# New Book coming? MARSOC/ MSOT in Afghanistan



## tigerstr (Jan 18, 2012)

I hope this is the correct place to post this. If not admins please relocate as appropriate. 

 Just found this site about a new book project concerning the actions of  MSOT 8222 in Bala Morghab Afghanistan.

Considering that up to now there is just one book for MARSOC, from Fred Pushies, and it has to do with creation, training etc, this could be a "first" about MARSOC ops.

The aspiring author is a former  USMC Staff Sergeant and a JTAC. Besides the site there are some promo videos going around in the net, and a facebook page.


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## dknob (Jan 20, 2012)

It looks good. But it looks like they are trying to find a publisher to pick them up.

There's a chance we may never see this book.


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## Uncle Petey (Jan 20, 2012)

He's working on finding a publisher. I know most if not all of the guys in the book.  It should be the real deal.  The videos are a trip. this is 100% authentic. I hope he finds a publisher.


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## tigerstr (Jan 20, 2012)

Uncle Petey said:


> He's working on finding a publisher. I know most if not all of the guys in the book. It should be the real deal. .


 
Good to know. Actually I will be surprised if nobody gets interested in this book project. It seems like a certain success-story in its gender


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## Uncle Petey (Jan 20, 2012)

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Level-Zero-Heroes/181443145240222 for all you FB types.


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## Ravage (Jan 21, 2012)

Will deffnitely keep eyes open for this one. Thank you all :)


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## JohnnyBoyUSMC (Jan 24, 2012)

surprised it's taken members of MARSOC this long to put out a book. you see a fairly steady flow book wise of ones from former/current SF and SEAL's, but only a small trickle of book's regarding other units.


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## Uncle Petey (Jan 25, 2012)

New unit, give it few years, and I'll put one out.  "there I was knee deep in claymor clackers and hang grenade pins."


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## JohnnyBoyUSMC (Jan 25, 2012)

Uncle Petey said:


> New unit, give it few years, and I'll put one out. "there I was knee deep in claymor clackers and hang grenade pins."


 
wait u mean they let you guys play with claymores now? hell eight years in the Corps (infantry) and three combat tours and only claymore I EVER saw was the training ones they let us play with at SOI!


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## 0699 (Jan 25, 2012)

JohnnyBoyUSMC said:


> surprised it's taken members of MARSOC this long to put out a book. you see a fairly steady flow book wise of ones from former/current SF and SEAL's, but only a small trickle of book's regarding other units.


 
Especially with the Corps ability to self-promote...


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## JohnnyBoyUSMC (Jan 25, 2012)

The Corps ability to self promote is simple enough given the snazzy dress blues (which you don't know till your in how uncomfortable they really are) and the macho Marine image always portrayed. It does work against us sometimes as people think Marine (especially infantry) they think big muscle bound dude who's dumb as a post but can shoot a gun well, which while you have those kinds of Marines sprinkled about is about as FAR from what a typical Marine is.


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## tigerstr (Feb 12, 2012)

This book project hit Marine Corps Times latest issue, and it sounds a really good story, with input from other members of MSOT 8222, and a lot of responses from other soldiers co-located in the same FOB.


MC Times article follows:

*Former MARSOC Marine seeks publisher for combat account* 

By Gina Cavallaro 

_Michael Golembesky is poised to publish the first book detailing experiences of Marine special operators in Afghanistan. And unlike career writers who drop into an outpost for a quick embed, Golembesky was there as a member of Marine Special Operations Team 8222 during one of its hardest deployments._

_He plans to tell the team’s story through the words of the operators on the ground._

_The 22-man team spent seven months, from October 2009 to June 2010, in Bala Morghab, a village in remote western Afghanistan’s Badghis province, a stone’s throw from the Turkmenistan border and almost unreachable by ground._

