No Room for Error: The Covert Operations of America's Special Tactics Units from Iran to Afghanistan

From Publishers Weekly
Colonel John T. Carney Jr. is the first commanding officer of the U.S. "special tactics" units. Ably assisted by West Point graduate and veteran Ranger Schemmer, he has written a timely book that's part memoir and part history. Carney was an air force officer whose career was going slowly until he was assigned to Combat Control School. A descendant of the WWII pathfinders the men who jumped first and marked the way for paratroopers the combat controllers were an overlooked bunch in the air force. Stationed on a base in Texas, the hardworking Carney turned his lackluster command into a top-flight outfit that soon got noticed. Nicknamed "Brand X," Carney managed to get his command attached to the new Delta Force only after a lot of infighting among the services. After even more rigorous training, the combat controllers were an integral part of the failed rescue attempt of the U.S. hostages in Iran in 1980. Carney pulls no punches in strongly criticizing official stories of the success of Operation Urgent Fury, which liberated Grenada. By 1989, when American forces overthrew Manuel Noriega in Panama, the special forces had learned even more from their operations and acted more in unison, even though some army units still didn't want any of Carney's men attached to their units. (Carney is quick to point out how these units foundered when his men were kept out of action.) Carney's men were used to locate Iraqi Scuds during the Gulf War with varying success; operations in Somalia and Haiti, among others, reinforced the need for special operations units such as those Carney describes. His dramatic tales place special operations history in perspective, particularly as the war in Afghanistan has been led by special forces units. Of America's 277 combat deaths in six major operations since 1980, 36% were special forces. Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From AudioFile
The title of this work is somewhat misleading. Although it discusses the activities of the country's Special Operations Forces (SOF) from 1979 to the present, it focuses on the role of the Air Force's Combat Controllers. Colonel Carney, who helped create the Controllers (who are something akin to the Airborne's Pathfinders of WWII), gives us a well-written, engaging memoir of his service and that of his unit. His account of the failed Iranian hostage rescue is well worth listening to, as are his accounts of Grenada, Panama, and other actions through our present war on terror. Lawlor's reading is quite good. His tenor voice makes the story seem to be that of a man younger than the author. This is by no means negative, for Lawlor's delivery is fluid and clear. M.T.F. © AudioFile 2003, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From Booklist
Carney participated in the disastrous 1980 special-ops mission to rescue American diplomats in Teheran. By that year, Carney had redirected his career from coaching football at the Air Force Academy to organizing the service's "combat control" units--the specialists who set up airstrips in hostile territory. Carney did so in Iran and gives here (with the help of professional writer Schemmer) his eyewitness account of what went wrong when Delta Force arrived at his improvised airstrip. His point in baring problems he experienced (he also flays with equal force the deadly mistakes made during the 1983 invasion of Granada) is to illustrate lessons learned and the increasing reliance on special-ops units by the U.S. military. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
“An honest and accurate depiction of U.S. special operations forces, written by the officer who led our most sensitive units on the most dangerous missions.”
–GEN. EDWARD C. MEYER, USA (Ret.)
Former Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army

“This page-turner offers a straightforward, insightful view of the evolution of the U.S. Air Force’s heroic but largely unsung Special Tactics units. . . . An exciting, action-packed story by a legendary figure in the Special Operations community, with a co-author and editor who fought hard to win us support to revitalize America’s ‘quiet professionals.’ ”
–GEN. CARL W. STINER, USA (Ret.)
Former Commander-in-Chief U.S. Special Operation Command
Coauthor (with Tom Clancy and Tony Lotz) of Shadow Warriors

“It is the story of bravery, heroism and American ingenuity at its very best.”
–GEN. DUANE H. CASSIDY, USAF (Ret.),
Former Commander-in-Chief U.S. TRANSCOM
and Military Airlift Command


From the Hardcover edition.

Review
?An honest and accurate depiction of U.S. special operations forces, written by the officer who led our most sensitive units on the most dangerous missions.?
?GEN. EDWARD C. MEYER, USA (Ret.)
Former Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army

?This page-turner offers a straightforward, insightful view of the evolution of the U.S. Air Force?s heroic but largely unsung Special Tactics units. . . . An exciting, action-packed story by a legendary figure in the Special Operations community, with a co-author and editor who fought hard to win us support to revitalize America?s ?quiet professionals.? ?
?GEN. CARL W. STINER, USA (Ret.)
Former Commander-in-Chief U.S. Special Operation Command
Coauthor (with Tom Clancy and Tony Lotz) of Shadow Warriors

?It is the story of bravery, heroism and American ingenuity at its very best.?
?GEN. DUANE H. CASSIDY, USAF (Ret.),
Former Commander-in-Chief U.S. TRANSCOM
and Military Airlift Command


From the Hardcover edition.


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"John Carney is one of the few heroes I have."
–LT. COL. L. H. "BUCKY" BURRUSS, USA (Ret.)
Founding member and Deputy Commander of Delta Force

When the U.S. Air Force decided to create an elite "special tactics" team in the late 1970s to work in conjunction with special-operations forces combating terrorists and hijackers and defusing explosive international emergencies, John T. Carney was the man they turned to. Since then Carney and the U.S. Air Force Special Tactical units have circled the world on sensitive clandestine missions. They have operated behind enemy lines gathering vital intelligence. They have combated terrorists and overthrown dangerous dictators. They have suffered many times the casualty rate of America's conventional forces. But they have gotten the job done–most recently in stunning victories in the war on terrorism in Afghanistan, which Carney calls "America's first special-operations war." Now, for the first time, Colonel Carney lifts the veil of secrecy and reveals what really goes on inside the special-operations forces that are at the forefront of contemporary warfare.

Part memoir, part military history, No Room for Error reveals how Carney, after a decade of military service, was handpicked to organize a small, under-funded, classified ad hoc unit known as Brand X, which even his boss knew very little about. Here Carney recounts the challenging missions: the secret reconnaissance in the desert of north-central Iran during the hostage crisis; the simple rescue operation in Grenada that turned into a prolonged bloody struggle. With Operation Just Cause in Panama, the Special Tactical units scored amajor success, as they took down the corrupt regime of General Noriega with lightning speed. Desert Storm was another triumph, with Carney's team carrying out vital search-and-rescue missions as well as helping to hunt down mobile Scud missiles deep inside Iraq.

Now with the war on terrorism in Afghanistan, special operations have come into their own, and Carney includes a chapter detailing exactly how the Air Force Special Tactics d.c. units have spearheaded the successful campaign against the Taliban and Al Qaeda.

Gripping in its battle scenes, eye-opening in its revelations, No Room for Error is the first insider's account of how special operations are changing the way modern wars are fought. Col. John T. Carney is an airman America can be proud of, and he has written an absolutely superb book.


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