(Part 2) Reddit mentions: The best afghan & iraq war biographies

If you want to understand the nature of the war and the strategy used to fight it from the surge (2007) onward I recommend David Petraeus and the Plot to Change the American Way of War by Fred Kaplan. This book will describe all the big names and texts that helped formulate modern counterinsurgency doctrine and will give you plenty of authors and publications to further explore. To further understand counterinsurgency, I recommend The Accidental Guerilla by David Kilcullen (this link downloads the file, it does not open it a new window) that has a great chapter on Iraq since he was the senior COIN advisor for a few months into the surge. You can also read FM3-24 the original 2006 version, but its a dense read and I recommend you familiarize yourself with the doctrine through other publications before tackling the field manual itself.

Fiasco by Thomas Ricks is a decent history of the run up to the Iraq war and the first years, I would say 2002-2005 is where it is strongest although it does discuss important history prior to 9/11 in the containment of Iraq and some detail into 2006.

From the Surge onward I recommend Ricks' follow on book The Gamble, and The Surge by Peter Mansoor. These books will detail the important changes and in strategy and operational practices that characterized the Surge and the post 2006 war effort.

These are the books I have personally read that best address your questions. Books that are more tactically oriented instead of focusing on the big picture include The Forever War by Dexter Filkins, which is a morbid book that does justice to the horror of the Iraq's sectarian civil war. Thunder Run by David Zucchino is worthy of being a masterpiece in terms of how well the author constructed an incredible narrative on the tank forays into the heart of Baghdad in the early weeks of the war. My Share of the Task by Stanley McChrystal is a great read on McChrystal fomented a significant evolution in JSOC's intelligence culture and operational tempo. This book is of value specifically to what you asked because his men were the ones that were tracking Abu Zarqawi, the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, and was the first iteration of what is now known as ISIS. McChrystal describes the structure of Al Qaeda in Iraq, and much of ISIS's organization and methods can be traced back to Zarqawi's leadership.

I don't think you will find any books that will do justice to your interest in terms of recent events however I have some advice that I feel will help you immensely. Simply type in (topic of interest) and end it with pdf into google. This cuts out brief news articles and wikipedia entries and leaves you with top notch reports published by peer reviewed journals and think tanks. This is all free, and its very well researched work.

A report I'm currently reading that I'm sure you will find interesting is Iraq in Crisis by CSIS. It's of course long for a think tank report, but it has a lot of information and great statistics and charts that help the reader better understand Iraq's trends in violence and other challenges. Here are two more interesting reports by well known think tanks that pertinent to what you are looking for.

On the evolution of Al Qaeda and other salafi jihadists by RAND

Iraqi politics, governance and human rights by the Congressional Research Service

Hey, you're welcome! I'm glad to see this strike a chord w/ someone else.

Thanks for the encouragement, it is nice to hear from another person that is in a similar situation. Do you have a "time-line" for how you plan on joining?

What does your wife think about the prospect of you joining Pararescue?

I really like the idea of going ANG/Reserve, been thinking about either Patrick AFB or the ANG unit on Long Island, active duty has a strong pull for me though as my wife and I want to raise our kids in that lifestyle (we were both AF brats).

I was an EMT for a few years and loved the work, I'm considering getting my NREMT-P while I'm prepping for Indoc so I could knock 6 months off the pipeline...

I yearn for this career as I believe it to be one of the most noble professions out there that isn't as influenced by politics like other SOF groups (if you have the chance, in the book "None Braver" by Michael Hirsch, a PJ summed it up perfectly when he explained why he chose Pararescue versus Seals, Army SF, etc...)

I really want to earn my spot amongst other elite, to have honor, to be like my role models, and most importantly be someone/something that I know my kids would be proud of.

I look forward to hearing more from you, keep us updated on your progress and let's get it man.

Yeah, it is a particularly interesting statistic, but all MoHs are given for sacrificing oneself to save others. If you'd like to read more amazing stories about amazing people, this is a great book about recent MoH winners from Afghanistan and Iraq that I think everybody should read.

