Advance Praise for Hunting the Caliphate

“With the complementary insights of a general and his senior enlisted man, along with an insider’s eye for detail and an unshakeable belief in their mission, Pittard and Bryant expertly pull back the curtain on the front line fight against ISIS. From Iraq to Afghanistan and Syria, Pittard and Bryant describe the development of a devastating air campaign waged from a distance, where rapid life or death decisions must be made with limited information and murky rules of engagement, and where ultimate success hinges on coordination between a state-of-the-art operations center with a small group of highly-trained Americans led by Pittard and Bryant, and their indigenous allies battling ISIS on the ground. Eye-opening, candid, and at times deeply human, Hunting the Caliphate is a must read for understanding a new kind of war told by two men who not only fought that war, but helped define it.”

—DAVID BROYLES, former USAF Pararescueman (PJ) and co-creator
of History Channel’s combat drama, Six

“From mass executions to pinpoint air strikes, political and military frustrations and the politics of coalition warfare, Hunting the Caliphate is a compelling blend of military history and first-person memories of the war against terror—the complex battlefield, the joys of victory, the tragedy of loss, and the sacrifice of the men and women who carried out the mission. An insider account from a senior Army ground commander and a front line battlefield airman, the book is a gritty, compelling read for all who hope to understand America’s longest war.”

—DEBORAH LEE JAMES, 23rd Secretary of the Air Force, author of
Aim High: Chart Your Course and Find Success

“Simply excellent. Hunting the Caliphate is the first account to give sustained insights into the events and personalities shaping the war on ISIS that academics and journalists have been unable to capture except in snapshots. Effectively written, and with editing nothing short of first-rate, it is a descriptive and gripping narrative from two contrasting yet intersecting perspectives that offers readers a broader view of the US military campaign against ISIS. As a historian of modern combat operations, I applaud the insightful observations appearing throughout that serve to accurately convey an important history—and dispel its myths.”

—MARK J. REARDON, Senior Historian, US Army Center of Military History