Visual Friendlies, Tally Target: How Close Air Support in the War on Terror Changed the Way America Made War: Volume II: Surges
Apr 2026 · Casemate
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"A richly detailed account of a vital, yet underappreciated, part of the special ops campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq, as seen from the operator’s-eye view. Ethan Brown weaves together gritty, first-person combat narratives and painstaking big-picture historical analysis into a satisfying whole." — Sean Naylor, New York Times bestselling author of Not a Good Day to Die and Relentless Strike
Visual Friendlies, Tally Target: Surges continues the story of the role of forward air controllers (JTACs) and Close Air Support (CAS),
picking up in 2006 and continuing through 2013. This volume covers the evolution of Joint Fires through the colloquial "second phase" of the War on Terror—the "surges" of Iraq in 2007 and Afghanistan in 2010–2011. The narrative is supported by the individual accounts of US Air Force, Army, Marine close air support specialists, as well as UK, Canadian, Danish and German coalition forward air controllers. Vol. II recounts the evolution of air power during the rising counterinsurgencies, as well as the psychology and mental makeup of these exclusive tribes. Notable accounts include the recovery mission of EXTORTION17, the first withdrawal from Iraq, previously unreported missions against insurgent strongholds, and multiple instances where the situational awareness and decision-making of forward air controllers prevented civilian casualties and fratricide.
The story carries with it a continuation of the strategic lessons learned from America’s longest war: where tactical successes and innovation failed to achieve a strategic outcome amidst ambiguous grand strategy, flawed policy and a failure to understand the new battlefields of the 21st century, as recounted by the men whose air power tribes went into the breach again and again. Volume II concludes as the "War on Terror" nominally ended in 2013, as the final phase of the post-9/11 wars transitioned to the "Train, Advise, and Assist" missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Visual Friendlies, Tally Target: Surges continues the story of the role of forward air controllers (JTACs) and Close Air Support (CAS),
picking up in 2006 and continuing through 2013. This volume covers the evolution of Joint Fires through the colloquial "second phase" of the War on Terror—the "surges" of Iraq in 2007 and Afghanistan in 2010–2011. The narrative is supported by the individual accounts of US Air Force, Army, Marine close air support specialists, as well as UK, Canadian, Danish and German coalition forward air controllers. Vol. II recounts the evolution of air power during the rising counterinsurgencies, as well as the psychology and mental makeup of these exclusive tribes. Notable accounts include the recovery mission of EXTORTION17, the first withdrawal from Iraq, previously unreported missions against insurgent strongholds, and multiple instances where the situational awareness and decision-making of forward air controllers prevented civilian casualties and fratricide.
The story carries with it a continuation of the strategic lessons learned from America’s longest war: where tactical successes and innovation failed to achieve a strategic outcome amidst ambiguous grand strategy, flawed policy and a failure to understand the new battlefields of the 21st century, as recounted by the men whose air power tribes went into the breach again and again. Volume II concludes as the "War on Terror" nominally ended in 2013, as the final phase of the post-9/11 wars transitioned to the "Train, Advise, and Assist" missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"A richly detailed account of a vital, yet underappreciated, part of the special ops campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq, as seen from the operator’s-eye view. Ethan Brown weaves together gritty, first-person combat narratives and painstaking big-picture historical analysis into a satisfying whole....
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About the author
Ethan Brown is an Air Force veteran, who served 11 years as a tactical air control party specialist. Since leaving the service in 2020, he works as a policy analyst for the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress (CSPC) in Washington, D.C. He contributes to a variety of national security publications. His work has been featured in Diplomatic Courier, Modern War Institute, Task & Purpose, and War on the Rocks.
Ethan Brown is an Air Force veteran, who served 11 years as a tactical air control party specialist. Since leaving the service in 2020, he works as a policy analyst for the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress (CSPC) in Washington, D.C. He contributes to a variety of national secur...
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