Skills for the Average Joe

100 Deadly Skills – The SEAL Operative’s Guide to Eluding Capture, and Surviving Any Dangerous Situation – Clint Emerson (Touchstone Books)

Okay…let’s get something straight right from the start; no you will not come away from reading this book with the skillset of a Navy SEAL. No the 100 situational skills that retired Navy SEAL Clint Emerson lays out in the book, 100 Deadly Skills, are not all deadly. Can you learn some pretty cool things that will help you if you encounter some difficult or dangerous situations; heck yeah!

As you work your way through these 100 skills a pattern starts to emerge; Emerson seems more focused on getting to think, rather than get physical. Many of these skills train you to utilize common items that you might find around the house to create tools or weapons that you can use for self defense, to elude dangerous situations or protect your family.

Will you put to use newly acquired skills to steal a car? Probably not, but if you happen to lock yourself out of the car or your house or need to disconnect an electric garage door opener so you can enter the garage during a power outage; Emerson gives you an introduction to the skills you need.

Given the seemingly regular news of active shooter situations, Emerson offers up some skills and insights into how to not only survive one of those scenarios, but also how to safely take to the offensive and take down the shooter. This is a real world skill for a real world situation.

While some wannabe super secret agents who live on a steady diet of Bond films and action thrillers may find 100 Deadly Skills “too basic” I found the skills to be useful and Emerson delivers them in an entertaining fashion.

  

 

Brandon Webb & Glen Doherty – Navy SEAL Sniper: An Intimate Look at the Sniper of the 21st Century (Skyhorse Publishing)

If the U.S. Navy SEALs are the elite special forces, fighters of the U.S. Military, then the Navy Seal Sniper is the elite of the elite. They have passed the grueling, six month long,  BUD/S Training course that is a mental and physical challenge; and then been selected to tackle the next level and become Navy SEAL Snipers.

Both authors; Brandon Webb, a retired Navy SEAL Sniper, who notched combat deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan among other hot spots and Glen Doherty, a combat decorated SEAL, who was killed in action in Benghazi, Libya while attempting to rescue U. S. Ambassador Chris Stevens, bring a battle tested, authentic feel to the writing of this book.

 

Navy SEAL Sniper: An Intimate Look at the Sniper of the 21st Century spells out the evolution of the sniper, not only from the historical perspective, but the transition of the U.S. Sniper in particular; from good old country boy who was handy with a hunting rifle, to the research and development of technology that assists and elevates the role of the Sniper to that of one of the most effective and deadly, tools in the military toolbox.

Webb and Doherty detail the training that SEAL snipers go through to work in settings that range from mountainous jungle regions to urban settings. They also dissect a full scope of sniper gear including weapons, optics, camouflage, and technology that has improved accuracy and effectiveness. They spend considerable focus on the characteristics, advantages and disadvantages of a variety of sniper weapons.

While the book is an encyclopedic compendium of all things sniper, it doesn’t read like an encyclopedia. It clear spells out the mechanics of weaponry without getting bogged down in too much technical jargon. The photos and design graphics that accompany the book are amazing and provide a balance to narrative.

It is the clear level of experience and intelligence that Webb and Doherty brought to the project that shines through in the writing; there is a well earned level of pride in the training they undertook and the work that they did on behalf of this country.