None Braver by Michael Hirsh is another one of the few books on pararescue I've come across. I haven't had a chance to read it yet though. There are also several pararescue related videos on YouTube and Netflix such as Inside Combat Rescue if you have some down time, they're mostly just for entertainment.

I've seen specialtactics.com and this 'How Can I Prepare for PJ Indoc?' pdf from AFSOC reccommended to those interested in AF Special Operations/Special Tactics. I'm not sure how much they may help you. I remember having a hard time finding anything but the most basic information on pararescue when I was considering entering the pipeline, especially when compared to the SEALs.

As /u/TheJackOfAllShades said, being confident in the water is really important, but you seem to know that. I always hear stuff along the lines of "become a fish", "be comfortable with drowning", and anything beyond exceeding the physical standards prior to joining is just extra.

I wish you the best of luck.

In the United States, air power advocacy meant a singular devotion to the cult of strategic bombing, a cult that would hold sway in the USAF into the 1960s. Strategic bombing was useful to air power enthusiasts because it separated aviators from their colleagues in armies and navies; if bombers could deliver victory by destroying enemy cities, there would be little need for close collaboration with soldiers and sailors — and no need at all for the subjection of aviation to the whims of generals and admirals.

But air power, now and in 1917, works best in conjunction with the application of land or sea force. From the great campaigns of World War II to operations such as the Vietnam War’s Linebacker I, Desert Storm in 1991 and Enduring Freedom starting in 2001, air power has excelled in the location, interdiction and destruction of fielded enemy forces.

These campaigns bear little resemblance, even conceptually, to the expectations of the men who most strongly advocated for independent air forces in the ‘20s, ‘30s and ‘40s. The big strategic campaigns, including the Combined Bomber Offensive in World War II and Rolling Thunder and Linebacker II in Vietnam, witnessed the expenditure of tremendous sums of men, money and aircraft to limited and ambiguous strategic effect.

It would hardly be news to influential military thinker Carl Von Clausewitz that the tactical destruction of fielded enemy forces has strategic effect, leaving the enemy unable to resist the application of further force. But the same news challenges the assumptions of the planners and practitioners of strategic air power.

Even in the 1991 Gulf War, the most important air power theorist of recent decades argued that the USAF should avoid Iraqi fielded forces, instead concentrating on “strategic” targets that might bring down the regime without the need for breaking the Iraqi army.

We created the Air Force at a moment in which policymakers believed that the next war would involve a nuclear strategic bombing campaign, largely in isolation from the contributions that the Army and Navy could make. These assumptions, obviously, no longer hold.

But once created, institutional lines acquire gravity and solidity. Since the 1960s the Army, Air Force and Navy have achieved an uneasy peace by coming to agreement on the percentage of the defense budget that each would enjoy. As the strategic, technological, fiscal and social environments have changed, the ratio has remained essentially the same; land power, sea power and air power are, in fiscal terms, to be treated as roughly equal in importance to the security of the United States.

This situation produces strategic and military incoherence. The hallmark of modern military operations is cooperation between assets operating across space and media. The idea that air power can be profitably separated from sea or land power is a dangerous fiction, but for the United States Air Force it is a necessary fiction.

If aerial military assets represent but one facet of a land or sea combat team (as they are treated in the Navy and Marine Corps), then there is no more need for an independent Air Force than an independent artillery service.

Thus, even as technological and strategic reality demands that the Air Force work closely with the Army and Navy, bureaucratic interest will invariably push it to claim the capacity for independent strategic effect. These claims will necessarily interfere with the Air Force’s ability to make its contribution to the land, sea and air team.

Rebalance

The issue, then, is less the specific balance of air, sea and land power at any given time, but rather the establishment of institutions with sufficient flexibility to manage the various strategic challenges that the United States faces, and take advantage of technological, social and economic opportunities.

