(Part 2) Best products from r/CombatFootage

It's a very dry read but there's a 1000 page CPA report that covers the entire occupation and what the US did after the invasion in mind-numbing detail, what went wrong and why. Let me see if I can find it, I wrote a low-level uni paper on it like a year or two ago. I think it was written by Paul Bremer but as I recall it was very frank about the mistakes that occured.

Edit: Here it is: https://books.google.se/books?id=OjM3DTks4ekC&pg=PA455&lpg=PA455&dq=coalition+provisional+authority+inspector+general+report+pdf&source=bl&ots=hSKJEkUytk&sig=ofhqub7tKjjNociRy8vg77vHwK4&hl=sv&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjesuKa86zSAhXB6CwKHbVpAsE4ChDoAQhIMAg#v=onepage&q&f=false

This report covers basically the entire occupation and thus the reason why IS exists, or at least exists as something more than just another Syrian Islamist opposition faction.

I haven't read any books about ISIS beyond that. If you want a book on politics/foreign affairs/the international system that covers
relevant concepts like power vacuums, states and so on, this book is the best textbook I've ever had in uni and it has pretty much everything: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Globalization-World-Politics-Introduction-International/dp/0198739850/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1488081222&sr=1-1

As an avid shooter who has unfortunately never used a suppressor (they are expensive to own in the U.S.), my understanding is that very few firearms are actually "hearing-safe" when suppressed. This is because hearing damage is a function of exposure time and noise intensity: even an instantaneous noise like a gunshot that registers above 120 dB will cause permanent hearing damage to unprotected ears.

However, reducing an AK-pattern rifle, for example, from its typical intensity of about 150 dB to perhaps 135 makes a huge difference to an unprotected shooter because the the decibel scale works on a logarithmic curve, not a linear one. That means that sound intensity increases by orders of magnitude as decibels increase, rather than linearly. Even a decrease of 15 dB will be much less damaging to the ears than an unsuppressed AK's 150 dB.

I can't speak to the effects of gunfire-induced hearing loss because I'd never go near it without adequate hearing protection. Watch how PKM Man has his eardrum blown out by Comrade AK-74's muzzle blast, who has happily protected his own ears with kleenex.

The U.S. military is aware of the problem and has issued earplugs in the past, but my understanding is that troops generally don't wear them in order not to impair their ability to hear commands and to maintain their situational awareness. 3M's Combat Arms Earplugs, developed for the military, purport to allow in safe sounds while blocking noise-damaging impulses like gunfire. I have a pair and they appear to work well with clapping and would likely be great for combat, but I don't think I'll trust my hearing to them at the range.

All true, Peleliu must have been insanity. If I remember correctly it was like 10 square miles. If you haven't heard of it I would strongly recommend picking up "With the Old Breed", it is the first hand account of a Marine mortar man at Peleliu and Okinawa and it is incredibly good. I read it in like three days.

(http://www.amazon.com/With-Old-Breed-Peleliu-Okinawa/dp/0891419195)

Sry for poor format my Reddit skills are newish

Oh right. Thanks for the reminder - I’d recently read that too.
I just finished the book The Battery - history of the battery - which had a chapter about the miniaturization of circuits and the power savings they brought.

The design of the proximity fuse was fascinating. The act of firing the round shattered a glass vial of the electrolyte for the in-round battery which powered the circuit. The spin of the round helped distribute the fluid throughout the battery cell to provide full power. This meant the batteries were shelf stable for much longer than having active batteries sitting dormant.
Another interesting development mentioned in the book was the use of saltwater as an electrolyte in the batteries that powered torpedoes. Again, this allowed them to be shelf-stable until use. The batteries did not power the circuit until the torpedo was in the tube and the tube flooded prior to launch.
Cool stuff.

JAWBREAKER was good as well.
I enjoined how this CIA guy on Sept 12 or 13 goes into an REI in Virginia with his CIA credit card and buys all his gear.... pretty wild.

https://www.amazon.com/Crusades-Authoritative-History-Holy-Land/dp/0060787295

There's so much information to convey so this book is very broad strokes. But it does a great job of covering both the Christian and Muslim worlds equally. I love it.

The pilot on this one wrote a great book about his experience [guts and gunships](http://www.GUTS.com/ 'N GUNSHIPS: What it was Really Like to Fly Combat Helicopters in Vietnam https://www.amazon.com/dp/B014TUIW7O/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_kD9PAbENVWEAP) definitely worth the read, also check out the interviews he did on that channel.

If interested in Barbarossa; The Book by Alan Clark is a good and informative read.

The First Hand Accounts within I still think about.

Eye of the Tiger: Memoir of a United States Marine, Third Force Recon Company, Vietnam
Actually probably one of the best books I have read regardless of genre.
Check the reviews on Amazon, this is a phenomenal book.

If you want a really good read about these missions Flying From The Black Hole is the best book I’ve ever read about the B-52 missions in Vietnam.

Winged Victory is a decent novel about flying in WW1.
https://www.amazon.com/Winged-Victory-V-M-Yeates/dp/1904010652

Trying to find an actual history book, all of mine are packed. The one I remember most right now was called "The Air War" or soemthing along those lines. Searching now....

Edit: Here we go. This one was informative but maybe a little dry. I enjoyed it though.

https://www.amazon.com/First-Air-War-1914-1918/dp/0684871203

Also Jeff Shaara's book about the first world war has a lot of intersting scenes of Richtofen and the lafayette escadrille that I really enjoyed. I havent found mayn WW1 aviation books though and I'm always on the search for more.

Edit2: Also feel free to ask me anything about WW1 aviation or historical aviation. I lvoe talking about the stuff and. its a good distraction from moving.

If you want a book, To Conquer Hell is a really good one on the Meuse-Argonne Offensive. For a series of books that cover the Eastern Front (i.e. not just trenches), Prit Buttar's books have been really good so far. I've read the first two, and Russia's Last Gasp is next on my reading list.

BBC's The Great War from the 60s is amazing too.

Whenever I see a WTOB recommendation I always have to swoop in and recommend Battleground Pacific. It follows a rifleman from K/3/5, same as Sledge. Being a rifleman, his accounts are a bit different as he's usually up ahead of where Sledge would be positioned on the line. It's great. Definitely worth reading With the Old Breed & Battleground Pacific.

Thanks, will do some reading. I got very interested in learning more about the NVA/VC after reading the Sorrow of War, which I can heartily recommend for anyone who hasn't read it.

https://www.amazon.com/FREEFALL-Tom-Read/dp/0316643033

He was Rafik Hariris body guard for a few years. Tried to break Felix Baumgartners free fall skydive record. Had some sort of psychotic break and was institutionalised. Really really fascinating read. Very different the "then I slotted three tangos and drank beer" SAS stories you usually get.

Bugging my dad to write a book now that he's retired, but he honestly doesn't think he has much to offer to the overall SEAL narrative. I'm like Pops, you used a Nuclear Submarine to get into an OP once. You actually deployed out through a torpedo tube at depth, blowing out an ear drum in the process. Someone else has to learn about that. We'll see, maybe showing him this page will change his mind.
EDIT: Apparently Dad did write a whole chapter in Good to Go

I bought this book a few years ago in a book store. In the beginning, one of the authors interviewed a female fighter and she claimed that was what an isis soldier was saying while begging for his life. IMO the book is pretty biased as pro kurds and basically paints Rojava as a socialist paradise so I am skeptical.

I'm gonna have to check that one out. The Last Stand of Fox Company is another great book for those interested.

It focuses on the 234 men of Fox Company and how they held Fox Hill against thousands of Chinese.