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

You don't have to worry about how to write it, just get it down and out of your brain onto paper. The technical stuff is what editors get paid for.

Also, try reading books about other interesting stories. They don't necessarily have to be on the same topic. Creative Non-Fiction is a huge genre right now, and it sounds like you have tons of material to work with. Don't worry about being super strict with the details, unless you decide you want to be. It's the story that's interesting.

Suggested reading...

• Jack Kerouac: On The Road - I'm not going to give you a link because you should have this on your shelf already, damn it! :P
  
• Colby Buzzell: My War (side note, I followed this guys blog as he was living this story and it was mind blowing. The only blog I have ever followed.)
  
• Gregory David Roberts: Shantaram - I'm reading this right now and it's spectacular. I think you might appreciate the themes, as well.
  
  I'm sure other redditors can flood you with even more suggestions.

I just finished reading Warthog - Flying the A-10 in the Gulf War and it was awesome. If you love this plane or are simply interested in the roles of airplanes in the war theatre, the planning that goes into it and the effect pilots have on it, read this book.

I never understood just how powerful this plane was in the Gulf War. By the end, it wasn't just the A-10. It was the OFOA-10G. Yep, it fulfilled so many roles in combat. The book is filled with first person accounts of the pilots, so the combat description is awesome.

For anybody who (like me) is intrigued by reading this thread and hearing these stories, I strongly recommend you check out the This American Life episode How Will They Know Me Back Home?, which includes stories from soldiers returning home from Iraq, as well as the story of an Iraqi woman who became a translator for the army. You might also be interested in The Good Soldiers by David Finkel, who followed a group of US Rangers in Iraq during the surge (the stories in the This American Life episode come from this book).

Literally finished 'The Angel' about ten minutes ago; it was pretty good. I read 'Debriefing the President' last month. Great book as I don't remember ever hearing that much about what ever came of the Saddam interviews. I'm currently 50 pages into 'A Divided Spy'.

Everyone who found this TIL interesting should read the book Viper Pilot. It is truly one of the best and most entertaining books I've ever read. It blows every other military / combat book I've read out of the water. His stories are so epic and engaging that I read the book in two sittings...

I just got done reading this book Warthog: Flying the A10 in the Gulf War and I highly, highly recommend it. Great book and gives a lot of insight into what the A10 was tasked to do.

	

	

	

> # America Would Need More Than 100,000 Troops to Invade Venezuela
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>
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> The U.S. Defense Department’s regional command for South America is the smallest of the department’s 10 unified commands. It permanently oversees just 1,200 personnel plus a few thousand troops and a handful of ships on temporary deployments.
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> But that doesn’t mean the U.S. military couldn’t invade Venezuela in the event Pres. Donald Trump makes good on his threats and orders the Pentagon to intervene in the slowly-collapsing South American country.
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> Not, of course, that invading Venezuela is a good idea. Experts agree it’s not.
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> Image
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> Most major U.S. military forces are by nature expeditionary, as they typically must travel long distances to participate in major operations.
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> Ships can sail from sea to sea and even cross between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Planes can deploy to air bases close to the action. Ground forces, transported by road, rail, air and sea, can concentrate on nearby U.S. or allied soil.
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> It helps that the United States, uniquely among major powers, devotes a huge proportion of its military spending to logistics, including maintenance of the world’s largest sealift and airlift fleets.
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> It’s for those reasons that the Pentagon in the past has been able to muster tens of thousands of troops plus scores of warships and planes for major operations in South America.
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> Nearly 10,000 U.S. troops in 1983 invaded Grenada in response to a Marxist coup in the Caribbean country. Six years later 27,000 Americans invaded Panama after that country’s leader Gen. Manuel Noriega made overtures to Soviet-aligned Cuba. The Pentagon in 2010 mobilized dozens of ships and aircraft and nearly 20,000 personnel to help Haiti in the aftermath of a devastating earthquake.
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> On command, the U.S. Navy, Army, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard quickly could concentrate potentially tens of thousands of people, dozens of ships and hundreds of aircraft in the vicinity of Venezuela. Forces and logistics aren’t the problem.
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> The problem is that an invasion could further destabilize Venezuela, hurt, kill or displace countless innocent Venezuelans, alienate the U.S. government in a region that is hostile to American meddling and also get a lot of Americans killed.
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> Retired Navy Admiral James Stavridis, SOUTHCOM commander from 2006 to 2009, said he opposes intervention. “I would not advise it,” Stavridis said of a potential U.S. invasion. “I commanded U.S. Southern Command for three years in Miami, so I can picture pretty much what is happening there,” he added in comments to Foreign Policy.
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> An invasion of Venezuela would require more forces than the invasions of Grenada and Panama did, and also could be riskier, Shannon O’Neil noted at Bloomberg. Venezuela “is twice the size of Iraq with only a slightly smaller population, and teeters on the verge of chaos. Any invasion requires preparations on a similar scale, meaning a 100,000-plus force.”
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> “U.S. troops are unlikely to be welcomed,” O’Neil wrote. “A February [2018] poll shows a majority of Venezuelans, including a plurality of those in Venezuela’s opposition, oppose an invasion. A U.S. military presence would play into, and would at least in part validate, [Venezuelan president Nicolas] Maduro’s loudly proclaimed imperialist conspiracies.”
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> Navy admiral Craig Faller, SOUTHCOM commander, on May 2, 2019 told a Congressional committee the most likely scenario is a military-led mission to help U.S. citizens evacuate Venezuela. Around 200 U.S. troops are in Colombia and immediately could assist with an evacuation.
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> Stavridis agreed. “The most aggressive contingency plan they are looking at would be one that would protect American citizens if for some reason there were a backlash against them. That would be the only circumstance in which I could see U.S. troop presence.”
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> “There are probably close to 100,000 American citizens in Venezuela, so Maduro would be very well advised to avoid any kind of program that harassed or arrested American citizens,” Stavridis added. “I think that would be a red line. I don’t think the Maduro administration, as befuddled as it is, would be willing to cross that kind of a line because I think that would invite a military response.”
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> “In the end, this, I think, will play out politically and diplomatically, not militarily,” Stavridis said.
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> David Axe serves as Defense Editor of the National Interest. He is the author of the graphic novels _War Fix, War Is Boring and Machete Squad._

