Sublime

During the Cold War, expeditionary missions had been assigned to specialized units – the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions in the US Army, the Parachute Regiment in the British Army, and the Foreign Legion in the French Army.

World War II saw the development of other specialized units. Merritt Edson organized and led a marine raider battalion, one of four that the corps organized during the war. Edson won the Medal of Honor for his defense of a critical ridge overlooking the airfield at Guadalcanal, but this was an entirely conventional military operation. The army

2001. The attacks on September 11 made clear that some terrorists would not be constrained by fear of provoking a devastating response to mass casualty events. On the contrary, the terrorists made it clear they wanted to provoke a massive U.S. response that their previous attacks had failed to stimulate. The attacks also seemed to demonstrate that

In January 1942, two memoranda arrived on Holcomb’s desk within a week of each other suggesting the creation of Marine Corps commandos. The first was from his superior, Admiral Ernest J. King, the recently appointed Chief of Naval Operations. As enamored with defense as he was with temperance—“When they get in trouble they send for the

Marty Skovlund and coauthors’ Violence of Action: The Untold Stories of the 75th Ranger Regiment in the War on Terror (Skovlund 2014).

Royal Navy

Special Warfare,