
Forged in Fire
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed

Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $23.46
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
David Tredinnick
-
By:
-
Scott Ryder
About this listen
Forged in Fire takes us inside the secretive world of the Australian commandos.
Garry made a report on the radio: 'I see around 200 women and children heading north up the valley.' Less than 400 metres below us, a steady stream of women and kids were hurrying away in single file.
'Where are all the men?' I asked Garry. 'Waiting for us,' he responded, with a look of concern I had not seen on his face before. My heart skipped a beat—we were on.
From the age of 12, Scott Ryder knew he wanted to join the army, and he signed up as soon as he could. After serving as a paratrooper and in East Timor with 3 RAR, he wanted more. He trained all summer and took the grueling selection course for the commandos, earning the prized green beret on his second attempt.
Forged in Fire takes us inside the secretive world of the commandos. Ryder shares battlefield stories from his tours to Afghanistan, where his regiment saw some of the heaviest fighting Australian forces have experienced since the Vietnam War. After being seriously injured in a shocking Black Hawk helicopter crash in Kandahar, he was the only survivor to return to active service.
Frankly written, with self-deprecating humor, it reveals the qualities of strength and mental resilience that characterise special forces operators.
'Scott is not famous; his chest is not bedecked with the grandest tin and ribbon. His voice is from among us rather than up on high. And his account of the DNA of the commando, the lesser sung super-soldier, is all the better for it.' - from the foreword by Chris Masters, author of Flawed Hero
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Tough Rugged Bastards
- A Memoir of a Life in Marine Special Operations
- By: John A. Dailey
- Narrated by: Tom Beyer
- Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Following the 9/11 attacks, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld directed the Marine Corps to establish a unit that would answer to US Special Operations Command. The eighty-six-man "Detachment One" was formed with a two-year charter to train and deploy as a "proof-of-concept" to assess the viability of a larger Marine Special Operations contribution in support of the Global War on Terror. For such a departure from the norm, a special leader was needed.
-
-
Great historical account of the precursor to today’s MARSOC
- By bryan on 01-14-25
By: John A. Dailey
-
Serviceman J
- The Untold Story of an NZSAS Soldier
- By: Jamie Pennell
- Narrated by: Michael Whalley
- Length: 5 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 2011, following the Taliban siege on Kabul's Intercontinental Hotel, an SAS soldier identified only as Serviceman J was awarded New Zealand's second highest military honor by showing outstanding gallantry in the face of danger. After eighteen years in the New Zealand SAS, ex-commander Jamie Pennell is now ready to tell his story. From patrols across desert territories run by warlords to hostile fire and near-death combat, Serviceman J is a heart-stopping account of life inside one of the world's most elite military forces.
-
-
SAS to Civilian: A Powerful Tale of Grit and Transformation
- By T. G on 09-29-24
By: Jamie Pennell
-
The Devil's Playground
- The Story of Two Charlie and the Arghandab River Valley
- By: Andrew Bragg
- Narrated by: Kevin P. Mullan
- Length: 11 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
“The Devil’s Playground” was anything south of the second canal to the men of Charlie Company’s 2nd Platoon—Two Charlie—during their 2009–2010 deployment to the Arghandab River Valley in Afghanistan. The valley had been a notorious hot spot throughout history, with the Russians unable to maintain a foothold in the 80s and Coalition forces now facing the same problem during Operation Enduring Freedom.
-
-
Heart Wrenching
- By Kimberly on 11-06-24
By: Andrew Bragg
-
With My Shield
- An Army Ranger in Somalia
- By: James Lechner
- Narrated by: Jeff Harding
- Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1993 Lieutenant James Lechner, a member of the 3rd Ranger Battalion, was selected for a top secret special operations task force being sent to Mogadishu, Somalia, to capture the insurgent leader Mohamed Farah Aideed. In early October, after weeks on the ground and conducting a number of raids in the city, the Task Force is called upon to conduct a daylight mission into the heart of Aideed’s territory. During the raid, following the initial dangerous fast rope insertion and subsequent capture of a group of Aideed’s lieutenants, one of the Task Force Black Hawk helicopters is shot down.
