Special Operations

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Table of Contents

Periodical Indexes
Bibliographies
Reference Sources
Maps
Electronic Resources
Primary Source Documents
- General
- Conflict Specific
General Web sites
Congressional Information Web Sites

Military and/or Strategy Related Links
Official Special Operations Sites
Electronic Publications
Air Force Sites
Army Sites
Joint Sites
Navy Sites
Unofficial Sites
Public Opinion

Legend

- NPS access only	- Full text	- Password required
- Army Knowledge Online	- Navy Knowledge Online	- Air Force Portal

The following bibliography is intended to help you be aware of and become familiar with some of the Library's more useful resources and to give you some ideas of places to start your research. It is not intended to be a comprehensive list and it does not include basic books that can be found by searching BOSUN the Library's on-line catalog.

All classified materials are housed in the Library's Restricted Resources & Services (RRS) area and are not referenced here. Please note that RRS includes documents that are unclassified but contain a “limited distribution” statement as well as those materials classified up to the Secret level. Please be sure to consult with a reference librarian if you have any questions.

Special Operations Subject Specialist
Greta E. Marlatt

Periodical Indexes

Air University Library Index to Military Periodicals [AULIMP].
Via DTIC
This provides indexing to significant articles, news items, editorials and books reviews appearing in military and aeronautical periodicals, many of which are not indexed elsewhere.

Armed Services and Government News

NewsBank
Includes Air Force Times, Army Times, Marine Corps Times, Navy Times, Federal Times and more.

CIAO (Columbia International Affairs Online)

This provides full-text access to; working papers, conference proceedings, journal articles, books, policy briefs, links, maps, country data and more from many of the scholarly institutions and think tanks that do research in political science areas.

Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) Daily Reports, 1974-1996

Translated text of radio and television broadcasts, newspapers and periodicals, government statements, books and other sources of unrestricted information such
as databases and gray literature from non-English sources around the world. For current reports see the Open Source Center.

Global NewsBank.

This is very similar to the open Source Center by providing coverage of international issues and events. Information is from 1500 international sources including translated broadcasts, news agency transmissions, newspapers, periodicals and government documents.

Ingenta

Ingenta provides citations and table of contents information to more than 17,000 journals. Searching is by author or keyword or you can browse the table of contents of specific journals. NPS faculty, staff and students can setup a profile to receive the table of content information of any journal. Ingenta indexes or to be alerted to new articles on topics of interest. Information and access is available from the library's databases page.

JSTOR

JSTOR is a digital archive collection of core scholarly journals in the humanities, social sciences and sciences. It contains the entire runs of each journal from the first volume up to those published 2 to 5 years ago. By agreement with the publishers JSTOR maintains a moving 2 to 5 year lag in most recent holdings available.

Lexis Nexis Academic

This Lexis-Nexis resource provides access to a wide range of full-text news, magazines and journals, business, company and financial, legal, medical, and reference information. The Library also provides a more comprehensive version of Lexis-Nexis that may be used in the library.

Open Source Center

Open Source Center reports are translations of foreign radio and TV broadcasts, news agency transmissions, newspapers, books and periodicals. They contain "political, military, economic, environmental, and sociological news, commentary and other information." From 1996 forward this information is available via the Internet but because it is classified as "For Official Use Only" only those with DoD IDs will be logged in. For information prior to 1996, indexes for individual regions are available with the actual reports on microfiche. U.S. Military personnel can register for access to the site.

PAIS International [CSA]

This provides indexing for the latest books, periodical articles and government publications in various areas including business, economics, social conditions and international relations.

Project Muse

This provides access to the full-text of over 100 university press journals in humanities, social sciences and mathematics.

ProQuest

includes the ABI/Inform, Periodical Research II, ProQuest Military databases and more] Internet - Varies [many from 1980s-]
This provides indexing, abstracting and in many cases, image and/or text files of periodical articles relating to political science, religion, law, history, current events and more.

Social Sciences Citation Index

Click on Web of Science.
The Social Sciences Citation Index® provides access to current and retrospective bibliographic information, author abstracts, and cited references found in over 1,700 of the world's leading scholarly social sciences journals covering more than 50 disciplines. They also cover individually selected, relevant items from approximately 3,300 of the world's leading science and technology journals. Dudley Knox Library's subscription covers articles and papers published from 1956-present.

