Dockery, Kevin

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DOCKERY, Kevin

PERSONAL: Male. Education: Attended Oakland University.

ADDRESSES: Agent—c/o Author Mail, Berkley Books, Penguin Group Publicity, 375 Hudson St., New York, NY 10014.

CAREER: Worked in President's Guard under U.S. Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford and as a grade-school teacher, radio broadcaster, gunsmith, and historian. Co-creator of role-playing game The Morrow Project, 1980. Military service: U.S. Army, infantry; served in Operation: Desert Storm.

WRITINGS:

The Armory: A Compendium of Weaponry for Gamers and Students of Ordnance, edited by Elaine Abbrecht and Bob Shroeder, Firebird Ltd. (Ann Arbor, MI), 1983.

SEALs in Action, Avon Books (New York, NY), 1991.

(With James Watson) Point Man: Inside the Toughest and Most Deadly Unit in Vietnam by a Founding Member of the Elite Navy SEALs, Morrow (New York, NY), 1993.

Special Warfare: Special Weapons: The Arms and Equipment of the UDT and SEALs from 1943 to the Present, Emperor's Press (Chicago, IL), 1996.

(With James Watson) Walking Point: The Experiences of a Founding Member of the Elite Navy SEALs, Morrow (New York, NY), 1997.

(Editor, with Bill Fawcett) The Teams: An Oral History of the U.S. Navy SEALs, Morrow (New York, NY), 1998.

(With Dennis C. Chalker) The United States Navy SEALs Workout Guide: The Exercise and Fitness Programs Based on the U.S. Navy SEALs and BUD/S Training, Morrow (New York, NY), 1998.

Free Fire Zones: SEALs Missions, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2000.

Navy SEALs: A History of the Early Years, Berkley Books (New York, NY), 2001.

(With Dennis C. Chalker) Hell Week: SEALs in Training, Avon Books (New York, NY), 2002.

(With Dennis C. Chalker) One Perfect Op: An Insider's Account of the Navy SEALs' Special Warfare Teams, Morrow (New York, NY), 2002.

Navy SEALs: A History Part II: From Vietnam toDesert Storm, Berkley Books (New York, NY), 2002.

Navy SEALs: A History Part III: Post-Vietnam to thePresent, Berkley Books (New York, NY), 2003.

(With Elaine Abbrecht) Special Forces in Action: Missions, Ops, Weapons, and Combat, Day by Day, Citadel Press (New York, NY), 2004.

(With Dennis C. Chalker) The Home Team: Undeclared War (novel), Avon Books (New York, NY), 2004.

Weapons of the Navy SEALs, Berkley Books (New York, NY), 2004.

Also co-author of History Channel documentary about the Navy SEALs, 2000. Contributor to Hunters and Shooters, edited by Bill Fawcett, Morrow (New York, NY), 1995; and Mercs: True Stories of Mercenaries in Action, edited by Bill Fawcett, Avon Books (New York, NY), 1999.

SIDELIGHTS: An expert on both modern combat and the U.S. Navy's elite, covert fighting unit call the Navy SEALs (Sea, Air, Land), Kevin Dockery has written numerous books on both topics. Dockery collaborated with James Watson, one of the founders of the SEALs, to write Point Man: Inside the Toughest and Most Deadly Unit in Vietnam by a Founding Member of the Elite Navy SEALs. The book, which is the first published autobiography by an enlisted member of the SEALs team, recounts Watson's twenty years in the service, including his time in the SEALs unit and three tours in Vietnam between 1967 and 1970. A Publishers Weekly contributor found that Watson and Dockery provided a "narrative . . . replete with seemingly exaggerated anecdotes glorifying the pluck of the enlisted man." However, the reviewer also noted that the story is "highly entertaining."

Dockery also collaborated with Watson to write Walking Point: The Experiences of a Founding Member of the Elite Navy SEALs. This time, the authors recount Watson's involvement in covert missions around the world, including assignments involving the arming of a "baby" A-bomb and training recruits. Writing in the Library Journal, Michael Coleman commented, "The work is packed with excitement that will please military enthusiasts."

In The Teams: An Oral History of the U.S. Navy SEALs, Dockery and Bill Fawcett collect stories of six Navy SEALs who served in the Vietnam War. Told in the first person, the stories recount feats of endurance during training and exploits in the field, including the story of James Janos, who later became professional wrestler Jess "the Body" Ventura and governor of Minnesota. Writing in Booklist, Roland Green noted, "None of these half-dozen testimonies is dull, nor are the men who give them." A Publishers Weekly contributor called the book an "engaging tribute."