-
-
good book
- By Amazon Customer on 02-04-25
By: James Lechner
-
The Regiment
- 15 Years in the SAS
- By: Rusty Firmin
- Narrated by: Dean Williamson
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From its early beginnings in World War II, the Special Air Service (SAS) has won renown in some of the most dramatic, dangerous and controversial military special operations of the 20th century. It is a secretive and mysterious unit, whose operations and internal structures are hidden from the public eye. Now, one of its longest-serving veterans offers a glimpse into the shadowy world of the SAS. Rusty Firmin spent an incredible 15 years with 'The Regiment' and was a key figure in the assault of the Iranian Embassy in London in May 1980.
-
-
The bland reader
- By Michael on 09-10-24
By: Rusty Firmin
-
Task Force Black
- The explosive true story of the SAS and the secret war in Iraq
- By: Mark Urban
- Narrated by: Mark Urban
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Following the toppling of Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq in 2003, the SAS launched one of the most intense and secretive operations in its history: Task Force Black. BBC journalist Mark Urban uncovers the sensational story of this operation and the extraordinary men who carried it out.
By: Mark Urban
-
Tough Rugged Bastards
- A Memoir of a Life in Marine Special Operations
- By: John A. Dailey
- Narrated by: Tom Beyer
- Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Following the 9/11 attacks, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld directed the Marine Corps to establish a unit that would answer to US Special Operations Command. The eighty-six-man "Detachment One" was formed with a two-year charter to train and deploy as a "proof-of-concept" to assess the viability of a larger Marine Special Operations contribution in support of the Global War on Terror. For such a departure from the norm, a special leader was needed.
-
-
Great historical account of the precursor to today’s MARSOC
- By bryan on 01-14-25
By: John A. Dailey
-
Serviceman J
- The Untold Story of an NZSAS Soldier
- By: Jamie Pennell
- Narrated by: Michael Whalley
- Length: 5 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 2011, following the Taliban siege on Kabul's Intercontinental Hotel, an SAS soldier identified only as Serviceman J was awarded New Zealand's second highest military honor by showing outstanding gallantry in the face of danger. After eighteen years in the New Zealand SAS, ex-commander Jamie Pennell is now ready to tell his story. From patrols across desert territories run by warlords to hostile fire and near-death combat, Serviceman J is a heart-stopping account of life inside one of the world's most elite military forces.
-
-
SAS to Civilian: A Powerful Tale of Grit and Transformation
- By T. G on 09-29-24
By: Jamie Pennell
-
The Devil's Playground
- The Story of Two Charlie and the Arghandab River Valley
- By: Andrew Bragg
- Narrated by: Kevin P. Mullan
- Length: 11 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
“The Devil’s Playground” was anything south of the second canal to the men of Charlie Company’s 2nd Platoon—Two Charlie—during their 2009–2010 deployment to the Arghandab River Valley in Afghanistan. The valley had been a notorious hot spot throughout history, with the Russians unable to maintain a foothold in the 80s and Coalition forces now facing the same problem during Operation Enduring Freedom.
-
-
Heart Wrenching
- By Kimberly on 11-06-24
By: Andrew Bragg
-
With My Shield
- An Army Ranger in Somalia
- By: James Lechner
- Narrated by: Jeff Harding
- Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1993 Lieutenant James Lechner, a member of the 3rd Ranger Battalion, was selected for a top secret special operations task force being sent to Mogadishu, Somalia, to capture the insurgent leader Mohamed Farah Aideed. In early October, after weeks on the ground and conducting a number of raids in the city, the Task Force is called upon to conduct a daylight mission into the heart of Aideed’s territory. During the raid, following the initial dangerous fast rope insertion and subsequent capture of a group of Aideed’s lieutenants, one of the Task Force Black Hawk helicopters is shot down.
-
-
good book
- By Amazon Customer on 02-04-25
By: James Lechner
-
The Regiment
- 15 Years in the SAS
- By: Rusty Firmin
- Narrated by: Dean Williamson
- Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From its early beginnings in World War II, the Special Air Service (SAS) has won renown in some of the most dramatic, dangerous and controversial military special operations of the 20th century. It is a secretive and mysterious unit, whose operations and internal structures are hidden from the public eye. Now, one of its longest-serving veterans offers a glimpse into the shadowy world of the SAS. Rusty Firmin spent an incredible 15 years with 'The Regiment' and was a key figure in the assault of the Iranian Embassy in London in May 1980.
-
-
The bland reader
- By Michael on 09-10-24
By: Rusty Firmin
-
Task Force Black
- The explosive true story of the SAS and the secret war in Iraq
- By: Mark Urban
- Narrated by: Mark Urban
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Following the toppling of Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq in 2003, the SAS launched one of the most intense and secretive operations in its history: Task Force Black. BBC journalist Mark Urban uncovers the sensational story of this operation and the extraordinary men who carried it out.
