Thanks to Lieutenant Colonel Terry Meehan, U.S. Army, of the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense, Public Affairs, for the information he provided on the U.S. Special Operations Command; to Lieutenant Colonel Les Grau and Lieutenant Colonel Tim Thomas, U.S. Army, Office of Foreign Military Studies, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, for data on Soviet troop deployments in the Baltic states, the Commonwealth republics, and the former USSR; Kent Lee; Dr. Jacob Kipp, Russian military historian at Fort Leavenworth; and Peter Ernest, public affairs officer, Central Intelligence Agency.

Special thanks to Army Staff Sergeant Vincent Lobello, California Air National Guard, Mather AFB, California, for an incredible tour of the Army's AH- 1 Cobra gunship and an explanation of tactics involved with night-vision equipment.

Thanks to Captain Kimberley Urie, U.S. Air Force, and Shirley Sikes, public affairs officers at Air Force Special Operations Command, Hurl-burt Field, Florida, for information on Air Force special operations aircraft, weapons, and tactics; and Major Norm Hils, MH-53J

helicopter pilot, Captain Randy Garratt, AC-130 gunship pilot, and Captain David Tardiff, MC- 130 electronic-warfare officer, for their help with their respective special-operations weapon systems and the helpful criticism they provided on my manuscript.

Thanks to Jeff Richelson, author of Sword and Shield; Amy Knight, at the Library of Congress; and David Colton, White & Case Attorneys at Law, New York City, for information on Soviet paramilitary forces; William E. Burrows, author of "Deep Black" and

"Exploring Space," for information on Defense Department satellites; also David McClave and Ronald Grimm, at the Library of Congress; Ian Cuthbertson, Institute for East-West Studies; David Shakley, Magnavox Defense Group, Inc.; Caroline Russell, Boeing Aircraft Inc. Product Support Division; and Mr. Evan H. Whildin, Sr., of Colt's Manufacturing Co., Inc.

An excellent source of information on U.S. Marine Corps special operations on which I relied is the book Strike Force by Agostino von Hassell, published by Howell Press. A good source of general information on Marine Corps history and training is The Marine Book by Chuck Lawliss, published by Thames & Hudson.

Part of the research for this book was a trip I took to the Soviet Union and the three Baltic states in April and May of 1991. Thanks to Jurga Sakalauskaite, a guide with GT

International, the first private travel agency in Lithuania, for the information she provided on Lithuania, Vilnius, and the Baltic states. Thanks also to Intourist, the Soviet government travel agency, and its representatives for being so honest and open about their country and the status and future of the breakaway republics.

The best source of historical, cultural, and geographical information on the Baltic states that I used was A Guide to the Baltic States, edited by

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A continuing source of information, morale, inspiration, and encouragement were Lieutenant General Robert Beckel, commander of Fifteenth Air Force, Strategic Air Command (soon to be part of USAF Air Mobility Command); Major General James Meier, Fifteenth Air Force deputy commander; and Lieutenant Colonel Fredric Lynch, Fifteenth Air Force Chief of Public Affairs, March Air Force Base, Riverside, California. They have helped me immeasurably by sharing their time and enthusiasm for their profession with me over the past several months.