Roughneck Nine-One: The Extraordinary Story of a Special Forces A-team at War

Having been out of the Army longer than Sgt. Antenori has been alive I read this book to see how today's army compares with when I was in. All in all, I was reminded of the old French expression that 'the more it changes the more it stays the same.' Many movies and the like imply that a Special Forces A-Team is a small group of guys that get sent out to do some special fighting. In truth, the A-Team is a small group of guys that are charged with setting up and directing a force recruited from the indigenous people. And in this book that is exactly what they did, they recruited a fighting force from the Kurds. Then then took this force into a battle against an Iraqi army unit. The Iraqis had tanks and armored personnel carriers and far more men. Our guys had air support, although it was pretty minimal. We won, you have to live to be able to write the books. Were mistakes made - absolutely. Did some of the systems and procedures fail - absolutely. And were the reporters who were along with the unit help - you gotta be kidding. There are a log of arguments about the war. But thank god that we still have men like these around.

Roughneck 91 presents a realistic perspective on the training, frustrations, skills, and heroics of a Special Forces Operational Detachment as they prepare for, and deploy into combat in Iraq. The candor of its presentation includes the good, the bad, and the ugly of training, battlefield perceptions and decisions. It is destined to irritate some and will certainly intrigue others. It elicits a range of reactions both negative and positive, but above all, it is a very engrossing story. As events unfold personalities of excessive caution are pitted against personalities of excessive aggression and how these polar opposites reconcile (or fail to reconcile) their battlefield decisions is the heart of the book. While this is an age old military dilemma, to see it played out in Iraq by our country's most elite forces, is an eye opener. It is tempting to second guess the thinking and actions of every major character but I wasn't there, and I won't do that. I winced, and struggled with many of the events but thoroughly enjoyed the book. Antenori and Halberstadt have put together a fascinating read!

There are lots of books out there on the US Army Special Forces and the war on terrorism, but nobody gets you into the action like Frank Antenori, former team sergeant of ODA-391 - ROUGHNECK NINE-ONE. Frank gives you a rare unvarnished look into how a group of diverse individuals comes together and is molded into America's most elite fighting force. He describes how his team meticulously prepared for war, but got caught up in petty SF group politics and turf battles before they fired their first shot. He gives it to you straight - the good, the bad, and the ugly. When ROUGHNECK NINE-ONE finally entered the frey against a vastly superior Iraqi force they gave an accounting of themselves that did themselves and our country proud. In the words of Barry Sadler, "These are men, America's best!" This is an ABSOLUTE MUST READ for anyone remotely interested in America's elite forces and the war on terrorism.

This is not your typical Special Forces story. The story is not a covert operation of any kind. The SF groups engage the enemy on an open battlefield. Sgt. Frank Antenori states this in the beginning of the book. He shares this story because it is a great accomplishment by a greatly outnumbered unit. The intro into the book explains the great need our country has for Special Forces. I enjoyed this because he gives reasons why the U.S should have more elite soldiers to carry out missions. The first part of the book explains the make-up of his team. He gives the details of each member as if they were family. This makes the team come to life in my opinion. He explains how each member came to be on his team and how they will help the make-up of the team. The next part of the book goes extensively into the details of the their training. Sgt. Anteroni explains the preparations a SF team makes before they launch a mission. This is an excellent overview of the time that the unit puts in before they are ever deployed. They will train for months before they ever get a mission, and this is what the Roughnecks did. It is funny because Sgt. Anetroni and his team are gung-ho and ready to do some killing, yet they have to ait for a long time before they get a mission. The last part explains the battle that has made Roughneck Nine-One a legend in the Special Forces comunity. I will not ruin the details of the story because it is so unbelievable they were able to accomplish their objective. I will say that they were outnumbered Five to One including tanks against them. The battle is definately worth the wait because it feels as if the reader is trained well enough to be there. The author makes the reader feel as if they were there fighting the battle with them. There are also some funny dialogues that go on during the mission. This is an excellent book that goes right along with all the courage and bravery that one has heard about the U.S SPecial Forces. The author's tone is never egotistical as one would expect. Their is a certain arrogance that the author displays, but who would not be arrogant if you were one of the most elite soldiers in our country. To say the least I believe it comes with the territory. This book is a fast read, and the reader will be glad that they spent the time to read it.