Military Afghanistan

War-organized violence against an enemy of the state-seems part and parcel of the American journey. Indeed, the United States was established by means of violence as ordinary citizens from New Hampshire to Georgia answered George Washington's call to arms. Since then, war has become a staple of American history. Counting the War for Independence, the United States has fought the armed forces of other nations at least twelve times, averaging a major conflict every twenty years.

The downing of Extortion 17 spurred a number of conspiracy theories, such as the idea that the shootdown was revenge for bin Laden's death. In The Final Mission of Extortion 17, Ed Darack debunks this theory and others and uncovers the truth behind this mysterious tragedy. His account of the brave pilots, crew, and passengers of Extortion 17 and the events of that fateful day is interwoven into a rich, complex narrative that also discusses modern joint combat operations and the history of the Afghan war to that date.

Afghanistan, a landlocked country in Central Asia, has improbably been at the center of international geopolitics for four decades. After the Soviet Union invaded in 1980, Afghanistan descended into an unending conflict that featured at various points most of the world's major powers. In Afghanistan: What Everyone Needs to Know, leading scholar Barnett R. Rubin provides an overview of this complicated nation. After providing a concise history of Afghanistan, he explores the various peoples and cultures of the country and its relations with neighbors like Pakistan and Iran.

An explosive, behind-the-scenes look into the workings of the U.S. war in Afghanistan that lifts the curtain of the world stage to reveal the devastating greed, waste, and failure surrounding this unwinnable war.

After being commissioned into the US Air Force, MJ Hegar was selected for pilot training by the Air National Guard, finished at the top of her class, then served three tours in Afghanistan flying combat search and rescue missions, culminating in a harrowing rescue attempt that would earn MJ the Purple Heart as well as the Distinguished Flying Cross with Valor Device. But it was on American soil that Hegar would embark on her greatest challenge - to eliminate the military's Ground Combat Exclusion Policy.

Senior Chief Turbo, Memoir of a Navy SEAL K-9 recounts the life of a military working dog named Turbo, from his birth in Holland and participation in Dutch police dog (KNPV) trials, to training with a Navy SEAL dog handler and joining him for two combat deployments to Afghanistan. Written from a dog's unique perspective, and based on actual, first-hand accounts of a SEAL handler-dog team, Senior Chief Turbo illustrates the bonds of loyalty and friendship that drive all warriors.

Jayson Clark was always the life of the party. He enjoyed goofing off, fooling around, and cracking jokes, all to keep people around him from guessing at his tortured past and the memories that threaten to destroy any peace he could have… until Molly somehow finds out the truth. Molly Goode deals with children all day long as a teacher – so she knew exactly how to handle her flirtatious pen pal, or so she thought. Stumbling upon Jayson’s past unexpectedly, she discovers the vulnerable secrets he keeps hidden away from the rest of the world. Could opening up to him, revealing her own ...

The Commander in Chief of the United States Central Command from July 2000 through July 2003, General Tommy Franks made history leading American and Coalition forces to victory in Afghanistan and Iraq, the decisive battles that launched the war on terrorism.

This audiobook challenges several longstanding notions about the American way of war. It examines US military practice (strategic and operational) from the War of Independence to the campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan to determine what patterns, if any, existed in the way Americans have used military force. Echevarria surveys all major US wars and most every small conflict in the country's military history.

From the author of The Noah Hunter series. Serve in the Shadows: Recruitment While on deployment in Afghanistan, Master Sergeant Derek Lawson of the 75th Ranger Regiment received a warning, barely in time to avoid a bullet from a hidden sniper. After a confused and thankful Derek looked for the person, there was no one to be found. Back at base camp, the master sergeant received news that his brother, Grant Lawson, was killed. Grant, a CIA officer, was murdered while he gathered pertinent information for a critically sensitive mission that involved a former Afghanistan bomb-maker coerced ...