By: Mark Urban
-
The Hunt
- The True Story of the Secret Mission to Catch a Taliban Warlord
- By: Andy McNab
- Narrated by: Colin Mace
- Length: 8 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It is the early 2000s and 9/11 is fresh in the world's memory. The Taliban have taken over Afghanistan, and armed militants and explosive devices are terrorising the people. And now a new threat is emerging in the country: suicide bombings, ordered by military commander of the Taliban, Mullah Dadullah. Special Forces are sent in to stop him. The Hunt is the thrilling story of the secret mission to catch Dadullah, one of the most dangerous men alive.
-
-
The attention to detail on the CQB
- By Anonymous User on 10-09-24
By: Andy McNab
-
American Mercenary
- The Riveting, High-Risk World of an Elite SEAL Team Operator Turned Hired Gun
- By: Daniel Corbett
- Narrated by: Daniel Corbett
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What does an elite Navy SEAL Team operator trained to kill the United States’ most dangerous enemies do when he realizes his skills aren’t being properly utilized? He leaves the Navy. In American Mercenary, Daniel Corbett takes listeners on a wild ride through the unadulterated, morally ambiguous, and riveting world of being a hired gun. From Abu Dhabi to Washington, D.C., Cairo to San Diego, Belgrade to places that must remain secret, this is a world where money rules, and where adventure, danger, and absurdity often follow.
-
-
Not worth the listen
- By Jeffery on 03-31-25
By: Daniel Corbett
-
Point Man
- By: Chief James Watson, Kevin Dockery
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Chief Petty Officer James "Patches" Watson was there at the start. One of the first to come out of the famed Underwater Demolition Team 21, he was an initial member—a "plank owner"—of America's deadliest and most elite fighting force, the U.S. Navy SEALs. Through three tours in the jungle hell of Vietnam, he walked the point—staying alert to trip wires, booby traps, and punji pits, guiding his squad of amphibious fighters on missions of rescue, reconnaissance, and demolition—confronting a war's unique terrors head-on, unprotected . . . and unafraid.
-
-
Great book with fresh stories
- By melamama on 06-28-24
By: Chief James Watson, and others
-
Loon
- A Marine Story
- By: Jack McLean
- Narrated by: Chris Andrew Ciulla
- Length: 7 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"Kids like me didn't go to Vietnam", writes Jack McLean in his must-listen memoir. Raised in suburban New Jersey, he attended the Phillips Academy in Andover, MA, but decided to put college on hold. After graduation in the spring of 1966, faced with the mandatory military draft, he enlisted in the United States Marine Corps for a two-year stint. "Vietnam at the time was a country, and not yet a war", he writes. It didn't remain that way for long.
-
-
Besides a production issue, excellent.
- By LEE on 05-02-19
By: Jack McLean
-
Time in the Barrel
- A Marine’s Account of the Battle for Con Thien
- By: James P. Coan
- Narrated by: Chris Monteiro
- Length: 9 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Con Thien was a United States Marine Corps firebase that was the scene of fierce combat for months on end during 1967. Staving off attacks and ambushes while suffering from ineffectual leadership from Washington as well as media onslaughts, courageous American Marines protected this crucial piece of land at all costs. They would hold Con Thien, but many paid the ultimate price. By the end of the war, more than 1,400 Marines had died and more than 9,000 sustained injuries.
-
-
Marine fortitude
- By Amazon Customer on 04-17-25
By: James P. Coan
-
All Secure
- A Special Operations Soldier's Fight to Survive on the Battlefield and the Homefront
- By: Tom Satterly, Steve Jackson
- Narrated by: Tom Satterly
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As a senior non-commissioned officer of Delta Force, the most elite and secretive special operations unit in the US military, Command Sergeant Major Tom Satterly fought some of this country's most fearsome enemies. Tom is a legend even among other Tier One special operators. Yet the enemy that cost him three marriages, and ruined his health physically and psychologically, existed in his brain. Told through Satterly's firsthand experiences, it also weaves in the reasons for his career-long battle against the most insidious enemy of all: post-traumatic stress.
-
-
- One of those books that truly make a difference
- By henry on 12-21-19
By: Tom Satterly, and others
-
Damn the Valley
- 1st Platoon, Bravo Company, 2-508 PIR, 82nd Airborne in the Arghandab River Valley Afghanistan
- By: William Yeske, LTG Ben Hodges - Foreword USA (Ret.)
