Razor 03

A Night Stalker’s Wars

By: Alan C. Mack

Narrated by: Alan C. Mack

The attacks of September 11, 2001, prompted the creation of a robust and deadly special operations force—Task Force Dagger. Alan C. Mack, Callsign Razor 03, led a team of MH-47E helicopters and armed MH-60s. Their two-fold mission–Personnel Recovery (PR) and Unconventional Warfare (UW) involved flying in terrain and weather previously not thought possible. If that wasn’t enough, they pushed the flight envelope of their specially modified Chinooks to the limit and beyond.

Mack shares his behind-the-scenes perspective of the Horse Soldier’s infill into Afghanistan. He discusses the hunt for Osama Bin Laden at Tora Bora and describes his shootdown during Operation Anaconda. Years later, he chased Bowe Bergdahl, rescued hostages in Iraq, and the U.S. Navy Seal "Lone Survivor" from the Kunar Valley.

Mack’s near-death experiences and frequent deployments not only affected him, but pushed his wife toward prescription opioids. Her developing addiction led to friction as he kept her secret and continued to deploy.

He lived by his unit’s motto, "Night Stalkers Don’t Quit!" He wouldn’t quit on his unit–he couldn’t quit on his family. His story of success, tragedy, and ultimate happiness is as old as warfare itself.

©2023 Alan C. Mack (P)2023 Pen and Sword

Awesome!

I cried and laughed listening to the book. It reminded me of my time in service overseas and the struggles at home. I see the 160th flyover often in my hometown and to listen to Al Mack’s book brings a new perspective when I see them. 100% the best aviation book I’ve listened too.

not what I expected in all the right ways

a stunning retelling of a military man's career, but more enthralling, heart-wrenching and inspiring is the struggles of his private life. how One turns grief into Joy, failure into success, hopelessness into hope

Great story

Amazing story. Absolutely great story and will listen to it again. A true patriot and aviator

FMF Corpsman

As a corpsman I had the unique opportunity to witness a few QRF missions provided by the 160th in Kandahar province. This book honestly gave me a great understanding of what those guys really thought of us, not just as comrades that “meh they’ll make it if we are a few minutes late” but as “we need to move and move now our brothers need us there yesterday”. BZ Sir.

Excellent Work & Stories

First off thanks to Alan for taking the time to write and share this content. The book contains scenes and moments that evoke such emotion! I found myself constantly laughing or crying - Great detail and humor make the book so enjoyable. Alan also did a fantastic job narrating. I will be recommending this book to everyone including my now elderly father who flew us around in his Bell-47 growing up! Sadly he cannot fly anymore due to Parkinson’s, but I know this book will make him smile. Thanks Alan! This book and it’s ending really were so perfect. It will leave any reader feel inspired! 5 stars

Great story

I’m an OIF helicopter vet and I enjoyed this one. I highly recommend it if you like military aviation.

Honest , interesting and uplifting

the Hall of fame Pitcher Dizzy Dean proclaimed, If you can do it , it ain't bragging. With A combination of confidence ,some arrogance and openness., Mack gives and honest and I assume an accurate account of his daring and hazardous duty combined with an honest assessment of the price paid by families of War fighters. As he did in his military life, he also did in his personal life....hanging in, giving it his all and fulfilling the contract and vows of his military and personal lives. We are reminded that skill, intelligence, commitment in both special ops and to marriage do not always lead to a happy ending. Heroes die, and marriages fail in spite of maximum effort of colleagues , friends and professionals. CW Mack gave it his maximum effort and many lives were saved by his efforts and those whom he assembled around him in his Chinook. Let us all hope that his second career and family life are happy and healthy. He deserves it.

A true Warrior that dedicated his life to the protection of our Nation!

A story that needed to be told. The average person can’t understand the sacrifices that soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines make for our great country. Many of them wouldn’t hesitate to do it again.

This story is about one of those great warriors and the sacrifices made, both on and off of the battlefield.

I highly recommend this book!

Technical to Emotional

The author is the narrator and does an ok job. Not great, but ok. The book is a little slow on the start but I think the helicopter training is necessary to transition into the next phase. His recollection of tours of duty are very interesting. Seems like he was involved with many of the major operation. The latter portion of the book transitions into the family challenges encountered by deployed military family's the toll it can take. reliving his wife's troubles had to be difficult and was a different direction for this book, but added a human factor to the military story.

Great story, but…

Wonderful story from a true hero…but I would leave the narrating to the experts. I thought the writing and story were good and enjoyed that part immensely. After listening to over 100 books, I can say that the narrator can turn a good book into a GREAT book…or maybe the opposite. I think the latter happened here.