While naval and land warfare have become considerably more integrated with one another than they were at the beginning of the 20th century, they remain sufficiently distinct that we can still imagine an Army and Navy developing (if in consultation) separate and coherent strategic organizational visions. This is not the case with the Air Force, which will remain locked in an uneasy, distant embrace with its parent services.

In brief, the United States needs air power, but it does not need an Air Force. Folding the assets and missions of the USAF back into its parent services would enhance the flexibility of the United States, releasing U.S. military planning and procurement from the institutional rules that invariably bring air, land and naval power into conflict, and that make aligning military tools with political ends nearly impossible.

Image: Wikimedia

Is that Private Beharry?

... Yup, that it is!

Y'all, if you wanna know the full story of the siege where this guy earned his cross, I really strongly recommend that you check out the book "Sniper One; On Scope and Under Siege with a Sniper Team in Iraq" by Sgt. Dan Mills. It gives an amazing account of the Princess of Wales Royal Regiment's deployment to Al-Amarah during the Iraq war, and is probably one of the best nonfiction books I've ever read. Every single person in that book had balls the size of fuckin' Jupiter. Great great read, and Sgt. Mills can be pretty funny, too.

Hardcovers start at a penny on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Sniper-One-Scope-Under-Siege/dp/0312531265/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&sr=8-1&qid=1406087473

Hammer From Above:Marine Air Combat Over Iraq - Jay Stout

USMC Hornets, Harriers and Cobras during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Really nice details of CAS missions, F/A-18D doing FAC for F/A-18Cs, Harriers landing on an LHD during a sandstorm, Cobras landing on a Highway to get fire directions from Marines on the ground and plenty of other great stories!



Loud and Clear: Memoir of an Israeli Fighter Pilot - Iftach Spector

Memoir of an Israeli pilot from the 1960s to 2000s flying Mirage IIIs, Phantoms and F-16s, he took part in the infamous Operation Opera bombing of the Iraqi nuclear plant. A really excellent book, head and shoulders above most military aviation memoirs writing wise.

I'll add others when I can look at my shelves!

Thanks man. I appreciate that and love not being dead as well. At the time, I was sure I was gonna be a grease spot on that dusty, narrow road in eastern Afghanistan.

https://www.amazon.com/Blindsided-Taliban-Journalists-Story-Trauma/dp/1510729682

Take care,

Carmen

I quite enjoyed War Reporting For Cowards

You can either start working for a wire or large organisation that has correspondents and get sent abroad, or go abroad and get work for an organisation once you're out there. A language would help, or a regional specialisation at best.

I had a brief chat with Robert Fisk before I moved to the Middle East and it gave me a couple of good pointers. Try getting in touch with some journos you admire, give them a call, see if they can give you any tips.

>if i call the police i want two muscled rugged men to answer my door

That's not exactly an accurate description of a lot of the men, for what it's worth.

>i just dont think women belong in the military

There's a few parts to this.

A.) Something like 90% of the military is office/non-combat work. Nothing particularly required to be Thor to play with Excel spreadsheets or radios all day.

B.) The Army's finally getting on the right track with this with the ostensible introduction of the ACFT, but I think sex-segregated PT standards need to go, in favor of a by-job mark. The ACFT is designed to accomplish this.

C.) Assuming they can meet the same physical requirements, I don't see why arbitrarily restricting women from combat arms roles amounts to much. Combat arms jobs were first opened up in 2015 officially, but via Cultural Support/Female Engagement Teams there's been female presence in some way in combat arms operations since way earlier
in GWOT.

(Ashley's War is a fantastic read on what a lot of people don't actually realize.)

tl;dr

I don't think eliminating women from the military is at all a good idea, and definitely not one with merit.

