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Author : Joseph D. Celeski
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 0 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (139 download)
Download or read book Special Air Warfare and the Secret War in Laos: Air Commandos 1964-1975 written by Joseph D. Celeski and published by . This book was released on 2022 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Author : Air University Press
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781079351712
Total Pages : 516 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (517 download)
Download or read book Special Air Warfare and the Secret War in Laos written by Air University Press and published by . This book was released on 2019-07-02 with total page 516 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of special air warfare and the Air Commandos who served for the ambassadors in Laos from 1964 to 1975 is captured through extensive research and veteran interviews. The author has meticulously put together a comprehensive overview of the involvement of USAF Air Commandos who served in Laos as trainers, advisors, and clandestine combat forces to prevent the communist takeover of the Royal Lao Government. This book includes pictures of those operations, unveils what had been a US government secret war, and adds a substantial contribution to understanding the wider war in Southeast Asia.
Author : Eugene D. Rossel
Publisher : Xlibris Corporation
ISBN 13 : 1514480050
Total Pages : 421 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (144 download)
Download or read book Usaf Air Commando Secret Wars from Laos to Latin America written by Eugene D. Rossel and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2016-07-15 with total page 421 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Air Commando secret wars happened mostly during the Vietnam War time frame and was a global effort involving USAF volunteer personnel who were given official military orders that did not necessarily specify the country they served in, and civilian clothes were many times authorized. Later they had great difficulty proving that they served in many of these countries, which affected their future VA care. These operations were used to strengthen normally a poor country with little military resources and training with secret warriors frequently being there doing some of their legwork behind the scenes. All the operations were tight-lipped, frequently forbidden to tell families where you were and what you were doing. As an example; Capt. Bob Simpsons death, the first fighter pilot KIA in Vietnam in August 1962, became a total fabrication of where, why, and how and took a number of years before the government came clean because of my efforts. Secret wars have a long history, and they will continue because of the interest of more-powerful nations with their less fortunate brethren.
Author : Christopher Robbins
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 496 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)
Download or read book The Ravens written by Christopher Robbins and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 496 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Author : Michael E. Haas
Publisher : DIANE Publishing
ISBN 13 : 9780788149832
Total Pages : 388 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (498 download)
Download or read book Apollo's Warriors written by Michael E. Haas and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 1998-05 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presenting a fascinating insider's view of U.S.A.F. special operations, this volume brings to life the critical contributions these forces have made to the exercise of air & space power. Focusing in particular on the period between the Korean War & the Indochina wars of 1950-1979, the accounts of numerous missions are profusely illustrated with photos & maps. Includes a discussion of AF operations in Europe during WWII, as well as profiles of Air Commandos who performed above & beyond the call of duty. Reflects on the need for financial & political support for restoration of the forces. Bibliography. Extensive photos & maps. Charts & tables.