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Yep and this piece of shit worked to give Abu Ghraib a face lift changed the name to Paradise General and write a fucking book like MASH.
https://www.amazon.com/Paradise-General-Riding-Combat-Hospital/dp/1416599584/ref=nodl_

I guess more than that. Sadly my kindle isn't charged at the moment, but If you're interested you might want to have a look at this book:

http://www.amazon.com/Warthog-Flying-Potomac-Books-Warriors/dp/1574888862/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1349002853&sr=8-1&keywords=warthog+flying+a10

They're flying the A-10A (which makes crossing the Atlantic even harder) but the first Chapter describes the ordeal pretty detailed. Including refueling during a Thunderstorm. At night. Under time pressure.

im pretty sure this is an excerpt from

http://www.amazon.com/McCoys-Marines-Darkside-John-Koopman/dp/0760337381

Bringing Out the Dead, the book that inspired the cult classic movie by the same name.

A Paramedic's Story: Life, Death, and Everything in Between, which was written by a guy who writes a popular EMS blog.

Paradise General is a great book about the doctors and surgeons who served in Iraq during The Surge.

> From personal experience military intelligence is an oxymoron.

Unfortunately, anecdotally this is too true for most military's. Information in the modern world changes so rapidly that the military bureaucracy and chain of command tend's to do nothing more then to just slow down the rate at which accurate info is provided to front line troops.

A great example is in the now famous Generation Kill and One Bullet Away. The unit is constantly supplied with FRAGO's and new mission objectives based on faulty and outdated information that time and time again places them in ambushes, traps, and situations where the only reason they leave alive is because of the ineptitude of the enemy, not their own skill.

He's got a graphic novel coming out in August as well. Link

https://www.amazon.com/Murphys-Law-Journey-Investigative-Journalist/dp/B07L39R513/ref=sr_1_1?crid=KM7O8X7M2D2J&keywords=murphys+law&qid=1565626812&s=gateway&sprefix=murphys+law%2Caps%2C143&sr=8-1

Book written by a friend of mine on the topic. He is a former Ranger and Green Beret.

Not exactly a 'christian' book, but I found Joker One to be one of the most profound and emotional books I've ever read.

Definitely worth checking out even if you have no interest in the gulf war.

The story appeared in Marcus Luttrell's memoir, Service: A Navy Seal at War (pages 282-283). Luttrell was a decorated veteran and Kyle's friend. Michael J. Mooney of D magazine, who lionized Kyle and wrote a positive biography on him asked Kyle about the incident. Kyle told him that it's true.

Has anybody ever read Shooter

In the book, he talks about how being mobile as a sniper unit is much more effective in modern combat.


In war games, his mobile snipers destroyed everyone else, and in Iraq, were pretty effective as well.

In The Sutras of Abu Ghraib Aiden Delgado talks about when he turned in his application for CO discharged, his body armor was taken away from him but he was still required to go on patrol without either that or a weapon. There's tons of stories of COs way more interesting than mine.