Blood Makes the Grass Grow Green

The Last True Story I'll Ever Tell

Dexter Series

Dark Elf Trilogy and then all of the subsequent books in the Drizzt line, there are like 14 or so maybe

With Liberty and Justice for Some

and always some green reading

Cannabis A History

Why Marijuana Should be Legal

A great book to read -

http://www.amazon.com/One-Bullet-Away-Making-Officer/dp/0618556133

A Marine Officer's accounting of his experience in Marine Officer's Boot Camp. (I know you're thinking Air Force, but it'll give you a great day to day example of US Military officer school expectations) He was nearly done with Boot Camp when 9/11 happened, and he then found himself on the bleeding edge of the USMC Recon assault. Fascinating book for anyone who wants an insiders view of troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. (And he's very non-political about it. Sticks to the facts and honest no-BS opinions.)

Rage Company by Thomas Daly. It's the best book written about the Iraq war, and, in the humble opinion of this connoisseur of military history, one of the best books ever written in the field.

Why? Most military history falls into one of two traps - 1) it's either an ant's-eye view of the day to day grind of an individual in combat, with no reflection of the larger scheme of things, or 2) it's written by someone in the higher command, giving a good overview of the strategies involved, but with no feel of the struggles and hardships of the individual soldiers involved.

Rage Company bridges these two perspectives very nicely. Lt Daly was an FO assigned to a detached Marine company operating with the Army in Ramadi. Since artillery wasn't really being used in counterinsurgency operations in the city, he sort of fell into the ad-hoc role of company intel officer. As such, he was involved with both the day-to-day operations and the planning of such operations at the battalion and regimental level. He does really just an excellent job giving you the nitty gritty details of daily patrol and clearing operations, and, more importantly, placing those operations in the operational scheme of maneuver.

The Anbar Awakening happens during his tour. The first Ex-Iraqi army folks show up and start to work with the Marines. There's mistrust and miscommunication. And results. Spectacular results.

The last 20 pages or so are AQI's retaliation. There's a car chase, surveillance by drone and Apache, and a surprise twist that beats anything I've ever read in a Tom Clancy novel. It had me up reading until 4:00 AM.

Aye, this just reminded me of a book I just finished reading. It's called Sergeant Rex and it's about a military working dog and his handler, Mike Dowling and their experiences when they were deployed with the USMC in Iraq. Very good read, if you're a dog lover and interested in military books, I suggest anyone and everyone to check it out. It's given me a whole new appreciation for working dogs and just dogs in general.

http://www.amazon.com/Sergeant-Rex-Unbreakable-Between-Military/dp/1451635966

The Long Walk

I don't like war books or autobiographies that much but this was a really great read. I would have never read it but it was given to me by a friend.

Thanks for the question. This is an important one. Gulab is a tragic case because of his falling out with Luttrell, but compared to others, he was really really really lucky. If he hadn't saved Luttrell, and saved someone random instead, he'd likely be dead. There are tons of other Afghans (and many Iraqis) who worked for the U.S. and saved American lives who are on a years long waiting list to come to this country. Read Kirk Johnson's "To Be a Friend is Fatal" https://www.amazon.com/Be-Friend-Fatal-Iraqis-America/dp/1476710481

or a this 2007 New Yorker article by George Packer: http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2007/03/26/betrayed-2

Again, we're not talking about Syrian refugees or refugees from elsewhere. We're talking about people who worked for the U.S. military and risked their lives.

Likewise, I'd like to add that in all my reporting, I've found that the security checks refugees go through are no joke. This is a good thing, but without taking a stance on Trump or any of his policy positions, we should remember that we are not just arbitrarily letting random people into this country. It takes years and a whole lot of vetting from multiple agencies. Does that mean that someone from ISIS couldn't sneak in? Well, no. There is no 100 percent certainty. But we're doing an awful lot...and prob all we can. Read a great piece by my colleague Emily Cadei on this matter: http://www.newsweek.com/2016/09/02/donald-trump-syrian-refugees-baltimore-492590.html

...I was complementing the sniper's position. I appreciate the sincere effort to point him out.

I read Red Circle as well as American Sniper. Both great books.

https://www.amazon.com/Red-Circle-Americas-Deadliest-Marksmen/dp/1250055091

I know this guy's family a bit -his Mum makes awesome sandwiches and plays piano very well indeed. He wrote a book about his time in the Marines: here's a link if anyone's interested.

