While going through a hard time, I stumbled across this author. Although promoting his novel Black, I decided to read his memoir Cold Zero also. Whitcomb actually began civil service during the Reagan years, writing speeches for a Republican senator. He recalls that while watching a State of the Union address in Nancy Reagan's box, he wished that instead of writing speeches for these guys, he could do something to protect them so that they could keep doing what they did. The next day, he began a training regimen to prepare him for entry into the FBI. After serving as a special agent in the middle of the nation, he tried for--and won a-- spot on the elite Hostage Rescue Team at the FBI. In this books, he shares his recollections as a sniper at Ruby Ridge and Waco.
To me, the best story is the kind in which a character is altered by the main conflict, and Whitcomb seems truly changed by his experiences during and after Waco. He swaggers through the beginning of the book, but after Waco, his stride bears an obvious limp. I empathized with his feelings of betrayal and his sense of impotence in certain aspects of his ability to serve and protect. Because, although endowed with extraordinary capabilities, in the end his is only one man, simply following the orders of his government.
What left the greatest impression on me was the difficulty of the application--or should I say "elimination"--process. Over and over, the men were given seemingly impossible physical tests in order to gather the most capable and strong for this team, the ones who perform best under duress. (In fact, one exercise resulted in a man falling out of a helicopter into a forest below!)
Here's my question: How does one push beyond normal human limits and achieve super-human feats?
To me, the best story is the kind in which a character is altered by the main conflict, and Whitcomb seems truly changed by his experiences during and after Waco. He swaggers through the beginning of the book, but after Waco, his stride bears an obvious limp. I empathized with his feelings of betrayal and his sense of impotence in certain aspects of his ability to serve and protect. Because, although endowed with extraordinary capabilities, in the end his is only one man, simply following the orders of his government.
What left the greatest impression on me was the difficulty of the application--or should I say "elimination"--process. Over and over, the men were given seemingly impossible physical tests in order to gather the most capable and strong for this team, the ones who perform best under duress. (In fact, one exercise resulted in a man falling out of a helicopter into a forest below!)
Here's my question: How does one push beyond normal human limits and achieve super-human feats?
