Dick Couch graduated from the
United States Naval Academy in 1967. He graduated from BUD/S Class 45 in 1969, and was the class Honorman. He was also the
first in his class at the Navy Underwater Swimmers School and the Army Free Fall (HALO) School. As Whiskey Platoon Commander
with SEAL Team One in Vietnam,[1] he led one of the few successful prisoners of war rescue operations of that conflict. Following
his release from active duty in the U.S. Navy, he served as a maritime and paramilitary case officer with the Central Intelligence
Agency. In 1997, he retired from the Naval Reserve with the rank of Captain. At that time, he held the senior command billet
in the SEAL reserve community.
Dick
Couch is the author of: The Warrior Elite: The Forging of SEAL Class 228; The Mercenary Option; The Finishing
School: Earning the Navy SEAL Trident; Pressure Point; Covert Action; Seal Team One; Rising Wind; Down Range: Navy SEAs in
the War on Terrorism; Chosen Soldier: The Making of a Special Forces Warrior; The Mercenary Option; Silent Descent and, Sheriff
of Ramadi.
Dick Couch is the co-author of U.S.
Armed Forces Nuclear, Biological And Chemical Survival Manual; The U.S. Navy Seals: Sea, Air, and Land Specialists.
According to the book description of Sheriff
of Ramadi, “In this ground-breaking book, bestselling author and former U.S. Navy SEAL Dick Couch follows
the SEAL Task Unit in Iraq s Anbar Province between 2005 and 2007, chronicling the unit s deployment in the Battle of Ramadi.
Based on extensive interviews with Army, Navy, and Marine personnel who fought in the battle and the author s firsthand assessment
of the situation when he traveled to Ramadi in 2007, Couch details the previously unrecognized importance of the SEALS in
winning the fight to control Ramadi. Calling the battle the most significant military engagement in the global war against
terrorism since 9/11 and the most sustained and vicious engagement ever fought by SEALs, Couch describes the success of special
operations forces/Navy SEALs fighting side by side with conventional forces. Couch identifies the SEALs ability to adapt and
evolve in this urban battle space and their code of brotherhood as the keys of their success. Among the many examples of this
extraordinary brotherhood is the story of PO2 Michael A. Monsoor, who was posthumously, awarded the Medal of Honor for his
bravery in Ramadi.”
The author argues that the lessons
of Ramadi should provide a template for future joint combined cooperation in the war against al-Qaeda and their allies. Once
an advocate of special-forces control of battle space, Couch is now convinced of the need for increased interoperability as
well as increased language and cross-cultural training, and a more streamlined command and communication infrastructure issues
he addresses in the book s epilogue. Couch admits that when he began researching the book in the summer of 2006, he thought
he would be writing about the SEALs courage in a losing cause, but what emerged is a startling success story of a joint combined
forces/special forces operation that has gone underreported.”
Booklist said of The Warrior Elite: The Forging of SEAL Class 228, “There
is a pod of good books on the SEALs, but this one is unique. Couch, a Vietnam-era SEAL and retired naval reserve captain,
was given the most complete access possible to the demanding BUD/S (Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL) course and has recorded
his observations, those of one who has been there and done a good deal of that. His account of Hell Week, the culmination
of a formidable three-phase course intended to produce men who are physically, psychologically, and technically the best in
the world at what they do, may leave the average reader short of breath. Few Hollywood stereotypes are on view; in their stead
are a man who passed BUD/S at age 39, a superb swimmer who was disqualified for sinus problems, and a trainee at the low end
of the fitness scale who subsequently won the Congressional Medal of Honor. Also on view is much serious thought by serious
thinkers on the making of warriors at the dawn of the twenty-first century.”
According to the book description of The Mercenary Option,
“Shortly after the terror attacks on America, the American president announces the construction of an oil pipeline across
Afghanistan. To stop this, and deter further Western encroachment in Central Asia, a vindictive Saudi prince retains ex-KGB
terror broker Pavel Zelinkow -- a prime mover behind al Qaeda's 9/11 attack. Zelinkow plans to steal two nuclear weapons,
detonating one of them among the pipeline construction crews and their military guardians, while the target of the second
bomb is a mystery. U.S. special operations forces cannot be used against the terrorists hiding in Iran, so IFOR is called
into action for the first time on a mission that will test them to their limits: take out the terrorists, recover the nukes,
and get Zelinkow.”
According to the book description
of The Finishing School: Earning the Navy SEAL Trident, “In America's new war, the first
guns in the fight are special operations forces, including the Navy SEALs, specially trained warriors who operate with precision,
swiftness, and lethal force. In the constantly shifting war on terror, SEAL units--small
in number, flexible, stealthy, and efficient--are
more vital than ever to America’s security as they take the battle to an elusive enemy around the globe.
But how are Navy SEALs made? What special
training and preparation sharpen the physical skills and intangible character of a regular soldier into that of an elite warrior?
In the acclaimed Warrior Elite, former Navy SEAL Dick Couch narrated one SEAL class's journey through BUD/S training,
the brutal initial course that separates out candidates with the character and stamina necessary to begin training as Navy
SEALs. In The Finishing School, Couch follows SEALs into the next levels of training, where they further develop their endurance
and strength, but also learn the teamwork and finely honed skills they'll need to fight with the best--and win.
Dick Couch spent six months living with and
observing SEALs in training for operational readiness in the months leading up to the Iraqi campaign. He follows them on the
ground and in the water as they undergo SEAL Tactical Training, where they master combat skills such as precision shooting,
demolitions, secure communications, parachuting, diving, and first aid.
From there, the men enter operational platoons, where they subordinate their individual abilities
to the mission of the group and train for special operations in specific geographical environments. Never before has a civilian
writer been granted such close access to the training of America’s most elite military forces. The Finishing School
is essential reading for anyone who wants to know what goes into the making of America’s best warriors.”