_The place they called home after a grueling five-day convoy, Forward Operating Base Todd, was an abandoned Russian textile mill that had been occupied by Spaniards, Italians and a complement of soldiers from the 82nd Airborne Division. But until the Marine special operators arrived, Taliban fighters had lived only a couple of hundred yards away in a village undisturbed by the noise of the war going on in the rest of the country. The men of Team 8222, a unit under 2nd Marine Special Operations Battalion out of Camp Lejeune, N.C., took the fight to their doorsteps, and rare was a patrol without gunfire._

_“We were dropped into a valley where it was like Afghanistan Day One,” said Golembesky, who got out as a staff sergeant in October 2010 after eight years in the Corps, the last two with Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command, where he was a joint terminal attack controller._

_He has never written a book and is still looking for a publisher, but Golembesky is determined to get the team’s story told, he said, if for nothing more than to honor the memory of two teammates — Gunnery Sgt. Robert Gilbert, who died in the U.S. eight days after he was wounded in a gun battle in Bala Morghab; and Staff Sgt. Patrick Dolphin, who died 16 months later in a fire in Herat province on a different deployment._

_Both Marines were among MARSOC’s original operators brought in to the young command from the recon community in 2005. A veteran of combat tours with 10th Marines and one with the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit, Golembesky had never kept a war zone journal, but he decided to keep one for the first time on his deployment with MARSOC. He pulled it off a shelf and riffled through it from time to time after he got home, then began writing it out, wanting to tell Gilbert’s and the team’s story. Then on July 31, 2011, when news came of Dolphin’s death, his sadness deepened and the project took on a new meaning. “Pat’s death kind of solidified it for me that I wanted to take the book from me just writing it in the house and something I was doing for myself, into a great way to honor Pat and Rob,” he said in an interview from his home in Colorado Springs, Colo._

_Now, with more than 45,000 words written, Golembesky is sure he wants to get it published._

_In January, he began marketing his idea on Facebook, where he now has close to 2,000 followers, and he created a website aimed at getting publishers’ attention._

_He’s still waiting for a solid nibble from a publisher, but in the meantime his networking effort has brought an unexpected flood of emails, pictures and letters from his teammates, and from Italian and American soldiers who were co-located with Team 8222 at FOB Todd._

_Those connections, he said, are enhancing his ability to tell the team’s story from multiple angles, and he has asked teammates to write passages. In early February, he met with MARSOC officials in hopes of gaining the command’s support for the project. Reception to the project was positive, Golembesky said, and further discussions are slated to take place in coming weeks._

_In the book, Golembesky also will tell the story of Army Sgt. Benjamin Sherman, who on Nov. 4, 2009, dove into the icy waters of the Morghab River to rescue fellow soldier Sgt. Brandon Islip, who was swept away as the pair attempted to retrieve airdropped supplies. Both soldiers disappeared. Sherman’s remains were found six days later, but Islip’s body was not found for 25 days, and the recovery mission was marked by a series of gunfights._

_“Our FOB was just a small island in a valley that was all Taliban-controlled; in the first three months, any major injury meant you were going to die,” Golembesky said. He explained that by the time Gilbert was mortally wounded on March 8, 2010, he was able to be medically evacuated only because of the progress the team had made in clearing the valley of Taliban positions._

_Gilbert died March 16, 2010, his 28th birthday, at Bethesda Naval Hospital. His father was by his side, Golembesky said, stating with confidence that Gilbert was where he wanted to be and doing what he wanted to do when he was wounded._

_Dolphin, on the other hand, deserved a different kind of death, Golembesky said, because “he was the guy who didn’t love anything more than getting filthy dirty on a foot patrol for three days and then getting shot at. He lived and breathed anything that had to do with firearms and the more dangerous the situation was, the more he loved it.” On July 31, 2011, Dolphin and two other MARSOC Marines — Sgt. Dennis Kancler and Sgt. Christopher Wrinkle — were killed when a fire broke out in the house they were sleeping in near Afghanistan’s border with Iran. A military working dog also died in the fire._

_Dolphin, Golembesky said, “deserved to die on the battlefield, that’s what he would have wanted. He kind of got gypped going out like that, and everyone on the team would agree with me.” □_


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## Salt USMC (Feb 12, 2012)

Will definitely pick this up if/when it is published


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## RGK310 (Feb 19, 2012)

Saw the link on this page last month, and then a few days ago I noticed on facebook that one of my first NCOs was the author of this book. The Corps really is a small place.


