
Tough Rugged Bastards
A Memoir of a Life in Marine Special Operations
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Narrated by:
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Tom Beyer
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By:
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John A. Dailey
About this listen
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. The Commanding Officer—Colonel Robert J. Coates, a Marine Force Recon legend—was given his pick of personnel. One of the four team leaders he selected was Gunnery Sergeant John A. Dailey.
These men built a unit from nothing, trained for unknown missions in an unknown location, and deployed amid controversy and skepticism. Once in Iraq, they were dubbed "Task Unit Raider" and quickly won over the naysayers who doubted the Marine's ability to operate successfully.
This book tells Dailey's story of the creation, training, and volatile 2004 Iraq deployment of Task Unit Raider that led to the creation of the Marine Forces Special Operations Command. Det-1 served as the bridge between the Raiders of WWII and the Marine Raiders of today.
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AMAZING BOOK!! One of the best I’ve read/listened to, on the war!
- By A Rey on 02-08-25
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Zero Footprint
- The True Story of a Private Military Contractor's Covert Assignments in Syria, Libya, and the World's Most Dangerous Places
- By: Simon Chase, Ralph Pezzullo
- Narrated by: Eric Brooks
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Armored cars, burner phones, top-notch weaponry, and top-secret missions - this is the life of today's private military contractor. Like author Simon Chase, many PMCs were once the world's top military operatives, and since retiring from outfits like US Navy SEAL TEAM Six and the UK's Special Boat Service, they have devoted their lives to executing missions too sensitive for the government to acknowledge. Chase reveals here for the first time the operations too hazardous and politically volatile to be officially sanctioned by his employers.
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Read Amazon reviews, not Audible reviews
- By Andrew M on 02-22-16
By: Simon Chase, and others
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Hammerhead Six
- How Green Berets Waged an Unconventional War Against the Taliban to Win in Afghanistan's Deadly Pech Valley
- By: Ronald Fry, Tad Tuleja - contributor
- Narrated by: Ronald Fry
- Length: 10 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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In 2003, the Special Forces soldiers entered an area later called "the most dangerous place in Afghanistan". Here, where the line between civilians and armed zealots was indistinct, they illustrated the Afghan proverb "I destroy my enemy by making him my friend." Fry recounts how they were seen as welcome guests rather than invaders. Soon after their deployment ended, the Pech Valley reverted to turmoil. Their success was never replicated.
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A compelling read from start to finish
- By Gregory on 03-05-16
By: Ronald Fry, and others
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A Few Bad Men
- The True Story of US Marines Ambushed in Afghanistan and Betrayed in America
- By: Major Fred Galvin USMC (Ret.), Sal Manna
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine
- Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Ambushed in Afghanistan and betrayed by their own leaders, these elite Marines fought for their lives again, back home. A cross between A Few Good Men and American Sniper, this is the true story of an elite Marine special operations unit bombed by an IED and shot at during an Afghanistan ambush. The Marine Commandos were falsely accused of gunning down innocent Afghan civilians following the ambush. The unit’s leader, Major Fred Galvin, was summarily relieved of duty, and his unit was booted from the combat zone.
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Always Faithful - Marine Corp, are you?
- By David on 06-21-22
By: Major Fred Galvin USMC (Ret.), and others
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First into Action
- A Dramatic Personal Account of Life Inside the SBS
- By: Duncan Falconer
- Narrated by: Duncan Falconer
- Length: 13 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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The Special Boat Service (SBS) has long been the forgotten sibling of British Special Forces, but no longer. Duncan Falconer's grippingly personal memoir finally lifts the lid on life, loss, training and operations in the toughest unit of them all—the SBS. From joining up as a teenager, through SBS recruitment, training, and operational detachments, First into Action takes us on a journey through the SBS's history, operations and tactics seen through the lens of Duncan Falconer's remarkable story.
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Just outstanding
- By AMZN Customer on 07-02-23
By: Duncan Falconer
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Dagger 22
- U.S. Marine Corps Special Operations in Bala Murghab, Afghanistan
- By: Michael Golembesky
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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The unforgiving Afghan winter settled upon the 22 men of Marine Special Operations Team 8222, call sign Dagger 22, in the remote and hostile river valley of Bala Murghab, Afghanistan. The Taliban fighters in the region would have liked nothing more than to once again go dormant and rest until the new spring fighting season began. No chance of that - this winter would be different.
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Good Story, but...
- By Donovan Russian on 10-10-16
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Forged in Fire
- By: Scott Ryder
- Narrated by: David Tredinnick
- Length: 12 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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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.
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The perspective of an Australian commando
- By Anonymous User on 04-14-25
By: Scott Ryder
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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
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"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.
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Horrible in every way
- By Amazon Customer on 06-23-24
By: William Yeske, and others
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The Unit
- My Life Fighting Terrorists as One of America's Most Secret Military Operatives
- By: Adam Gamal, Kelly Kennedy
- Narrated by: Adam Gamal, Peter Ganim
- Length: 7 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Inside our military is a team of operators whose work is so secretive that the name of the unit itself is classified. Highly-trained in warfare, self-defense, infiltration, and deep surveillance, "the Unit," as the Department of Defense has asked us to refer to it, has been responsible for preventing dozens of terrorist attacks in the Western world. Never before has a member of this unit shared their story — until now.
