U. S. Army Special Warfare: Its Origins.

Abstract

Special was a key component of American military operations long before Afghanistan and even before the heroic deeds of the Green Berets. Alfred Paddock's revised edition of his classic study honours the 50th anniversary of the organizations responsible for Army and serves as a timely reminder of the likely role such forces can play in combating threats to American national security. Based on exhaustive research in formerly classified documents, Paddock examines the US Army's activities in psychological and unconventional during World War II, Korea, and the early Cold War to determine the impetus for, and origins of, the special warfare capability established at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. He describes the key role played by Major General Robert A. McClure, the father of Army warfare, to convince often reluctant military and civilian leaders to rebuild psychological forces dissipated after World War II and to create Special Forces - the US Army's first formal organization to conduct guerrilla warfare. Paddock also clearly establishes the influence of concepts pioneered by the Office of Strategic Services on the original design of Special Forces. This revised edition draws on the newly available papers of Major General McClure and provides additional information on his role as Eisenhower's chief of psychological in North Africa and Europe, his service as chief of information control in occupied Germany, and his assignment as chief of the New York Field Office of the Army's Civil Affairs Division. Paddock also includes new sections on American psychological in the Pacific, the Army Rangers, the 1st Special Service Force, and American-led guerrillas in the Philippines. In a reflective new epilogue that draws partly upon his own experience, Paddock also provides keen insights into the use of during Vietnam.