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## JohnnyBoyUSMC (Feb 20, 2012)

RGK310 said:


> Saw the link on this page last month, and then a few days ago I noticed on facebook that one of my first NCOs was the author of this book. The Corps really is a small place.


 
a very small place, like cheers where everybody knows your name, except the people drinking in the bar destroy the bar every night when they all get drunk and the bartender scolds them all for two hours in a over-extended safety brief the next day


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## Ravensfan9090 (Mar 6, 2012)

Wow this looks REALLY good.  Great to see something about MARSOC in a combat deployment.  I've only seen one news article about them aside from this.  I hope this takes off.


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## tigerstr (Mar 9, 2012)

A member  of the MSOT that this book will be about, just received a Silver Star (cross threading here ) and as I understood it, another one will get a SS soon!


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## Ravensfan9090 (Mar 12, 2012)

That's fantastic.  The dedication they put into just being accepted into a SOF position (in any branch) is admirable.  It's amazing what you guys do on a regular basis over seas.


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## Red Ryder (Mar 22, 2012)

Site is down


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## Moto97 (Mar 22, 2012)

Sorry to post so early after joining; I was interested in this book and had to check to see if the website was down. It looks like the website was not taken down but rather remodeled and it now looks even better than before.


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## Ravensfan9090 (Mar 23, 2012)

There's also a facebook page.


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## LZH (Apr 18, 2012)

La Roux said:


> Site is down


New site - http://www.levelzeroheroes.com/index.php


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## AWP (Apr 18, 2012)

LZH said:


> New site - http://www.levelzeroheroes.com/index.php


 
LZH, welcome to the board. Please post an Intro in the proper sub-forum before posting any further.

Thank you.


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## hvgc (Apr 30, 2012)

JohnnyBoyUSMC said:


> surprised it's taken members of MARSOC this long to put out a book. you see a fairly steady flow book wise of ones from former/current SF and SEAL's, but only a small trickle of book's regarding other units.


and we should keep it like that. why does every single dude feel the need to write some book about his/their exploits in country: Small spec ops team, remote mountains, Taliban held area, no resupply, fire fights, beards, brother hood, had to make due, killed them, gbus, friends got wounded/killed... im a changed man. we don't need MARSOC or the CSOs to publish any books, nor post videos on youtube, nor anything. Lets for once keep one unit in the US military under wraps and semi secret for some kind of anonymity and autonomy.!!!!!!


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## JohnnyBoyUSMC (Apr 30, 2012)

hvgc said:


> and we should keep it like that. why does every single dude feel the need to write some book about his/their exploits in country: Small spec ops team, remote mountains, Taliban held area, no resupply, fire fights, beards, brother hood, had to make due, killed them, gbus, friends got wounded/killed... im a changed man. we don't need MARSOC or the CSOs to publish any books, nor post videos on youtube, nor anything. Lets for once keep one unit in the US military under wraps and semi secret for some kind of anonymity and autonomy.!!!!!!


 
agreed,  just commented on how I've found it hard a book hasn't been put out yet. at the same time curiosity does tend to arise, and while I completely respect being quiet, professional warriors, you also gotta understand units still have to recruit and wanna put a image out there, and people still feel the need to share what they've done regardless of their line of work, if anything to let the country know the sacrifices their brothers in arms made.


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## hvgc (Apr 30, 2012)

i do agree with the recruiting part, however let the successes draw in the recruits. i guess i cant argue completely with that. there should be a moderator though. being secretive with a little leaked info or extraneous info will draw just as many guys under mystic.


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## JohnnyBoyUSMC (Apr 30, 2012)

how can the success draw the recruits if your telling em not to write books or tell of their exploits? I'm deff not saying people in units should divulge every single thing they do, that's just stupid, but it's a multi-purpose tool in the pocket: writing about things such as these gives the author a sense of sharing what other brave men did in the name of their country, and given how the US is these days the more reminding, the better. It draws attention of potential recruits like I said, and it helps impart excellent lessons in some cases, i.e. The Mission, the Men, and Me by Pete Blabber (one of the best books on leadership I've ever read).

