Special Forces Berlin Lib/E: Clandestine Cold War Operations of the Us Army's Elite, 1956-1990

The massive armies of the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies posed a huge threat to the nations of Western Europe. U.S. military planners decided they needed a plan to slow the juggernaut they expected when and if a war began. The plan was Special Forces Berlin. Their mission should hostilities commence was to wreak havoc behind enemy lines, and buy time for vastly outnumbered NATO forces to conduct a breakout from the city. In reality it was an ambitious and extremely dangerous mission, even suicidal. Highly trained and fluent in German, each man was allocated a specific area. They were skilled in clandestine operations, sabotage, and intelligence tradecraft, and able to act as independent operators, blending into the local population and working unseen in a city awash with spies looking for information on their every move. Special Forces Berlin was a one of a kind unit that had no parallel. It left a legacy of a new type of soldier expert in unconventional warfare, one that was sought after for missions such as the attempted rescue of American hostages from Tehran in 1979. With the U.S. government officially acknowledging their existence in 2014, their incredible story can now be told.

About the Author :
James Stejskal hails from the Great Plains of Nebraska. After a short stint at the University of Nebraska he enlisted in the US Army. He served with U. S. Army Special Forces in many interesting place worldwide, including Germany, the Balkans, the Middle East, and Africa before retiring as a Chief Warrant Officer 4 (CWO4) after twenty-three years. He then worked as a security consultant for a U. S.-based, non-governmental organization in central Africa during the Rwandan insurgency and second Congo War. In the last century, he was recruited by the Central Intelligence Agency and served as a senior intelligence operations officer (Case Officer) in Africa, Europe, and the Far East before retiring again. A military historian and conflict archaeologist, he is the author of a number of articles on military history and a well-received book, The Horns of the Beast: The Swakop River Campaign and World War I in South-West Africa, 1914-15. He currently lives in Alexandria, Virginia, with his wife, Wanda. Tim Campbell, winner of AudioFile Earphones Awards, is a narrator and actor based in Los Angeles, California. He studied at the University of California and earned a BA in music and theater and a certification from the prestigious Great Books program at Pepperdine University, where he graduated magna cum laude. He is also a classically trained singer and performs regularly with the Los Angeles Master Chorale and Los Angeles Opera Chorus, as well as on studio soundtracks for film and television.

Review :
Reads like a thriller for much of the time - a small, select force ready for action should the Soviets escalate their activities in Western Europe - nothing much has changed in the last sixty years or so!-- "Books Monthly"