SocIndex with Full Text

Click on SocINDEX with Full Text This comprehensive sociology research database contains the citations, abstracts, and often the full text of journals, books, conference papers and other materials, encompassing areas such as criminology & criminal justice, demography, economic development, ethnic and racial studies, social psychology, and other sub-disciplines.

Staff College Automated Military Periodicals Index [SCAMPI].
Developed to support the curriculum of the Armed Forces Staff College, this is similar to the Air University Library Index to Military Periodicals and provides selected citations to journal articles and selected documents and reports. Subject, author and keyword indexing is provided.

Worldwide Political Science Abstracts [CSA]

[Within the Cambridge Scientific Abstracts, choose Worldwide Political Science Abstracts.]
This provides indexing for current periodical literature in the field of political science and government as well as related disciplines of law, sociology and economic. Indexing is by author and subject but also provides the table of contents of each issue covered.

Bibliographies

Special Operations: A Selected Bibliography.
Gibish, Jane E.
Carlisle Barracks, PA: U.S. Army War College Library, 1995

Selected Resources on Special Operations.
Hurlburt Field, Fla. : Hurlburt Base Library, 2000. 69p.
U 262 H886 2001

Special Operations 2006
Armstrong, Glenda
Maxwell Air Force Base, AL: Air University Library, May 2006

Special Operations: Airpower Aspects: SOS Current Military Issues.
Armstrong, Glenda
Maxwell Air Force Base, AL: Air University Library, February 2005

Special Operations: Selected References.
Seymour, Janet L.
Maxwell Air Force Base, AL: Air University Library, September 1997

Bibliographies from the U.S. Military History Institute
Coverage includes topics such as: Deception, Elite Forces, Foreign Special Forces, Tactics, Mercenaries, Propaganda and more

Reference Sources

Background Notes
Published by the U.S. Department of State and updated as necessary, these provide 3-4 page "thumbnail" sketches of each country. Headings indicating areas of coverage include: geography, people, government, economy, history, political condition, foreign relations and more.

Monthly Catalog of U.S. Government Publications.

This is the most comprehensive index for referencing many of the documents published by the U.S. Government. Updated regularly, this includes reference to documents published by the DoD, State Department, Congress and most other federal agencies. When available, hyperlinks to electronic documents are included in the records.

The Military Balance.

This provides a quantitative assessment of the world's military forces and their defense expenditure. Also has brief information and statistics regarding UN Peacekeeping operations.

SIPRI Yearbook
Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
Categories of coverage include: global and regional security and conflicts, weapons and technology proliferation, military expenditures, arms productions and trade, and arms control and disarmament. This includes some major documents and speeches as is well indexed. Other SIPRI databases include: Military Expenditures, Arms Transfer, Arms Production and Export Control

Statistical Universe

Lexis-Nexis
This database searches and provides summaries of statistical publications produced by state, federal and international agencies as well as non-government entities. When available, links to the full-text of selected publications are provided.

The World Factbook
Published annually by the CIA, this gives brief statistical sketches of each country. Contents headings include: Map, Flag, Geography, People, Government, Economy, Transportation, Communications and Defense.]

Maps
The Library has a growing collection of maps of various sizes, scales and content. A variety of maps published by the CIA make good briefing maps. We also have nautical, topographic and aeronautical charts as well as an increasing number of CD-ROM products. Most of these maps are NOT in BOSUN so please see a reference librarian. References to atlases can, however, be found by searching BOSUN. The Library has a Maps web page. We also have a section of links to Military Maps by war or region of conflict. The Perry-Castanada Library also has an excellent online map collection.

Electronic Resources

The following are electronic resources that have not previously been mentioned.

DTIC Online

Defense Technical Information Center's Online Database
DTIC is the clearinghouse for many DoD reports and is an excellent resource. Through their PUBLIC STINET database, the Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) indexes and abstracts defense-related government-sponsored scientific, technical and non-technical reports. Although most of the older references only provide an abstract, the majority of the current documents are available as full-text Image files. You may register at the following site: Private STINET Information.

