the Army spent the first two decades of this century focusing on counterinsurgency operations in Southwest Asia and the Middle East, our near-peer adversaries narrowed and, in some...

In the vast Indo-Pacific, where the theater spans more than half of the Earth’s surface and port access is not guaranteed, the U.S. Army’s maritime force is set to play an outsize role as it transforms for the future. With a fleet of 74 watercraft systems and about 1,000 skilled maritime soldiers...

Physically exhausted and mentally depleted, soldiers in battle are expected to perform under arduous conditions. To prepare for this challenge, the U.S. Army emphasizes tough, realistic training, yet, outside of a training context and miles away from the support of other units, it is difficult to...

For two decades, one Army National Guard brigade has provided the nation with full-time protection against the most powerful weapons on Earth—nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles. The 100th Missile Defense Brigade (Ground-based Midcourse Defense), comprising largely Colorado, Alaska and...

A young trooper strode confidently into his company commander’s office. As the commander’s radio operator, he was used to being summoned on short notice, but the expression on the captain’s face told him immediately that something was wrong. Saluting smartly, the trooper stood at attention as the...

June 30, 1982, this then-17-year-old walked through the main gate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York. It was the eve of Reception Day for the incoming Class of 1986, and, in anticipation of the next day’s events, I went on a reconnaissance of the academy grounds. Abruptly, a red...