- Narrated by: Basil Sands, William Yeske
- Length: 11 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
"DAMN THE VALLEY" was a phrase regularly uttered by the men that spent any amount of time in the Arghandab River Valley during the deployment of 2 Fury to Afghanistan in 2009-2010. The valley has claimed bodies from the troops of Alexander the Great, the British Empire, and more recently, the Russian Army. Operating in the valley was like nothing the men could have envisaged, they called it the "meat grinder." It was a deployment that the media didn't talk about, and the government doesn't acknowledge.
-
-
Horrible in every way
- By Amazon Customer on 06-23-24
By: William Yeske, and others
-
Shock Factor
- American Snipers in the War on Terror
- By: Gunnery Sgt. Jack Coughlin USMC (Ret.), John R. Bruning
- Narrated by: Tony Ward
- Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Retired Marine sniper Jack Coughlin and John Bruning pull back the curtain of secrecy to take an insider's look at the dark and misunderstood world of America's sniper force. Long considered the redheaded stepchildren of the infantry, snipers have been loathed by their fellow warriors, called "ten cent killers" by our media, and portrayed as unbalanced psychopaths by Hollywood.
-
-
Snipers are Needed
- By Pamela Dale Foster on 11-23-14
By: Gunnery Sgt. Jack Coughlin USMC (Ret.), and others
-
The Pledge to America
- One Man's Journey from Political Prisoner to U.S. Navy SEAL
- By: Drago Dzieran
- Narrated by: Joel Richards
- Length: 7 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Retired Navy SEAL Drago Dzieran takes listeners behind the scenes of his incredible life, from an impoverished childhood in Communist-controlled Poland to his time as a political prisoner, to his twenty years as a member of the United States military's most elite fighting force.
-
-
An American Patriot
- By Harry C. on 02-14-24
By: Drago Dzieran
-
Guns, Girls, and Greed
- I Was a Blackwater Mercenary in Iraq
- By: Morgan Lerette
- Narrated by: Jay Mohr
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Lerette, a private contractor employed by the notorious Blackwater in the early days of the Iraq War, pulls no punches in calling out the incompetence of both the US military and the Department of State during the collapse of Iraq. You can decide if the insertion of private contractors in Iraq assisted or detracted from the war effort and if the costs in blood and treasure were worth the carnage.
-
-
Real
- By Christopher on 05-02-25
By: Morgan Lerette
-
Carnivore
- A Memoir by One of the Deadliest American Soldiers of All Time
- By: Dillard Johnson, James Tarr
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Dillard Johnson was at the forefront of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. But surviving the enemy was only the beginning. Johnson would use the intensity, focus, and humor that kept him alive on the battlefield to fight stage three Hodgkin's Lymphoma. A man determined not to die, Johnson made a miraculous recovery - and then returned to Iraq for a second combat tour as an Army sniper. Funny and exciting, Carnivore offers fresh insight into the mind and heart of a warrior and offers a look at the lives of troops on the ground not seen before.
-
-
This should fall under fiction, not biography
- By Dan Vaught on 08-08-17
By: Dillard Johnson, and others
-
Fishers of Men
- The Gripping True Story of a British Undercover Agent in Northern Ireland
- By: Rob Lewis
- Narrated by: Peter Noble
- Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fishers of Men is the true account of secret operations in Northern Ireland carried out by the British Army's most clandestine unit. It tells the unique story, through Rob Lewis' own extraordinary experiences, of an essential instrument in the fight against terrorism, that of covert intelligence gathering. The men and women who work in this field are a special breed who undertake hazardous risks with unflinching tenacity and professionalism - the price of negligence is high and the need for secrecy must be preserved even at the expense of personal relationships.
-
-
Meh
- By Edward Hathaway on 07-28-22
By: Rob Lewis
What listeners say about Forged in Fire
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 08-11-24
A true story about a true solider, father, and commando
Scott, you are a true testament to your craft and dedication to keeping the story of 2 Commando, your mates (both with us and who have passed), and overall motivation to the most in life alive.
Keep living your best life and as you said, have no regrets towards it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Anonymous User
- 04-14-25
The perspective of an Australian commando
I really enjoyed hearing about special forces in the ADF. Hearing Scott’s perspectives on how he felt on many topics during his time in war was very interesting to say the least.
How he felt about war, training, his family life, and how his feelings shifted as he became a father.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!