The Night Stalkers: Top Secret Missions of the U.S. Army's Special Operations Aviation Regiment

This was a captivating book about the members of the U.S. Army 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment and their astonishing exploits.

This book strikes an incredible balance between providing historical context and the heroic stories these men have endured. Truly a great read!

The authors are presenting a brief and bit shallow overview of the history of the US Army's Special Operations Aviation Regiment, from it's first missions after Vietnam to Afghanistan, through short chapters, each one dealing with one particular mission and with extensive narrative from the participants.As a former member of this regiment, Mr. Durant is evidently well prepared to tell the stories "from within". Unfortunately, as with so many books dealing with the rather secretive Special Forces, the need to keep (still widely used) tactics and procedures secret means that sometimes many interesting facets of the operations are kept untold. At least I found myself (too) many times asking "why" and "how", without finding any answers in the book.Nevertheless, the brief glimpse that the reader is allowed into this secretive world reveals a long succession of very professional men (and women) with a strong dedication to their job and a deep sense of duty and honor. The overall reading experience is positive and interesting, it's just that many times you wish the authors would be allowed to tell us more of the full story behind the few facts uncovered. In case you wonder, only the truly gripping description of the (failed) mission in Afghanistan is well worth the price of the book!Overall, the authors provide us with a unique insight into an area of the US military forces that is usually invisible for us "mortals", and does so in an interesting and engaging way - recommended.

Full disclosure - My father is one of the 160th pilots mentioned throughout this book, as he is a plank holder of the Nightstalkers.Much like one of the other reviewers on here, I grew up knowing my dad was a helicopter pilot and that was about it. I knew he was in the 160th and he was gone a lot.. and that meant we couldn't talk to him on the phone or really know where he was. I thought this was normal, I had no idea what was really going on. When I was really little I knew he had a helicopter accident but never knew the specifics.. that is until I read this book. And of course, when I finally read the chapter that went into great detail about my dad's accident I was a little boy all over again, balling uncontrollably.This is a fascinating book for anyone into military history. Most of the stories are recounts from many different people. Some of the minor details may be a little bit off, as they are recounts from many different parties. It isn't overly dramatic like a novel, but it's a very good read. I have a personal connection yes, but I know other people who have read the book and were really into it.It's pretty cheap, so give it a shot. Would be a good gift for someone who is into the military, history or helicopters.

I listened to an interview of Durant on the Jocko Podcast and it t was riveting. Downloaded Night Stalkers and it is a great book about some of our best military personnel. Knew little about this special team and now have tremendous respect for them. And grateful for their devotion and commitment to our freedom.

Very good story telling that transported your mind as if you were in the middle of action. Kudos to the writers and Respect to those heroes

Excellent book! The stories you will read will add depth to your understanding of the brave and selfless men and women serving in our military. God bless them all. 💖✝🇺🇸

I think the majority of people in this country no longer have any concept of what men and women in the armed forces do or sacrifice to keep this country and others from failing or falling. Maybe we need a major conflict every 50 years just to wake people up to the dangers in the world and get some national unity and pride in our country. Doesn't seem like our educational system is doing it.

growing up in the military there are things that you know, your not supposed to know so you don't ask. With that said these books let you in on a group of lives that some would and most just would not trade position for. Also you know some secrets are better left untold simply because it could cause jeopardy to future operations. The Operational stories in this book show good people doing what they see as an everyday job, training, fighting and pushing the boundries of mission capable not being heroes but doing things that are simply heroic, knowing that every flight could be and in lots of cases have been their last for one reason or another. In any case they know they have done the best they can do with the tools at their disposal. The sense of brotherhood is key, to know that everyone on your team will do what's needed to the point of laying down their life, to make completing the mission priority, Strange to think Dying is an acceptable risk in your everyday job, but like all true professionals they would only be angry about it, if they failed their mission or their team NSDQ is a quote that has my total respect

This book is a great read giving you some indication as to what Special Forces and their attachments get up to. I chose this book particularly because of the aviation coverage. Not disappointed.

awesome book on the nightstalkers. some really good photos.

This book is about real heroes doing real things- the stuff of the best war novels but true! Don't miss it

I think this is an even better book by Mike Durant than Company of Heroes, this is a compendium of mission tales from Granada to the beginings of the war in Afghanistan. All the stories told here are amazing and shoudl be coveted by serious readers and helicopter pilots.