Always Faithful, Always Forward

The Forging of a Special Operations Marine

By: Dick Couch

Narrated by: John Pruden

The Marine Special Operations Command ("MARSOC") is the newest component of the military's shift toward a fully integrated Special Operations Command structure. At first, the Marines were strongly against any Marines serving under anyone other than another Marine.

Then 9/11 happened.

In the years following, Marine forces found themselves growing more agreeable to inter-branch operational command, finally forming the Marine Special Operations Command in 2006. Always Faithful, Always Forward follows the journey of a class of Marine candidates from their recruitment, through assessment and selection, to their qualification as Marines Special Operators.

The assessment, selection, and training regimes are a combination of psychological testing and intense military training as well as being a physical and professional rite of passage. MARSOC Marines must be efficient, agile, independent, and prepared to live hard in the field. They are warriors trained in the full range of military skills, as well as teachers who can train locals to defend their communities and lead them in battle. But above all, they are Marines. Their ability to leverage their numbers by embedding with the locals and to live in remote locations has, in their short history, made them a valuable force and one with great utility in remote reaches of the world.

Retired Navy Captain Dick Couch has been given unprecedented access to this new command and to the individual Marines of this exceptional special-operations unit, allowing him to chronicle the history and development of the Marine Special Operations Command and how they find, recruit, and train their special operators.

©2014 Dick Couch (P)2014 Tantor

Essentially a Textbook

This is recommended reading for anyone who aspires to join the Marine special ops. For others, it's like reading a textbook. No story or character development, but everything there is to know about special ops training.

A Story for military buffs indeed

A great look inside Marine SOF with as much detail as permitted by law. if you liked his other books you will this one as well. if it's your first try of Mr Couchs books you will not be disappointed.

Describes how you the Marine Corps works and how they built MARSOC

As. Veteran Marine, I enjoyed this book!

If you are looking for accounts of Marine Special Operators in action in the field, you will not find this book interesting.

However, if you want to understand how the Marine Corps integrated into Special Forces, what motivates a Marine to become a Critical Skills Operator, how Marines think and act and how the Marine Corps leverages all of this to Create MARSOC, then this book is for you,

as always, dick couch is incredibly clear and detailed in his descriptions of his subject matter. matter. Love it.

Dick couches second to none in terms of his breadth of knowledge, clarity of descriptions, and detail. detail. in this book he touches on all the other special operators such as seal, the 75th, Green berets, etc. All of them.... except not a single mention of Delta Force. anybody know why?

great read!

If you like the military you will like this book. It gives you a great look at the building of a marine as an individual.