Author : Jan Churchill
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 186 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)
Download or read book Classified Secret written by Jan Churchill and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 186 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Author : Air University Press
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781521032589
Total Pages : 331 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (325 download)
Download or read book Apollo's Warriors: U. S. Air Force Special Operations During the Cold War - Secret Psywar Weapons, Indochina War, Air Commandos, Covert War Missions written by Air University Press and published by . This book was released on 2017-04-09 with total page 331 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In Apollo's Warriors, Michael Haas brings to life the critical, albeit little-known, contributions US Air Force special operations forces have made to the exercise of air and space power.The author focuses in particular on the period between the Korean War and the Indochina wars of 1950-79. The Korean War marked the first major use of Air Force special operations capabilities during the cold war. Capabilities previously employed during the Second World War were quickly resurrected and used to conduct unconventional warfare missions on the land and sea, as well as in the air. Once these capabilities were available, USAF special operations personnel found themselves constantly engaged in psychological, covert, and search and rescue operations far north of the 38th parallel until the war ended in 1953.During the period between 1953 and the initial force deployments to Laos and South Vietnam in the early 1960s, the Air Resupply and Communications (ARC) units had the primary responsibility for USAF special operations. The role of USAF special operations changed dramatically with the increased involvement of the United States in the Second Indochina War. One of the more interesting changes was the reconstitution of the Air Commando concept of the Second World War. During that war, the Air Commandos conducted effective aerial invasions throughout the China-Burma-India theater. Building on this legacy, the Air Commandos of the Vietnam era initially were the focal point for training Laotian pilots and conducting unconventional warfare operations in Laos. By 1968, they had proved so valuable that their role had been expanded to encompass all USAF special operations in Indochina. As a reflection of this broader mission, the Air Commandos were renamed the Special Operations Forces.CONTENTS * PRELUDE: BEFORE THE BEGINNING * Special Operations in Europe * The Air Commandos * KOREA * THE RETURN TO WAR * THE SHADOW WAR * The War: Center Stage * The War behind the Curtain * Aviary and Unit 4 in Action * SPECIAL AIR MISSIONS * FIREFLY, LEAFLET, AND PICKUP OPERATIONS * NICHOLS'S "ONE-MAN WAR" * SPECIAL OPERATIONS BY USAF "SAILORS" * USAF'S SECRET PSYWAR WEAPON * Organizations and Missions * Tales of the 581st * COVERT WAR * THE AIR RESUPPLY AND COMMUNICATIONS SERVICE * A Chilling Fear * An "Agency outside DOD" Makes a Request * Going Too Fast * Psywarriors from Georgetown University to Fort Benning * The Air Resupply and Communications Service Balloon Program * Operation Think * THE "COLD ARCS" AND THE IRON CURTAIN * Blue Suits, Green Berets, Hidden Faces * The SA-16s' "Silent Success" * From H&B to AMA * The Last of the Breed * THE GUARD GETS THE NOD * "BANDITS" ON THE ROOF OF THE WORLD * "THEY HAD NO AIR SUPPORT" * Operation Pluto * Aftermath * THE SECOND INDOCHINA WAR * LAOS 1961: THE KEY DOMINO * A Blue Major in the Black World * No Faces, No Serial Numbers * A Primer in "Cold War 101" * LAOS 1964: THE BRUISED DOMINO * A Wilderness of Mirrors * Teaching the "ABCs" of the Secret War * LAOS 1966: THE BLOODY DOMINO * Snake Country * Tigers and Eagles Go Snake Hunting * The Nimrods * Zorro! * The Skyraiders * LAOS: INSIDE THE DOMINO * AT THE TIP OF THE SPEAR * FIGHTING WITH THE HEART * THE RANCH HAND PROJECT * THE DRAGONSHIP * Aftermath * THE SHADOW * THE PREDATOR * THE "OTHER" WAR * THE 75TH AIR STUDIES GROUP * Duck Hook, Combat Spear, and OPLAN 34A * The "Bringers of Death" * Green Hornets and Knives * A Bitter Postscript to the War * BARBARA'S SECRET * The Players * From Duke to Takhli * Execute! * The Scapegoats * Son Tay With 20-20 Hindsight * AIR COMMANDOS ABOVE AND BEYOND THE CALL * Maj Bernard F. Fisher, 1st Air Commando Squadron * Lt Col Joe M. Jackson, 311th Air Commando Squadron * Lt Col William A. Jones III, 602d Special Operations Squadron * 1st Lt James P. Fleming, 20th Special Operations Squadron * Airman 1st Class John L. Levitow, 3d Air Commando Squadron
Author : Billy G. Webb
Publisher : Xlibris Corporation
ISBN 13 : 9781453564851
Total Pages : 473 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (648 download)