Facts on International Relations and Security Trends (FIRST)

Facts on International Relations and Security Trends (FIRST) is a free-of-charge service for politicians, journalists, researchers and the interested public. FIRST is a joint project of the International Relations and Security Network (ISN) and the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

Global Information System -Defense & Foreign Affairs.

[Click on Client Log-In]
This has a country database with information about various countries including history, leadership information, defense information, major intelligence groups, insurgents and other groups and more. It also has a special topics section, "power" tables which show changes in governments within t he past 12 months and what caused the change, arms transfer information and the Defense and Foreign Affairs Daily.

Global Terrorism Database
National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism
The Global Terrorism Database (GTD) is an open-source database including information on terrorist events around the world since 1970 (currently updated through 2004). Unlike many other event databases, the GTD includes systematic data on international as well as domestic terrorist incidents that have occurred during this time period and now includes almost 80,000 cases. For each GTD incident, information is available on the date and location of the incident, the weapons used and nature of the target, the number of casualties, and -- when identifiable -- the identity of the perpetrator.

Homeland Security Digital Library

Naval Postgraduate School
The HSDL is a comprehensive collection of current and archived Homeland Security resources--all in digital format--from federal, state and local agencies, leading national and international organizations, think tanks, universities and more. These resources are selected by the HSDL team of information professionals. The HSDL collection includes U.S. policy documents, key federal publications, state and municipal documents, links to important sites, professional journal articles, multimedia materials, theses, gray literature, Homeland Security related news, a list of upcoming Homeland Security related conferences and events, and links to key agencies & organizations.

Jane's Online

This provides full-text access to many of the Jane's resources (e.g. All the World's Aircraft and Fighting Ships as well as various periodicals - Jane's Intelligence Review, Jane's Defence Weekly etc.). The library also has many of the Jane's publications in hard copy.

Jane's Sentinel Country Risk Assessments

Contains expert analysis of the latest events and trends in political, security and military affairs and a detailed breakdown of global military and political structures on a regional basis. Each region is broken down by country with each country profile providing a detailed analysis of political, diplomatic and military capabilities.

Jane's Terrorism and Insurgency Centre

Jane’s Terrorism Intelligence Centre is a gateway to the latest global terrorism related content including news, exclusive features, comprehensive reference material and an interactive events database.

Joint Electronic Library [JEL]

This provides access to all current Joint Publications. The Library maintains at least one (1) copy of every joint pub including those that have been superceded. The JEL also provides access to the DoD Dictionary, "Compendium of Joint Publications" which contains abstracts of each joint publication, joint related Service publications, JCS historical publications, CJCS Directives, various joint-related research papers and other joint-related publications. The periodicals A Common Perspective and Joint Force Quarterly (JFQ) are also available.

Lexis-Nexis

This online database service provides full-text information for major newspapers (domestic and international), journals and periodicals, reports, transcripts and more. A password is required, please see a librarian.

Political Risk Services

This provides economic and political risk analysis and forecasts for many countries. Informational headings include: highlights, fact sheet, geography, history, international relationship, social conditions, economic conditions, sources of power, climate for business, regime stability, turmoil, trade restrictions and more.

Strategic Survey

This is an annual review of major global political economic and foreign-policy developments and includes articles covering regional security, proliferation and military conflict.

Stratfor

Stratfor is one of the world's leading global intelligence firms, providing clients with geopolitical analysis and industry and country forecasts to mitigate risk and identify opportunities. The Stratfor website publishes daily intelligence briefs and in-depth analysis, and a wide range of consulting services carefully tailored to meet specific client needs.
Stratfor Terrorism/Security

WorldCat

With WorldCat (the OCLC Online Union Catalog) you can simultaneously search the catalogs of over 9000 libraries worldwide. WorldCat contains more than 50 million records in over 400 languages.

Primary Source Documents

General

Air Force Historical Research Agency

Provides access to a variety of documents including those related to World War II, Korean War, the Vietnam War and recent operations.

Air Force Historical Studies Office Publications

American Memory - Historical Collections for the National Digital Library

This site from the Library of Congress provides a gateway to rich primary source materials related to the history of the US including the Civil War.

American State Papers

This is an important collection of "the legislative and executive documents of Congress during the period 1789 to 1838." Areas of particular interest include: foreign relations, commerce and navigation, military affairs and naval affairs.

