Novedades

In 2006, the shock and awe campaign of securing the major cities had ended, and the Iraq War had moved into an alien phase for the operators of Black Flag One. With their motto “swift, silent, deadly,” the Marine operators of 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion were trained for unconventional warfare but they were tasked with holding and securing swathes of the country, facing Insurgents who were adapting their tactics to kill as many Coalition soldiers as possible using IEDs.

With a new century and a new enemy came a new kind of war: low intensity and civilian-dominated, blending austere rural and dense urban environments alike. Into this new kind of war, the American military launched two invasions against terrorist networks and military rivals, relying on airpower—close air support (CAS)—at a scale never before seen.

Casey J. Culler tells the story of his service in the United States Army in Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait, and at bases in the continental United States such as Fort Bragg, North Carolina, Fort Benning, Georgia, and his life near Mount Airy, North Carolina, the town made famous as Mayberry in The Andy Griffith Show (1960-1968). Casey Culler was originally from Mount Airy, North Carolina, and graduated from North Surry High School in 1996. He joined the Army in the summer of 2001, and his world, like so many others, was sent in another direction after 9/11. Casey spent the first two ...

A candid and multifaceted look at life as a security contractor in Iraq in the early years after the American invasion. It’s not just a story of surviving IEDs and firefights while protecting American contractors—though those moments are vividly recounted—it’s also an exploration of the broader, often unexpected, experiences that defined the author’s two and a half years in Iraq.