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Meh
- By Anonymous User on 03-06-24
By: Adam Gamal, and others
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Marine Raiders
- The True Story of the Legendary WWII Battalions
- By: Carole Engle Avriett
- Narrated by: Qarie Marshall
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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The United States' first Special Forces unit in World War II was known as the Marine Raiders. As one Raider explained, Raiders learned a deadly proficiency with the bayonet, they learned to use knives in hand-to-hand combat, and they learned to throw them with the infallible accuracy of vaudeville experts. Marine Raiders gives a gripping account of what it took to become a member of the elite battalions known as Raiders and how they survived their desperate fight in the South Pacific.
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Unreal heroes!
- By Stacey Clark on 12-31-21
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New Dawn: The Battles for Fallujah
- By: Richard S. Lowry
- Narrated by: Derek Dunbar
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Fallujah. Few names conjure up as many images of blood, sacrifice, and valor as does this ancient city in Al Anbar province 40 miles west of Baghdad. This sprawling concrete jungle was the scene of two major US combat operations in 2004. The first was Operation Vigilant Resolve, an aborted effort that April by US Marines intent on punishing the city’s insurgents. The second, Operation Phantom Fury, was launched seven months later. Richard Lowry’s New Dawn: The Battles for Fallujah is the first comprehensive history of this fighting.
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DarkHorse "Get Some"
- By Disgruntled on 02-11-25
By: Richard S. Lowry
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Spetsnaz
- A History of the Soviet and Russian Special Forces
- By: Tor Bukkvoll
- Narrated by: Daniel Henning
- Length: 11 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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In January 1951, Lieutenant Evgeniy Borisov was sent to the headquarters of the Soviet 5th Army in Spassk-Dalnii, a small city in the Russian Far East. Borisov was there on a secret mission. Together with his superior, Major Rusinov, his job was to establish the 91st Special Forces Company. The 91st was to be one of forty-six similar units spread out across the Soviet Union. The new forces were called "spetsnaz"—short for spetsnialnoe naznachenie, which translates to "special purpose."
By: Tor Bukkvoll
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We March at Midnight
- A War Memoir
- By: Ray McPadden
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 9 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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We March at Midnight is award-winning author Ray McPadden’s chronicle of his experience as a highly decorated Ranger officer leading some of the most dangerous missions during the height of the Iraq and Afghan wars. In 2005, Ray joined the army in search of what he calls “the moment” - a chance to prove to himself and his brothers in arms that he is a true leader. His job is to establish the first outpost in the Korengal, Afghanistan’s deadliest valley, and his decisions and mistakes will have a permanent impact on the men he commands.
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The honesty of it all
- By Wendy Rose on 04-14-22
By: Ray McPadden
What listeners say about Tough Rugged Bastards
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Daniel
- 04-01-25
Enough details
He gave enough details to keep the story interesting without making it boring. Very well done
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- Stephanie
- 11-07-24
Interesting and historical
What an interesting story told from a first person, humble perspective. Dailey has a masterful way of weaving in early history with current views. Highly recommended.
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- bryan
- 01-14-25
Great historical account of the precursor to today’s MARSOC
Dailey telling this story from first hand experience is amazing. He inadvertently, or maybe on purpose, shared strong principals that are worth reading or listening to for anyone.
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- Raider10
- 02-21-25
Memory lane
This memoir, for me served as a nostalgic look at the past and will probably do the same for those who have also lived it. Whether you're a GWOT era sevice member or a MARSOC Raider. For me, having completed the 3rd ITC class, and served at 1MRB it was both. Ive crossed Johns path a numorous times, I always knew he was held in high regard but I never really knew him that well so its really neat to hear his story. For those that havent lived it there are still benefits in the form of lessons learned and mantras that can be used for success, I still live by most of them and can certianly attest to them.
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- marisa JS
- 10-17-24
Almost too familiar
If you want to get a true impression of what being in Marine Special Operation during its infancy, this is easily the best reflection I’ve seen.
John is a great guy and has created something special.
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- Steve
- 02-22-25
An incredible memoir detailing the author’s journey through war and the establishment of Marine Special Operations Command
I thoroughly enjoyed how the author delivered his story. He brings the reader into the experiences of war: the good, the bad, and the ugly. Through first hand knowledge, the author accurately portrays what it’s like to be a part of an elite unit, dedicating oneself to a life of discomfort in search for a higher purpose.
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- Fireman70
- 12-01-24
Humble honest work
Heard your interview on Mic-Drop. I was impressed with it and equally impressed with your book. Good job and keep up the good work
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- J Hawk
- 10-22-24
I highly recommend this book.
This book exceeded all expectations and from my humble perspective, is a testament to the high standards and stoic professionalism that have defined “Ranger” Dailey and so many of the elite men he mentions in the book.
5/5 Stars.
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