In 2007, the U.S. Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade posted to northeastern Afghanistan's Kunar Province. Battle Company, the best within the Brigade, was assigned the toughest Area of Operations. It was called the Korengal Valley. During their fifteen-month tour, Battle Company saw more combat than any unit since Vietnam. Raw and unapologetic, To Quell the Korengal is a first-hand account of life on the front lines.

Relive six decades of flying helicopters, including an extended tour in Vietnam and the mountains of Afghanistan, with a little Iraq, Kuwait, and National Guard thrown in. This is Minuteman: Two, Three…Go! recounts Wayne Chasson’s times, from the early, young, and dumb days to becoming a more seasoned pilot of Huey and other helicopters in three American wars and the National Guard here at home. Chasson relives it all for us in this gritty and honest memoir — with humility, humor, and gratitude — as he himself is still trying to figure out how he made it through alive.

Returning from the Pacific on the aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan, a four-man SEAL Team is looking forward to a spell of R and R. The Pentagon has other ideas. An NSA agent is missing, kidnapped by terrorists, which is bad. He was carrying an unencrypted laptop loaded with details of US operations in the Gulf. Which is a catastrophe. Rod Cooper’s Team is tasked to get it back. As if the interruption to their well-deserved spell of leave couldn’t be worse, they discover the kidnappers, Shabbab, are based in Mogadishu, Somalia. Scene of previous US debacles, and infested with extreme ...

In the unforgiving landscape of Afghanistan's Tangi Valley, a military base tells its own extraordinary story. Neither human nor fully inanimate, this “square of dirt” becomes a sentient witness to the brutal rhythms of war, listening intently to the soldiers who build and inhabit it. From American soldiers wrestling with fear and purpose to Afghan troops left to defend an increasingly untenable position, from quiet moments of vulnerability to explosive confrontations, the base observes everything—collecting stories, counting losses, and understanding the futility of conflict in ways ...

Over a 35-year career, Daniel Bolger rose through the army infantry to become a three-star general, commanding in both theaters of the U.S. campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan. He participated in meetings with top-level military and civilian players, where strategy was made and managed. At the same time, he regularly carried a rifle alongside rank-and-file soldiers in combat actions - unusual for a general.

Frank K. Sobchak explores security force assistance across five case studies, examining what factors were most critical for U.S. Special Forces units to build capable partners

Elliot Ackerman left the American military ten years ago, but his time in Afghanistan and Iraq with the Marines and later as a CIA paramilitary officer marked him indelibly. When the Taliban began to close in on Kabul in August 2021 and the Afghan regime began its death spiral, he found himself pulled back into the conflict. Afghan nationals who had worked closely with the American military and intelligence communities for years now faced brutal reprisal and sought frantically to flee the country with their families.

Evan McMurphy is the son of a US Navy SEAL. The same as his three best buddies. Their fathers are often called away at short notice and are absent for long periods, which makes life kinda tough. They have something else in common. Outside school, a bunch of sneering bullies doing their best to make their lives miserable. They usually succeed. Inside school, dumbhead teachers who seem to compete with each other to make their monotonous lessons as boring as possible. Things should be better for Evan when he gets home. They aren’t. His mom is on a mission to drink the local liquor store dry....

Following September 11, the United States successfully overthrew the Taliban regime. It established security throughout the country, and Afghanistan finally began to emerge from more than two decades of conflict. But Jones argues that, as early as 2001, planning for the Iraq War siphoned off resources and talented personnel, undermining the gains that had been made. After eight years, the United States had pushed al-Qaeda’s headquarters about one hundred miles across the border into Pakistan.

"You will be a son, my daughter." With these stunning words Ukmina learned that she was to spend her childhood as a boy. In Afghanistan there is a widespread practice of girls dressing as boys to play the role of a son. These children are called bacha posh: literally "girls dressed as boys." This practice offers families the freedom to allow their child to shop and work - and in some cases, it saves them from the disgrace of not having a male heir. But in adolescence, religion restores the natural law.