Not part of the army at all but can recommend you read: Junior Officers' Reading Club - http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Junior-Officers-Reading-Club/dp/1594484791 Great book about being an officer in Iraq and Afghanistan and insight into Sanhurst (If you are planning as joining as an officer).

I literally just finished reading a book about the unit this guy was in. Although I don't remember reading about him in the book, he was in 2nd platoon, C Co. 1-26 Infantry. The book is They Fought For Each Other and is one of the most heart wrenching books I've ever read. I would definitely recommend it

The book fucking rocks. I read it a few years ago,

If you are interested, also check out One bullet away, written by the LT from that platoon, it tells the same story but from an other perspective as well as some other things that weren't in Generation kill.

This ebook is on sale!. That's on my ebooks wishlist. :) Five Below! Thank you for the contest.

If you want a no-bullshit amazing book about deployment, check out:
This book.

absolutely amazing and dead on.

I see, thanks for the input.


Say, there’s this guy who’s a journalist on reddit that reminded me of you. I saw he was shilling his book, you might want to check it out!

It’s called “Blindsided by the Taliban”:

https://www.amazon.com/Blindsided-Taliban-Journalists-Story-Trauma/dp/1510729682

That looks like something out of Blood Makes the Grass Grow Green. In the book, they were under heavy fire in the middle of the night and their CO was walking around yelling at people to be in proper uniform.

If you've never heard of it, the book is hilarious.

I'd also recommend Junger's book, War, which is incredible.

Now available in paperback at Amazon!

I just googled the title; apparently this is a work of dark humor fiction.

Gotta be Patrick Bishops's 3 PARA (amazon UK, amazon US) or The Junior Officers' Reading Club by Patrick Hennessey (amazon UK, amazon US)

3 PARA is a British journalist's account of the 2006 tour of Afghan, focussing on the operations of the 3 PARA battle group, while The JORC is a semi-biographical account of the early career of Patrick Hennessey, detailing his time in training at Sandhurst and Brecon, going on to multiple tours as a Pl Comd with the Gren Guards.

Both well worth a read.

Yeah there was a book written about us. Most of those parts werent in it.

Heres the book

I don't think he specifically wrote it for Amazon, but my cousin has a couple books for sale.

Book 1

Book 2

If you want to learn a bit about FARP logistics and operations to add some realism, check this book out:

http://www.amazon.com/Hammer-Above-Marine-Combat-Over/dp/0891418717

> The Red Circle

Link for the lazy GGG

There's a book I really enjoyed in general about the CSAR mission, full of stories from a few different wars. Includes all the major MDS including MC-130, HH-60, MH-60, Guardian Angel, etc... it's called "None Braver".

Have you read One Bullet Away by Marine Captain Nate Fick? If so, do you think he was honest throughout it in his description of the war and everything else?

Blood Makes the Grass Grow Green by Johnny Rico.

If I Die in a Combat Zone, Box Me Up and Ship Me Home by Tim O'Brien

I also liked Going After Cacciato, by O'Brien.

Blood Makes the Grass Grow Green.

It's a true story, but it's not as serious as the title makes it sound. A skinny nerd with dual Masters degrees changes his name to Johnny Rico and joins the Army as a grunt. There's a scene where he talks about unplugging the incoming fire RADAR so he can heat up a Hot Pocket. It's just that absurd.

Autogenerated.

IamA Author of critically acclaimed book "Blindsided by the Taliban." AMA!

My short bio: While embedded with US forces in eastern Afghanistan, journalist Carmen Gentile suffered one of the most unusual injuries in the annals of modern warfare when he was struck in the side of the head with a rocket-propelled grenade, shattering bones in his face and blinding him in one eye. His new book "Blindsided by the Taliban" is a dark-humored, self-deprecating account of his injury and effort to overcome his physical and psychological wounds.

My Proof: https://www.amazon.com/Blindsided-Taliban-Journalists-Story-Trauma/dp/1510729682


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