Home : SSI Media : Recent Publications
April 15, 2026

Book Review: Training for Victory: U.S. Special Forces Advisory Operations from El Salvador to Afghanistan

Cover for Training for Victory: U.S. Special Forces Advisory Operations from El Salvador to Afghanistan
Irregular Warfare |

Author: Frank K. Sobchak

| Reviewed by: Lieutenant Colonel Joshua O. Lehman, academy professor, United States Military Academy
 
What makes some US Special Forces advisory missions succeed while others fail? In Training for Victory, Frank K. Sobchak examines five decades of elite Green Beret operations—from El Salvador to Afghanistan—to uncover the critical factors behind building effective partner forces. Challenging conventional wisdom, this book reveals surprising truths about language, culture, and combat advising in America’s most complex wars.
 

Read Now


Keywords: security force assistance, special forces, irregular warfare, counterinsurgency, strategy