Fortune Favors the Brave: The Story of First Force Recon (Naval Institute Special Warfare Series)

Fortune Favors the Brave: The Story of First Force Recon (Naval Institute Special Warfare Series) by Meyers, Bruce F.. hardcover edition. ISBN: 9781557505484.

Special Warfare Series. U.S. Marine Corps amphibious reconnaissance patrols preceded every major landing in the Pacific during World War II, coming ashore on rubber boats from submarines and high-speed transports to recon enemy beaches. After the war better techniques were developed by a small group of highly trained, fearless Marines who in 1957 established the first of the Corps now legendary Force Recon Companies. The story of those pioneering post-war years is told by Force Recons first commanding officer, Bruce Meyers, a legend in his own right. Commissioned six months before the end of World War II to command a combat swimming platoon, Meyers later headed Gen. "Chesty" Pullers amphibious recon school, initiating new ideas for the insertion of small teams behind enemy lines by parachute and by buoyant ascent from submerged submarines. In 1955 Meyers joined the commandants experimental Test Unit One as the project officer for its reconnaissance unit that led to the first Force Recon. The book chronicles many Force Recon firsts: HALO jumps from jets; operational parachute jumps from navy carrier aircraft; the locking out and underway recovery of recon patrols from navy fleet submarines; the live pickup by Fulton Skyhook of downed personnel; and the development and use of pathfinding tactics and equipment for Marine helicopter assaults. This groundbreaking work by Force Recon pioneers has never before been recorded in detail. Meyers account makes it clear that the company earned the reputation it enjoys today.