THE MISSION, THE MEN AND ME

In early March 2002, the Americans launched Operation Anaconda, aimed at destroying Taliban forces occupying the Afghan valley of Shahi Khot. In order to achieve the element of surprise and dominate the battlefield, observation and intelligence cells were deployed deep inside enemy territory ahead of the assault. These cells, made up of Delta Force operators and SEALs, were placed under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Pete Blaber, a senior Delta Force officer and veteran of operations in Bosnia and Iraq. Through this account of the Delta Force's role in Operation Anaconda and on other operational theatres around the world — training in the United States, diversionary operations in Iraq, the capture of a war criminal in Serbia, the hunt for Osama bin Laden — Pete Blaber reveals the modus operandi of this elite force, while also drawing an unflinching assessment of the distortions that can exist between those who give orders and those who receive them in the field, between perceived reality and lived reality. At a time when many place their faith in logistical superiority and the omnipotence of technology, Lieutenant Colonel Pete Blaber underscores the importance of a few simple yet fundamental rules that must be kept in mind, whether one is a military officer or a business leader. These operational concepts and command principles remain, to this day, at the heart of Delta Force's operational philosophy.