Download or read book Secret War written by Billy G. Webb and published by Xlibris Corporation. This book was released on 2010 with total page 473 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If war really is an extension of politics by other means, as Carl von Clausewitz declared back in 1827, then few wars have served as better examples than the Secret War in Laos from 1961-1975. A clandestine conflict fought in parallel with the Vietnam War, the Laotian Secret War ostensibly set the United States, Thailand, and various Laotian factions against Ho Chi Minh's North Vietnamese Army (NVA). In practice, the conflict was as much a civil war as an invasion; and ultimately, it devolved into a slow-motion act of suicide on the part of the Lao nation itself. The U.S. military and its Laotian Hmong allies, led by the resourceful General Vang Pao, made a disciplined effort to prosecute the war though from beginning to end, that effort was steeped in self-serving politics, and hamstrung by factional infighting, irrational decision-making, and self-imposed constraints that ultimately hurt more than they helped. Micromanagement by officers and clueless politicians far from the front was bad enough; far worse was the corruption of the head-butting Lao factions, who seemed unable to see beyond their own immediate needs and certainly had no vision for a strong, united Laos. The so-called Rightists, Leftists, and Neutralist factions simply could not wrap their heads around the concept that their only hope of survival lay in coming together against the relentless, well-equipped NVA. In fact, one faction, the Pathet Lao, repeatedly allied with the NVA against their own countrymen. But the Americans and Vang Pao's Hmong, those who repeatedly found themselves on the sharp end of the spear in the face of waffling, lack of discipline, and, occasionally, sheer cowardice on the part of their allies, refused to give up until, finally, their political leadership turned their backs on them. This is the story of those brave men, and the civilians who helped them fight an increasingly painful and mismanaged war. It was a war in which the political leaders involved proved conclusively that they had learned nothing from history or simply didn't care. Through ineptitude and back-room politicking, the leadership of both Laos and the United States eventually gave Laos to the Communists who proceeded to crush the Lao people into the dust, in the name of a morally bankrupt ideology that they themselves neither practiced nor truly believed in. Billy G. Webb lays out their story with both great precision and compassion in this lively, well-researched book, outlining the events that led us into the morass of the Secret War, and then detailing each bloody campaign of each bloody year. In addition to following the key characters on the U.S./Laotian side, especially the charismatic Vang Pao, he peppers the story with tales of courageous individuals who fell victim to the NVA and the Pathet Lao and, occasionally, the stupidity, incompetence, and gutlessness of people they trusted. Some survived to fight again; but many of these men, military and otherwise, paid the ultimate sacrifice in their fight to keep Laos free. Webb takes special care to showcase two organizations: the brave Forward Air Controllers who called themselves "the Ravens," and Air America, a civilian company (run by the CIA) that supported the military effort and aided the Lao populace whenever they were called upon. Few people have ever heard of the Ravens, those USAF and Army airmen who risked life and limb in tiny Cessna aircraft to locate targets for bombers and fighters to strike. Air America is more famous, due to the 1990 movie of the same name a film that unfairly maligned Air America as a parcel service for Laotian powerbrokers moving drugs and gold out of the country. Webb sets the record emphatically straight. That's not to say that such things weren't happening in Laos; they were. In hindsight, it's easy to condemn the CIA and the U.S. military leadership for allowing the corruption to spread; but as Nietzsche has pointed out, when you look long in
Author : Brinda Dobberfuhl
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 166 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (111 download)
Download or read book Secret War Laos 1970: Stories of Survival and Courage Against Great Odds written by Brinda Dobberfuhl and published by . This book was released on 2021-05-27 with total page 166 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This work is an expression of my experiences as a Raven Forward Air Controller during the secret war in Laos. My window of participation was from December 1969 thru June 1970. This work is about people I knew who risk their life in a fight for the freedom of others and whose lives were twisted and tempered in the crucible of Regional Civil Wars. This is a story of promise, betrayal, and hardship that progressed to a refugee gateway leading to compassion, freedom, education, and prosperity. The Hmong, Lao, Cambodian, Montagnard, and Vietnamese refugees from the Vietnam Area War produced vibrant communities in the United States. The Hmong preserved and learned to adapt to the American system without losing their cultural identity as Hmong or Americans. The Hmong have cleared the path and set the example for new refugees to follow.