Army Heritage Collection Online

This site provides access to various digital collections of historic Army materials including: personal papers, oral histories, letters & diaries, Army publications such as old field & technical manuals, doctrinal guidance and more.

Center for Military History (Army)

Publications
Online Bookshelves

Cold War International History Project (CWIHP) Virtual Library

The CWIHP disseminates information and perspectives on the history of the Cold War and includes many previously inaccessible and/or classified documents from some of the former Communist countries.

Combined Arms Research Library - Digital Library

"A project of the Combat Studies Institute, the Operational Leadership Experiences Interview Collection archives firsthand, multi-service accounts from military personnel who planned, participated in and supported operations in the Global War on Terrorism."

Congressional Hearings

Conducted at the subcommittee or full committee level, hearings provide access to the testimony and data on topics of interest with comments from members of Congress as well as expert witnesses

Congressional Record

This provides the record and transcripts of the sessions of the House and Senate. Sometimes includes copies of bill or reports and roll call votes.

Declassified Documents Reference System [DDRS]

This is an excellent source. With coverage back to 1945, it provides access to more than 70,000 declassified documents from various government agencies (e.g. CIA, DoD, FBI, NSC, Dept of State etc.).

Department of State Foreign Affairs [2001 to present]

This provides speeches, press releases and major State Department documents.
DoS Web Page Archives [1998-mid-2001]

DoS Foreign Affairs Electronic Archives [1990-1997]

Digital National Security Archive

This provides image files of various documents that have been declassified. The collections available via this resource are:

Afghanistan: The Making of U.S. Policy, 1973-1990
Berlin Crisis 1958-1962
China and the United States: From Hostility to Engagement, 1960-1998
Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962
Cuban Missile Crisis Revisited: From the Bay of Pigs to the Brink of Nuclear War
Death Squads, Guerrilla War, Cover Operations and Genocide: Guatemala and the US, 1954-1999
El Salvador: The Making of U.S. Policy, 1977-1984
El Salvador: War, Peace, and Human Rights, 1980-1994
Iran: the Making of U.S. Policy, 1977-1980
Iran-Contra Affair: The Making of a Scandal, 1983-1988
Iraqgate: Saddam Hussein, U.S. Policy and the Prelude to the Persian Gulf War, 1980-1994
Japan and the United States: Diplomatic, Security and Economic Relations, 1960-1976
Japan and the United States: Diplomatic, Security and Economic Relations, 1977-1992
Kissinger Transcripts: A Verbatim Record of U.S. Diplomacy, 1969-1977
Nicaragua: The Making of U.S. Policy, 1978-1990
Philippines,: U.S. Policy During the Marcos Years, 1965-1986
Presidential Directives on National Security, Part I: From Truman to Clinton
Presidential Directives on National Security, Part II: From Truman to George W. Bush
South Africa: the Making of U.S. Policy, 1962-1989
Soviet Estimate: U.S. Analysis of the Soviet Union, 1947-1989
Terrorism and U.S. Policy, 1968-2002
U.S. Espionage and Intelligence, 1947-1996
U.S. Intelligence Community: Organization, Operations and Management, 1947-1989
U.S. Intelligence on Weapons of Mass Destruction: From World War II to Iraq
U.S. Military Uses of Space, 1945-1991
U.S. Nuclear History: Nuclear Arms and Politics in the Missile Age, 1955-1968
U.S. Nuclear Non-Proliferation Policy, 1945-1991
U.S. Policy in the Vietnam War, Part I: 1954-1968
U.S. Policy in the Vietnam War, Part II: 1969-1975

Documents in Law, History and Diplomacy

The Avalon Project at the Yale Law School provides access to many important original documents related to the areas of law, history and diplomacy. They are organized by century.
Search the website
Major collections

Foreign Relations of the United States (FRUS)

"The Foreign Relations of the United States series presents the official documentary historical record of major U.S. foreign policy decisions and significant diplomatic activity." These volumes contain documents from various Presidential libraries and federal agencies and include some declassified records.
State Department Digital Collection [1945-1976]
University of Wisconsin Digital Collection [1861-1958/1960]

Historical Documents - Air War College [AWC] Gateway to Internet Resources

This site provides links to various sites for important historical documents.

