Hunter Killer
The True Story of the Drone Mission That Killed Anwar al-Awlaki
The firsthand account of the hunt for al-Qaeda terrorist Anwar al-Awlaki—and the drone squadron that found him.
In September 2011, with Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden both dead, the United States pinpointed American-born terrorist Anwar al-Awlaki as priority target number one. In order to eliminate the threat, Air Force Lt. Col. T. Mark McCurley and his squadron were called upon to turn their RPAs’ main function as tracking and surveillance devices into strategic weapons. Much was resting on the mission—al-Awlaki was the face of al-Qaeda propaganda, and his loss would have serious repercussions in AQ’s recruitment efforts. The Air Force had only a limited amount of time and firepower—it was up to McCurley and his Predators to neutralize…
KEVIN MAURER is an award-winning journalist and the bestselling coauthor, with Mark Owen, of No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission that Killed Osama bin Laden. He has covered special operations forces for a decade. He has been embedded with the Special Forces in Afghanistan six times, spent a month in 2006 with special operations units in east Africa, and has embedded with U.S. forces in Iraq and Haiti. He is the author of four books, including several about special operations.
Hunter Killer
T. Mark McCurley, Kevin MaurerLT . COL. T. MARK McCURLEY is a retired Air Force pilot and former intelligence operator. In 2003, he volunteered for the secretive Predator program, deploying five times to Iraq,Afghanistan, and other locations, where he has flown the MQ-1 Predator and the MQ-9 Reaper, accruing more than one thousand combat hours in flight.