Author : John L. Plaster
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 384 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)
Download or read book SOG written by John L. Plaster and published by . This book was released on 1997 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As colorful as they were heroic, the S.O.G. commandos won 10 Medals of Honor, dozens of Purple Hearts, Silver Stars, and other awards, and generated some of the most extraordinary stories ever to come out of the Vietnam War. Here are the never-before-revealed exploits of this top secret commando unit as told by a former member and participant. Includes eight pages of photos.
Author : Kenneth Conboy
Publisher : University Press of Kansas
ISBN 13 : 0700611479
Total Pages : 358 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (6 download)
Download or read book Spies and Commandos written by Kenneth Conboy and published by University Press of Kansas. This book was released on 2000-03-16 with total page 358 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the Vietnam war, the United States sought to undermine Hanoi's subversion of the Saigon regime by sending Vietnamese operatives behind enemy lines. A secret to most Americans, this covert operation was far from secret in Hanoi: all of the commandos were killed or captured, and many were turned by the Communists to report false information. Spies and Commandos traces the rise and demise of this secret operation-started by the CIA in 1960 and expanded by the Pentagon beginning in1964-in the first book to examine the program from both sides of the war. Kenneth Conboy and Dale Andrade interviewed CIA and military personnel and traveled in Vietnam to locate former commandos who had been captured by Hanoi, enabling them to tell the complete story of these covert activities from high-level decision making to the actual experiences of the agents. The book vividly describes scores of dangerous missions-including raids against North Vietnamese coastal installations and the air-dropping of dozens of agents into enemy territory-as well as psychological warfare designed to make Hanoi believe the "resistance movement" was larger than it actually was. It offers a more complete operational account of the program than has ever been made available-particularly its early years-and ties known events in the war to covert operations, such as details of the "34-A Operations" that led to the Tonkin Gulf incidents in 1964. It also explains in no uncertain terms why the whole plan was doomed to failure from the start. One of the remarkable features of the operation, claim the authors, is that its failures were so glaring. They argue that the CIA, and later the Pentagon, was unaware for years that Hanoi had compromised the commandos, even though some agents missed radio deadlines or filed suspicious reports. Operational errors were not attributable to conspiracy or counterintelligence, they contend, but simply to poor planning and lack of imagination. Although it flourished for ten years under cover of the wider war, covert activity in Vietnam is now recognized as a disaster. Conboy and Andrade's account of that episode is a sobering tale that lends a new perspective on the war as it reclaims the lost lives of these unsung spies and commandos.
Author : Office of Air Force History and U S Air
Publisher : CreateSpace
ISBN 13 : 9781511581059
Total Pages : 112 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (81 download)
Download or read book USAF Plans and Policies in South Vietnam and Laos, 1964 written by Office of Air Force History and U S Air and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2015-04-04 with total page 112 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study emphasizes Headquarters USAF's plans and policies with respect to South Vietnam and Laos in 1964. In the first four chapters the author describes the progressive military and political decline of the Saigon regime, after two government coups, and the efforts by U.S. authorities to cope with this problem. He notes especially the view of the Air Force Chief of Staff, Gen. Curtis E. LeMay, frequently stated, that only air strikes on North Vietnam could end the insurgencies in South Vietnam and in Laos and bring stability to the Vietnamese government. This contrasted with administration efforts to devise an effective pacification program and, pending emergence of a stable government, its decision to adopt a "low risk" policy to avoid military escalation. In the remaining chapters of the study, the author discusses briefly the major USAF augmentations, the expansion of the Vietnamese Air Force, the problem of service representation in Headquarters, Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, and the rules of engagement as they affected particularly air combat training. The study concludes with a brief review or the beginning of USAF special air warfare training tor the Royal Laotian Air Force and the inauguration of limited USAF and Navy air operations over Laos to contain Communist expansion in that country.