Dockery collaborated with U.S. Navy SEAL Command Master Dennis C. Chalker for Chalker's memoir One Perfect Op: An Insider's Account of the Navy SEALs' Special Warfare Teams. Chalker, who joined the SEALs in 1977, recounts both his training and his work as part of the team's secret antiterrorism unit. The book also focuses on Chalker's experiences with Navy politics and with his colleagues, as well as his exploits drinking and fighting. "Despite the lack of world-shaking events, Chalker's life makes good reading," wrote a Kirkus Reviews contributor. In Publishers Weekly, a reviewer called the book a "timely, adventuresome, and interesting account."

In Navy SEALs: A History of the Early Years, Dockery recounts how the SEALs developed from five different units established during World War II, including the Naval Combat Demolition Units and the Underwater Demolition Teams that also played a role in the Korean War. The SEAL force was created during President John F. Kennedy's term in office in the early 1960s, under the guidance of Admiral Arleigh Burke. Dale Andrade wrote in the Journal of Military History that "the book's most significant contribution" is its examination of "the bureaucratic trail that led to the formation of the modern SEALs." Andrade added, "Dockery effectively portrays this evolution and ties it in with the coming conflict in Vietnam." In a review in Booklist, Roland Green noted that "Dockery blends oral history and conventional narrative with consummate skill, making the book exceptionally accessible to casual readers as well as serious students."

Dockery continues to explore the history of the SEALs with Navy SEALs: A History Part II: From Vietnam to Desert Storm and Navy SEALs: A History Part III: Post-Vietnam to the Present. In his history of the SEALs' efforts in Vietnam, Dockery draws on interviews conducted by Bud Brutsman to provide an oral account of the SEAL team members' numerous exploits, including the small SEALS group that first went to Vietnam in 1962, before the war became front-page news in America, and the subsequent SEAL platoons that arrived in 1966. The book contains details on the Phoenix program, which was designed to counter the Viet Cong's clandestine political infrastructure, and Operation Thunderhead, in which SEAL teams were to enter North Vietnam to rescue American prisoners of war. Andrade, writing in the Journal of Military History, found that "the book provides only a narrow glimpse into the history of the SEALs in Vietnam" and wrote that the book's interview format "simply does not work." A Kirkus Reviews contributor praised Navy SEALs: A History Part II, however, noting that the "collection captures the SEAL teams' can-do spirit." The reviewer also called it an "entertaining and informative volume."

Although Dockery specializesin military history, he teamed up once again with Chalker to write the 2004 novel The Home Team: Undeclared War. The story focuses on SEAL Chief Ted "Grim" Reaper, who is forced to retire after disobeying a direct order while on assignment in Bosnia. At home with his family, Reaper is suddenly faced with his past when he refuses to accept an illegal shipment of weapons into his gun shop, which leads to his wife and son being kidnapped. When the police prove to be of no help, Reaper gathers together his team to save his family.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Chalker, Dennis C., and Kevin Dockery, One Perfect Op: An Insider's Account of the Navy SEALs' Special Warfare Teams, Morrow (New York, NY), 2002.

Watson, James, and Kevin Dockery, Point Man: Inside the Toughest and Most Deadly Unit in Vietnam by a Founding Member of the Elite Navy SEALs, Morrow (New York, NY), 1993.

PERIODICALS

Booklist, March 15, 1997, Roland Green, review of Walking Point: The Experiences of a Founding Member of the Elite Navy SEALs, p. 1209; February 1, 1998, Roland Green, review of The Teams: An Oral History of the U.S. Navy SEALs, p. 884; August, 2001, Roland Green, review of Navy SEALs: A History of the Early Years, p. 2058; January 1, 2002, Gilbert Taylor, review of One Perfect Op: An Insider's Account of the Navy SEALs' Special Warfare Teams, p. 781; August, 2002, Roland Green, review of Navy SEALs: A History Part II: From Vietnam to Desert Storm, p. 1896.

Journal of Military History, April, 2003, Dale Andrade, review of Navy SEALs, p. 624; January, 2003, Dale Andrade, review of Navy SEALs: A History Part II, p. 303.

Kirkus Reviews, November 15, 2001, review of One Perfect Op, p. 1592; June 15, 2002, review of Navy SEALs: A History Part II, p. 853.

Library Journal, April 1, 1997, Michael Coleman, review of Walking Point, p. p. 108; January, 1998, Michael Coleman, review of The Teams, p. 118; February 15, 2002, David M. Alperstein, review of One Perfect Op, p. 164.

Publishers Weekly, June 21, 1993, review of Point Man: Inside the Toughest and Most Deadly Unit in Vietnam by a Founding Member of the Elite Navy SEALs, p. 92; January 5, 1998, review of The Teams, p. 48; December 3, 2001, review of One Perfect Op, p. 47.