Point being, individuals are gonna write books about time they spent in their parent units for whatever reasons, it's gonna happen. Frankly I'd rather they did so I can continue to hear about and admire true warriors such as this and their exploits, mourn those that have fallen from the recounting of these tales, and draw lessons from them as well.


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## hvgc (Apr 30, 2012)

i cant take that away from you. you have a point. what i dont want is what the seals do, publish every damn thing out there and whore themselves out. people are attracted the the guns and the cammies and the diving and jumping.. no problem but with a feature film and real operators? would the SAS do that? SPETZNAZ? its just getting too indulgent. no longer are special operations humble and selfless. its getting out of control. in the end, you are right, people are going to do what they do. but i wish it all to be accurate and sanitized and non indulgent.


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## DA SWO (Apr 30, 2012)

hvgc said:


> and we should keep it like that. why does every single dude feel the need to write some book about his/their exploits in country: Small spec ops team, remote mountains, Taliban held area, no resupply, fire fights, beards, brother hood, had to make due, killed them, gbus, friends got wounded/killed... im a changed man. we don't need MARSOC or the CSOs to publish any books, nor post videos on youtube, nor anything. Lets for once keep one unit in the US military under wraps and semi secret for some kind of anonymity and autonomy.!!!!!!


Disagree to some extent.

Carefully edited books allow the general public to read (see?) what our Warriors are accomplishing.  
Lots of BS books coming out or already published.  The no BS books tell a story that informs and inspires our next generation of Warriors.
I wish these Marines all the success in the world, and hope they Self-Publish if need be.


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## JohnnyBoyUSMC (Apr 30, 2012)

excellent words SOWT, and with that can see the person who resurrected this thread from months ago is now banned, I guess that's the end of that lol!


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## dknob (Apr 30, 2012)

everytime I hear the word SPETSNAZ I cringe.


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## JohnnyBoyUSMC (Apr 30, 2012)

dknob said:


> everytime I hear the word SPETSNAZ I cringe.


 
lol, should I even ask why?


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## Marauder06 (Apr 30, 2012)

JohnnyBoyUSMC said:


> excellent words SOWT, and with that can see the person who resurrected this thread from months ago is now banned, I guess that's the end of that lol!


 
:)  Yeah, necro-posting in and of itself isn't a ban-able offense, but if you scroll through the guy's posts you'll see why someone dropped the banhammer on him.


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## JohnnyBoyUSMC (Apr 30, 2012)

Marauder06 said:


> Yeah, necro-posting in and of itself isn't a ban-able offense, but if you scroll through the guy's posts you'll see why someone dropped the banhammer on him.


 
I did but I can't tell if it's cause he was saying things like he was a expert without being verified or another reason...


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## DasBoot (May 4, 2012)

Good news it's getting published by St. Martin's!


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## Ravage (May 4, 2012)

Great news indeed!


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## JohnnyBoyUSMC (May 4, 2012)

excellent!


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## Red Ryder (May 28, 2013)

Here's a movie done by the author-

http://levelzeroheroes.com/movie.html

The password is 1775 and is good until June 30th


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## Red Ryder (May 29, 2013)

^Link above no longer works. Apparently the video stream was overloaded.​


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## Ravage (May 29, 2013)

I can upload it onto a server if anyone is interested?


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## DA SWO (May 29, 2013)

Ravage said:


> I can upload it onto a server if anyone is interested?


 
Let the film's owner have a chance to solve the issue.


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## RackMaster (May 29, 2013)

Ravage said:


> I can upload it onto a server if anyone is interested?


 
We do not promote such actions on this site, just follow @SOWT's advice; it'll get sorted out.


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## MOTOMETO (Mar 16, 2014)

For anyone that is interested the book is due out in Sept. and pre-orders are available.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1250030404/ref=tsm_1_fb_lk


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