Military Education & Research Library Network (MERLN) Digital Collections

This portal provides access to a number of unique military collections that have been digitized. This includes: historical monographs, student papers, lectures, conference proceedings, personal paper collections, reports, legislation and more.

National Archives - Archival Research Catalog (ARC)

The ARC is the online catalog of the National Archives and it includes access to many digitized files.

National Archives Record Administration [NARA]

...is a treasure trove of important documents from US History
     Executive Orders & Presidential Proclamations Codification
    Executive Orders Disposition Tables
    Archival Database System

National Security Archive

George Washington University
    Documents
    These electronic briefing books provide access to important declassified documents related to US national security, military history, foreign policy, intelligence and more
    Publications

Office of the Secretary of Defense Reading Room

This site provides access to a number of documents that have been released through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) process and are available on a large number of topics

Official Documents System of the United Nations

ODS covers all types of official United Nations documentation, beginning in 1993. Older UN documents are, however, added to the system on a daily basis. ODS also provides access to the resolutions of the General Assembly, Security Council, Economic and Social Council and the Trusteeship Council from 1946 onwards. The system does not contain press releases, UN sales publications, the United Nations Treaty Series or information brochures issued by the Department of Public Information.

Our Documents

This official US Government site provides access to 100 milestone documents from 1776 to 1965.

Peace Agreements Digital Collection

Part of the Margarita S. Studemeister Digital Library in International Conflict Management, this collection contains the full-text of agreements signed by the major contending parties
ending inter- and intra-state conflicts worldwide since 1989.

Presidential Libraries

Presidential Libraries can provide access to many important documents issued during a presidential administration.

Public Papers of the President

This series provides a compilation of the messages and papers of each President. Also included are Presidential writings, addresses and public remarks and more.

Speeches and Press Briefings

    DoD
    Homeland Security
    State Department
    White House

Truth Commissions Digital Collection

Also part of the of the Margarita S. Studemeister Digital Library in International Conflict Management, this collection contains decrees establishing truth commission and similar bodies of inquiry worldwide as well as the reports by those groups.

U.S. Army Center of Military History Online Bookshelves

War Times Journal

This site provides access to a variety of documents, orders & dispatches, eyewitness accounts and memoirs from historic figures including: Bonaparte, Davout, Nelson, Wellington and more.

Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents

This series is a companion to the Public Papers of the President series and provides timely access to proclamations, executive orders, speeches and more.

World War Poster Collection

This University of North Texas site provides access to over 600 World War I and World War II posters.

Conflict Specific Documents

Civil War

War of the Rebellion: a Compilation of the Official Records of the Union and Confederate Armies (1880 - 1901)

This provides access to the formal reports of both the Union and Confederate armies as well as correspondence, orders and more.

World War I

Guide to World War I Materials
This Library of Congress website provides access to the various LoC digital collections including photographs, documents, newspapers, films, sheet music and sound recordings.

U.S. Army Center of Military History Online Bookshelves: World War I

World War I Collection

This provides access to some of the UW-Madison's World War I Special Collection with a particular focus on the European aspects of the war. It is particularly strong in
rescue and relief efforts and propaganda materials.

World War I Document Archive

This is an international archive of primary documents concerning the Great War (WWI)

World War II

American Forces in Action Series (Army Center of Military History)

Army Ground Forces Studies

This series was prepared during the course of WWII and published thereafter. "The objective was to give an account of wartime activities from the Command's
perspective, presenting the difficulties, lessons and mistakes uncovered in its operations."

Historic Government Publications From World War II : A Digital library

A Digital collection of more than 300 U.S. Government publications distributed during the course of the war.

U.S. Army in World War II [also known as the "Green Books"]

U.S. Forces, Eastern Theater, Reports of the General Board
These reports were prepared to present a factual analysis of the strategy, tactics, and administration employed by the US Forces in the European Theater

World War II Resources

This site provides access to many original documents and primary source materials regarding all aspects of WWII. See also their US Navy in WWII pages -- http://www.ibiblio.org/pha/navywwii.html

World War II Resources US Navy in WWII

World War II - Primary Documents

This site links to a large number of sites which host specific types of primary documents related to WWII including sites that have sounds, images and photographs of the war.