Author :
Publisher : DIANE Publishing
ISBN 13 : 1428990437
Total Pages : 507 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (289 download)
Download or read book The Praetorian STARShip : the untold story of the Combat Talon written by and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2001 with total page 507 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jerry Thigpen's study on the history of the Combat Talon is the first effort to tell the story of this wonderfully capable machine. This weapons system has performed virtually every imaginable tactical event in the spectrum of conflict and by any measure is the most versatile C-130 derivative ever produced. First modified and sent to Southeast Asia (SEA) in 1966 to replace theater unconventional warfare (UW) assets that were limited in both lift capability and speed the Talon I quickly adapted to theater UW tasking including infiltration and resupply and psychological warfare operations into North Vietnam. After spending four years in SEA and maturing into a highly respected UW weapons system the Joint Chief of Staff (JCS) chose the Combat Talon to lead the night low-level raid on the North Vietnamese prison camp at Son Tay. Despite the outcome of the operation the Talon I cemented its reputation as the weapons system of choice for long-range clandestine operations. In the period following the Vietnam War United States Air Force (USAF) special operations gradually lost its political and financial support which was graphically demonstrated in the failed Desert One mission into Iran. Thanks to congressional supporters like Earl Hutto of Florida and Dan Daniel of Virginia funds for aircraft upgrades and military construction projects materialized to meet the ever-increasing threat to our nation. Under the leadership of such committed hard-driven officers as Brenci Uttaro Ferkes Meller and Thigpen the crew force became the most disciplined in our Air Force. It was capable of penetrating hostile airspace at night in a low-level mountainous environment covertly to execute any number of unconventional warfare missions.
Author : U. S. Military
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781521160152
Total Pages : 147 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (61 download)
Download or read book Tactical Airlift written by U. S. Military and published by . This book was released on 2017-04-26 with total page 147 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This comprehensive and authoritative Air Force publication is a complete history of tactical airlift in the Vietnam War era. The book is divided into four parts. Throughout the War in Southeast Asia, American and Vietnamese forces relied heavily on tactical airlift to satisfy the logistical demands of the conflict. While doctrine normally dictated the use of railroads and roads first to move supplies, there was simply no way other than aircraft to move quickly the necessary volume of men and materiel over difficult terrain that was subject to frequent interdiction by the enemy. Tactical airlift had to support simultaneously the full range of U.S. and Vietnamese activities: irregular forces, covert operations, remote outposts, and full-scale conventional operations involving thousands of men. And the support had to be provided despite shortages of aircraft and crews, bureaucratic inefficiency, and chronic scheduling problems. The successful accomplishment of the mission was a testament to the skill and determination of those who flew and supported the thousands of transport sorties so vital to the allied effort. Theirs was a record of continual ingenuity and innovation in tactics, techniques, organization, and equipment. In total tonnage moved, Air Force tactical airlift in Southeast Asia very quickly exceeded previous efforts in the China-Burma-India theater in World War II, the Berlin Airlift, or the Korean War. Tactical airlift matured in Vietnam. American airlift personnel worked with the French prior to their pull-out in the mid-1950s, and started assisting South Vietnamese in the years just prior to the massive American involvement. Tactics were developed, and then changed constantly in an effort to adapt to current military situations. Sometimes the old procedures did not apply. For example, the dropping of paratroops, long a staple of tactical airlift, was only marginally successful and in 1966 was largely abandoned in favor of helicopter-borne assault forces. But the early involvement in airborne assault did provide experience in supporting a seemingly endless variety of missions and helped shape the future of the airlift mission. Part One: The Counterinsurgency Years, 1946-1964 * I. The French War in Indochina * II. The Troop Carrier Idea, 1954-1961 * III. Farm Gate and the Air Commando Tradition * IV. The Dirty Thirty and the Vietnamese Air Force Transport Arm * V. Mule Train - The First Year * VI. The Airlift System, 1963-1964 * VII. Air Supply of Special Forces * Part Two: The Years of the Offensive, 1965-1968 * VIII. The Entry of the C-130, 1965-1966 * IX. Search and Destroy * X. The Airlift System in Growth, 1966-1967 * XI. Junction City and the Battles of 1967 * XII. The Khe Sanh Campaign * XIII. Tet and the Battles of 1968 * XIV. The Air Force Caribous * Part Three: Other Applications * XV. The Auxiliary Roles * XVI. Airlift in Irregular Warfare * XVII. The War for Laos * Part Four: The Years of Withdrawal, 1969-1975 * XVIII. The Airlift System, 1969-1971 * XIX. The Campaigns of 1969-1971, Cambodia and the Panhandle * XX. The Caribou Force, 1969-1972 * XXI. The Easter Offensive-The Battle of An Loc * XXII. The Easter Offensive-The Countrywide Response * XXIII. The Advisory Role and the Vietnamese Air Force Airlift Arm * XXIV. Return to Cold War in Southeast Asia * XXV. The 1975 Denouement * XXVI. Reflections
Author : Donald J. Mrozek
Publisher : The Minerva Group, Inc.
