Drone Warrior: An Elite Soldier's Inside Account of the Hunt for America's Most Dangerous Enemies
Written by Brett Velicovich and Christopher S. Stewart
Narrated by Brett Velicovich and Roger Wayne
4/5
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About this audiobook
A former Delta Force black ops member takes us inside America’s covert drone war in this headline-making, never-before-told account for fans of Zero Dark Thirty and Lone Survivor, told by a Pulitzer Prize-winning Wall Street Journal writer and filled with eye-opening and sure to be controversial details.
For nearly a decade Brett Velicovich was at the center of America’s new warfare: using unmanned aerial vehicles—drones—to take down the world’s deadliest terrorists across the globe. One of an elite handful in the entire military with the authority to select targets and issue death orders, he worked in concert with the full human and technological network of American intelligence—assets, analysts, spies, informants—and the military’s elite operatives, to stalk, capture, and eliminate high value targets in al-Qaeda and ISIS.
In this remarkable book, co-written with journalist Christopher S. Stewart, Velicovich offers unprecedented perspective on the remarkably complex nature of drone operations and the rigorous and wrenching decisions behind them. In intimate gripping detail, he shares insider, action-packed stories of the most coordinated, advanced, and secret missions that neutralized terrorists, preserved the lives of US and international warriors across the globe, and saved countless innocents in the hottest conflict zones today.
Drone Warrior also chronicles the US military’s evolution in the past decade and the technology driving it. Velicovich considers the future it foretells, and speaks candidly on the physical and psychological toll it exacts, including the impact on his own life. He reminds us that while these machines can kill, they can also be used productively to improve and preserve life, including protecting endangered species, work he is engaged in today.
Joining warfare classics such as American Sniper, Lone Survivor, and No Easy Day, Drone Warrior is the definitive account of our nation’s capacity and capability for war in the modern age.
Brett Velicovich
Brett Velicovich has over ten years of experience conducting counterterrorism and intelligence operations globally. As an intelligence analyst within the U.S. military’s elite, his work was directly responsible for countless missions leading to the successful capture and kill of terrorist leaders. Serving five combat tours to Iraq and Afghanistan, he also worked in Somalia and received numerous combat medals for his service, including the Bronze Star and Combat Action Badge. Regarded as a world-renowned drone expert, he left the service and earned an MBA from Duke University and helped start an initiative that looks to employ unmanned aerial vehicles in support of wildlife conservation in East Africa. He lives in Virginia.
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Reviews for Drone Warrior
15 ratings1 review
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Veterans might find Christopher Stewart’s Drone Warrior a somewhat melodramatic, less sophisticated account of politico-military affairs covered by Michael Smith in Killer Elite. The narrator’s conspiratorial tone throughout the read does not help and is matched by the author’s tone in the brief pieces he narrates. Yet, the book does provide a perspective not emphasized in Killer Elite, namely that of an intelligence specialist with direct, hands-on involvement in lethal drone strikes of enemy combatants. Additionally, Stewart deserves great credit for honoring his mother by including her in the story. An insecure author would not have done so for fear of being considered soft. His service in hostile fire zones and his description of his girlfriend make clear he is no mama’s boy.