I read this book back in early 2007 right before I joined the Corps and the writer's CO had the call sign "Dark-Side Six" and I've always like it. So I kind of stole it. Not sure if there's any connection to your FOB

I grew up in the area as well. Though I didn't know him personally I remember reading about it in the paper. They wrote a book about him http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0767920384

The book about him is worth the read: http://www.amazon.com/The-Gift-Valor-War-Story/dp/0767920384

> Blue Spaders

There is a great book about that deployment.

They Fought for Each Other: The Triumph and Tragedy of the Hardest Hit Unit in Iraq

http://www.amazon.com/On-Call-In-Hell-Doctors/dp/0451220536

For those that are interested in combat medicine.

This is an INCREDIBLE book.

Has anybody read or heard of this book by one of Saddam's early interrogators that claims the Dictator was basically sidelined by 2003?

If so, thoughts?

Read this: https://www.amazon.com/Warthog-Flying-10-Potomac-Warriors/dp/1574888862

1. Angel from Hell
   
2. Just Another Soldier
   
3. My War
   
   

https://www.amazon.com/Reaper-Autobiography-Deadliest-Special-Snipers/dp/1250080606


https://www.amazon.com/Murphys-Law-Journey-Invetigative-Journalist/dp/1508285233

Targets of opportunity (i.e. helicopters). The Warthog actually got a couple of kills during the Gulf War. I'd definitely suggest this book if you're interested in learning more.

Finally! It made no sense that US troops couldn't intervene to save the lives of their allies. Although it's about Iraq, The Good Soldiers, is eye-opening as to the limits imposed on US soldiers.

Throughout the book, US-allied tribal leaders or translators will come under attack from al-Qaeda, while the US cannot intervene. Hoping to minimize US casualties, the RoE prevented Americans from fighting to save key players in the battle for "hearts and minds."

This incremental change to the RoE (now Americans can strike when Afghan soldiers are in danger, even if American lives aren't directly threatened) is a welcome change, but over a decade too late.

If you're interested in a more colorful (and almost definitely less true) picture of Mattis, he is actually a character in the excellent HBO series Generation Kill, although a minor one who is only on screen in a few episodes.

The series focuses on a team of recon marines who experience the absurdity and futility of the Iraq War. Their commanding officer spends all of his time desperately trying to anticipate what General Mattis wants and to make him happy - and makes a number of arguably terrible decisions as a result.

EDIT: Generation Kill is based on the excellent book of the same name, if you have a more literary bent. I can't remember how much it goes into Mattis, but it is likely more detailed and accurate than the TV series.

Right? I read an excerpt from a book while ago about A-10 pilots during the first Gulf War. Apparently a lot of them flew their own planes from America to the Middle East. Anyways during this long flight one pilot had his instruments freeze up on him and then he rolled his plane while looking over his shoulder but didn't realize any of this. It wasn't until his wingman looked over, saw him upside down, and then he had to figure which one of them was right side up!

Source.

For a good read on these crazy bastards, I recommended: https://www.amazon.com/Viper-Pilot-Memoir-Air-Combat-ebook/dp/B007HBTAP6

They usually fly. There's a book called Warthog that talks about flying over in the A-10A during the first Gulf War. One thing to note is the A model didn't have an autopilot, and they followed a tanker for most, if not all, of the way, for navigation, refueling, and the weather radar the tanker had (they encountered a thunderstorm on the way and how that affected the flight).

http://www.amazon.com/Warthog-Flying-Potomac-Books-Warriors/dp/1574888862/

In the Gulf war, they had to fly them. It wasn't a pleasant experience apparently.

His CIA interrogator agrees with you. https://www.amazon.com/Debriefing-President-Interrogation-Saddam-Hussein/dp/0399575812 According to him, Saddam thought 9/11 and the War on Terror would bring the US and Iraq closer together and couldn't understand why the Bush administration was going after him.

Assuming you're asking about life in the military, and not specifically West Point, it varies greatly with rank, duty station, and military occupational specialty. I suppose the short version is expect a more desk-like environment if you have a Combat Support or Combat Service Support job, versus a lot more time "in the field" for a Combat Arms job, and an overall better or worse quality of life depending on where you are stationed (both because of the mentality of units there and what the area is like).

There are a lot of autobiographical books by soldiers that have come out over the past decade that you can check out. Most of them will of course focus on their deployment, but it's common to see a bit of the training. I haven't looked into that category of books in years, but as an example, one that I read when I was younger was My War: Killing Time in Iraq, by Colby Buzzell. Just remember that with any autobiographical work, the author is limited by what their point of view was. In Mr Buzzell's case, as a lower enlisted soldier he was right where "the rubber meets the road", but didn't have much of the bigger picture (also, I have never heard of a unit that did training quite the way his did).

I wouldn't worry about fitting in because of where you come from - no one really cares where you're from, plus I know quite a few people who grew up in the liberal bastions of America and did alright in the Army.