Occupation Forces in Europe

History of the occupation of Germany (1945-1959). All documents are full text and can downloaded in .pdf. Historical Division, HQ EUCOM

Korean War

History of United States Naval Operations: Korea

Naval Historical Center site with related links to other sources and documents.

Korean War Educator

Provides After Action and Command reports

U.S. Army in the Korean War

Vietnam

U.S. Army Center of Military History Vietnam Studies

Virtual Vietnam Archive

This archive enables provides access to over 500,000 pages of scanned documents pertaining to the Vietnam war including some declassified materials. Some audio and video files are also included.

Persian Gulf War

Gulf War Air Power Survey

Air Force Historical Studies Office site

GulfLINK

This site was established to provide access to medical, operational and intelligence documents from the 1990-1991 Gulf War.

Desert Shield/Desert Storm

This provides access to the Center of Military History electronic books on the Gulf War.

Office of the Secretary of Defense Reading Room - Persian Gulf War

This provides access to DoD reports that have been requested through the Freedom of Information Act

Global War on Terrorism (GWOT)

CMH Online Bookshelves

General Web Sites

Department of Defense Inspector General [DoDIG] Audit and Evaluation Reports

Government Accountability Office [GAO] (formerly: General Accounting Office.)

The GAO is a congressional watchdog agency that produces many very useful reports. The Library has paper or microfiche copies of many of these reports. The GAO database contains all publicly released reports since FY 95.

MERLN -- Military Education and Research Library Network
MERLN allows one to search the library catalogs of significant US military educational institutions as well as two periodical indexes which specifically target military publications. The library catalogs of the following institutions are represented: Air University, Armed Forces Staff College, Army War College, Combined Arms Research Library (Army Command and General Staff College), Marine Corps University Research Center, Military History Institute, National Defense University, Naval Postgraduate School, Naval War College, US Air Force Academy, US Military Academy, and the US Naval Academy. The periodical indexes are: Air University Library Index to Military Periodicals [AULIMP] and the Staff College Automated Military Periodical index [SCAMPI].

Congressional Information Web Sites

CQ Weekly Report

Paper 1957-
Internet 1983-
This full-text database provides reports on significant legislation, floor action and major policy issues in Congress. Also included are; roll call votes, presidential speeches, election coverage and more.

Congressional Research Services - Research Reports and Issue Briefs (Dudley Knox Library)

CQ Researcher

Internet 1992-
This full-text database provides information on current and controversial issues in areas such as economic, social, political and international affairs. Each report includes historical background, milestones, the current situation and outlook and the pros and cons of each issue.

Lexis Nexis Congressional

Internet 1970-
This is an electronic version of the CIS Index to Congressional Publications and Public Laws [JK 1001 .A2 Ref]. It provides indexing to all congressional hearings, reports and documents since 1970. Electronic congressional information can be found at a number sites, see the Congressional Information section of this handout.

GPO Access

Among other things, GPO Access provides access to the same kinds of congressional information as listed under Thomas as well as the US Code and the Constitution.

Major Studies and Issue Briefs of the Congressional Research Service
1916-
An arm of the Library of Congress, CRS writes background reports for members of Congress on the various topics of interest to them, including the budget, armed forces, national security and more.The cumulative index is on CD-ROM and the full-text of the various reports issued by this agency are available in microformat. Many of the more recent CRS reports are now appearing on the Internet and the library also has some in electronic format through our digital library available through BOSUN. Many of those that are available on the Internet can be found through our Congressional Research Service links.

Thomas (Library of Congress)

Thomas provides access to the following kinds of congressional information: Bill status, summary and text, major legislation, Public Laws, Roll Call votes, Congressional Record, committee reports, links to House and Senate publications and more.

Military and/or Strategy Related Links
This is a list of a FEW suggested sites

Air University Center for Strategy and Technology

Air War College Center for Strategic Leadership Studies

Air War College Gateway to the Internet: Issues, Doctrine, and Warfighting; Leadership, Ethics, & Command Central; Military Index to the Internet; Special Operations - Specials Ops

Americans and the World
This provides a source of comprehensive information on US public opinion on international issues and includes The Digest, which provides comprehensive analyses on polling on various international topics.

Army Center for Military History