Why this book: The author asked that I review this book before it was published。 I declined， he politely persisted， I politely agreed to just take a look at it。 After I started reading it， I couldn’t put it down。 I read a galley proof。 It will be published and available to the public in July 2021。 Summary in 4 Sentences: Ben Milligan’s intent was to explore how one of the nations and the world’s premier land commando units resides in the Navy， vice the Army， the Marine Corps or perhaps another g Why this book: The author asked that I review this book before it was published。 I declined， he politely persisted， I politely agreed to just take a look at it。 After I started reading it， I couldn’t put it down。 I read a galley proof。 It will be published and available to the public in July 2021。 Summary in 4 Sentences: Ben Milligan’s intent was to explore how one of the nations and the world’s premier land commando units resides in the Navy， vice the Army， the Marine Corps or perhaps another government agency。 He explores how the US military approached commando and commando-like （small unit raid operations） during WW2， Korea and ultimately Viet Nam， when the SEALs finally came into their own。 It is a story of individual champions in all the services arguing for a special capability， and repeatedly being shut down by leaders steeped in conventional thinking who could not imagine that the value of such a force could be worth the costs。 It is also a story of battles between staffs， as well as battles fought by intrepid early special operators， often under-trained， under-resourced， and poorly supported against our nations enemies in war。 My Impressions: I wasn’t planning on reading this whole book -was planning to just read a chapter or two， skim the rest and give Ben Milligan an overall impression。 But as I got started， I couldn’t put it down。 It is a great read – Ben Milligan has an engaging writing style that pivots back and forth between intense and serious， to humorous and even occasionally “snarky。” Ben is a former SEAL with a BA in History and an MA in International relations and he successfully brings those worlds together in this book。 He is an outstanding researcher and a great story teller。 And though I had spent my career in the Navy SEALs and have read more military history than even most military officers， this book was full of new information and insights that give me a greater understanding of not only the history of the Navy SEALs but also of Special Operations。 His narrative extends from stories about leaders at the highest levels of power and authority in the military， those whose decisions shaped the direction of Special Operations， down to the operators on the ground – their characters， experiences， decisions， frustrations and tragedies。Most of the story takes place well before there were any SEALs。 Indeed， the SEAL Teams didn’t simply spring onto the scene。 There is a fascinating back story， and By Water Beneath the Walls tells it。 In this book we learn about the rise and demise of William Darby’s Rangers in WW2， of the formation of the Naval Combat Demolition Units， Scouts and Raiders， and Underwater Demolition Teams， as well as Marine Raider units， and how they fared in North Africa， Normandy， and the Western Pacific。 We learn of the Navy-run insurgency operation and network behind the lines in Japanese-occupied China。 We learn of early attempts at using UDT’s as raiders in Korea， then of the ill-fated but bold efforts to create out of whole-cloth， a joint team of insurgents to run operations behind China’s lines in Korea。 And we learn how repeatedly， after such units were created to meet an immediate need in war， at the conclusion of that war， the services either disbanded them altogether， or scaled them way back， and reverted to what they knew best how to do – train and resource traditional general military forces。 The final two sections of the book appropriately focus on Viet Nam， where the SEALs initially earned their credibility。 I came into the SEALs just after the Vietnam War， and all of the experienced SEALs I worked with and for had fought in that conflict。 Though I thought I had a pretty good idea of what that war was about， By Water Beneath the Walls gave me context to help me better understand and appreciate the stories of my mentors。 I knew many of the people he portrays in the operations he describes， which made this section that much more meaningful to me。 The book concludes with CNO Adm Jimmy Holloway at the end of the Viet Nam war confiding to SEAL Medal of Honor recipient Mike Thornton， that the Navy’s long term intention was to “dissolve the Teams。” Was it deja vu all over again？ It seemed that the SEALs， “like the Raiders and Rangers before them， would be disbanded at the apex of their achievements。” p502 The irony is that this was the same Adm Holloway who led the Holloway Commission investigating the failure of Operation Eagle Claw （Desert One） in 1980。 The resulting Holloway report led directly to justifying the establishment of US Special Operations Command which all but ensured that the services would not be able to disband the SEALs， the Army SF， the Rangers or other Special Operations Forces。 By Water Beneath the Walls is not a quick read for someone wanting a SEAL book for a junk-food-read on an airplane ride。 It is a multi-course banquet – 500 pages long， covers a lot of fascinating history， and Milligan builds his case with engaging and often edge-of-your-seat examples of brave men learning hard lessons that will make a current operators wince。 It is a fascinating read for anyone interested in the history of not just the SEALs， but of Special Operations， and it is an engaging read for anyone who enjoys great story telling by a wonderful writer。 I really enjoyed learning so much from this book。This is an abbreviated version of the review I wrote on my blog site。 To read the entire review， go to: https://bobsbeenreading。wordpress。com。。。 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