Roughneck Nine-One

April 10, 2006
Former Special Forces sergeant Antenori and writer Halberstadt (War Stories of the Green Berets
) grippingly recreate the valor of Antenori's Special Forces A-Team in the battle at Debecka Pass in northern Iraq on April 6, 2003. Antenori's 12-man operational team (call sign: Roughneck Nine-One), along with more than a dozen other Green Berets, fought a major engagement with an Iraqi armored task force on Highway 2, a vital artery for moving troops and supplies. Despite being outmanned and outgunned, the Special Forces closed the highway and repelled an Iraqi counterattack spearheaded by four T-55 tanks and eight armored personnel carriers. The Special Forces suffered no casualties, but dozens of their Kurdish allies were killed or wounded by an errant American air strike. The authors highlight the skill and bravery of the Special Forces without overlooking their foibles and mistakes (or failing to lambaste the pesky, on-the-scene reporters who made their job harder). Though the book's second half speeds along with the battle's details, it's preceded by an overly long, familiar prologue—the selection and training of Special Forces soldiers and pre-deployment preparations. On balance, Antenori's memoir offers a gritty inside look at a Special Forces team at war.