ISBN 13 : 9780898759815
Total Pages : 220 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (598 download)
Download or read book Air Power and the Ground War in Vietnam written by Donald J. Mrozek and published by The Minerva Group, Inc.. This book was released on 2002 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dr. Donald J. Mrozeks research sheds considerable light on how the use of air power evolved in the Vietnam War. Much more than simply retelling events, Mrozek analyzes how history, politics, technology, and the complexity of the war drove the application of air power in a long and divisive struggle. Mrozek delves into a wealth of original documentation, and his scholarship is impeccable. His analysis is thorough and balanced. His conclusions are well reasoned but will trouble those who have never seriously considered how the application of air power is influenced by factors far beyond the battlefield. Wether or not the reader agrees with Mrozek, the quality of his research and analysis makes his conclusions impossible to ignore. John C. Fryer, Jr. Brigadier General, United States Air Force Commander, Center for Aerospace Doctrine, Research and Education
Author : John Schlight
Publisher :
ISBN 13 : 9781410214232
Total Pages : 120 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (142 download)
Download or read book A War Too Long written by John Schlight and published by . This book was released on 2004-06-01 with total page 120 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Air Force instinctively disliked the slow, gradual way the United States prosecuted its war against the Vietnamese communists. While Americans undoubtedly delayed a communist victory in South Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia long enough to spare Thailand and other Southeast Asian countries a similar fate, the American public grew very tired of this war years before its dismal conclusion. Due to questionable political policies and decision-making, only sporadic and relatively ineffective use had been made of air power's ability to bring great force to bear quickly and decisively. The United States and its Air Force experienced a decade of frustration made more painful by the losses of its personnel killed, wounded, or taken prisoner. Fighting resolutely and courageously, the Air Force played the decisive role in forcing North Vietnam to the peace table in 1973. The demands of the Vietnam War forced new developments such as laser-guided-bombs that would eventually radically transform the shape of air warfare.
Author : Joshua Kurlantzick
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1451667892
Total Pages : 360 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (516 download)
Download or read book A Great Place to Have a War written by Joshua Kurlantzick and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2017-01-24 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The untold story of how America’s secret war in Laos in the 1960s transformed the CIA from a loose collection of spies into a military operation and a key player in American foreign policy. January, 1961: Laos, a tiny nation few Americans have heard of, is at risk of falling to communism and triggering a domino effect throughout Southeast Asia. This is what President Eisenhower believed when he approved the CIA’s Operation Momentum, creating an army of ethnic Hmong to fight communist forces there. Largely hidden from the American public—and most of Congress—Momentum became the largest CIA paramilitary operation in the history of the United States. The brutal war lasted more than a decade, left the ground littered with thousands of unexploded bombs, and changed the nature of the CIA forever. With “revelatory reporting” and “lucid prose” (The Economist), Kurlantzick provides the definitive account of the Laos war, focusing on the four key people who led the operation: the CIA operative whose idea it was, the Hmong general who led the proxy army in the field, the paramilitary specialist who trained the Hmong forces, and the State Department careerist who took control over the war as it grew. Using recently declassified records and extensive interviews, Kurlantzick shows for the first time how the CIA’s clandestine adventures in one small, Southeast Asian country became the template for how the United States has conducted war ever since—all the way to today’s war on terrorism.
