Must Read Books For Navy MIDNs/OCs

[AllAmerican75]

So my parents were bugging me about gift ideas for Christmas to give to my family and whatnot, so I perused Amazon and came up with a list of books that I felt would be good to read in preparation for OCS and becoming a Naval Officer. I figured I would publish the list here since I'm sure some of my fellow college seniors might have the same question. What do you commissioned officers think? Do you think I should add anything?

A quick follow-up question, do they issue a copy of the Naval Officer's Guide and the Bluejacket's Manual at OCS?

A Gentlemanly & Honorable Profession: The Forming of the Naval Officers Corps

On War by Carl Von Clausewitz

Theodore Roosevelt's Naval Diplomacy

Six Frigates: The Founding of the U.S. Navy

A Sailor's History of the United States Navy

Navy Strategic Culture

The Bluejacket's Manual

Vulture's Row: 30 Years In Naval Aviation

Service Etiquette, 4th Edition

Guide To Naval Writing

Watch Officer's Guide

Naval Ceremonies, Customs, and Traditions

 

[Spekkio]

A quick follow-up question, do they issue a copy of the Naval Officer's Guide and the Bluejacket's Manual at OCS?

No.

 

[helolumpy]

My recommendation is to stay away from Clausewitz. He's Army centric and deals with operations at the General Officer level of warfare (Operational and Strategic). Plus he's very difficult to read. (I'm at the War College, we deal with him every day!)

I would concentrate on the Navy-centric readings. When in doubt the CNO's reading list is always a good place to start...
For a JO start with: http://www.navyreading.navy.mil/books.aspx?q=Division%20Leader

 

[eddie]

My recommendation is to stay away from Clausewitz. He's Army centric and deals with operations at the General Officer level of warfare (Operational and Strategic). Plus he's very difficult to read. (I'm at the War College, we deal with him every day!)

What if you like that kind of shit? Comparable in any sense to Mahan?

 

[FormerRecruitingGuru]

Buy "The Commissioned Officers Guide".

Everything else you don't really need.

 

[ACowboyinTexas]

You don't need Clausewitz yet (or anytime soon). "Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors" would be good. "Flyboys" - the book about GHWB and his mates in WWII - not the movie;-) If you're going for aviation that should about do it, except for maybe a Bartender's Guide for liberty and Forum for watch.

 

[zab1001]

Fight Club.

 

[E26]

Starship Troopers.

"Correct morality can only be derived from what man is — not from what do-gooders and well-meaning aunt Nellies would like him to be."

 

[ASCzero]

Immanual Kant - critique of pure reason

 

[PropAddict]

Immanual Kant - critique of pure reason

. . .or you could just shoot yourself in the face. Far more enjoyable.

 

[Pags]

Six Frigates: The Founding of the U.S. Navy

Six Frigates is about the only one on that list that I would recommend for casual/motivational reading. The rest are largely reference pubs that a command will have for when you need them and aren't something you'd want to read to kill time.

I'll second "last stand of the tin can sailors". "wings of gold" was pretty good on WWII Naval Aviation. "the two ocean war" for a good intro to US Naval History in WWII. "shattered sword" for a different (and excellent) take on Midway. "the first team" for an exhaustively researched book on the first year or so of naval aviation during WWII.

Avoid Clausewitz until it's required. I'm currently mired in it and he obviously skipped the staff course that taught "clear and concise"
writing.

Ask for beer money. Far more useful.

 

[E26]

Destroyer Captain - Admiral James G. Stavridis

I really enjoyed it, and felt it gave me, a person with zero experience, a fairly detailed and nice insight into the life of a Captain of a United States Ship. I can open any page, read a little, and finish feeling super motivated, not that I don't anyways

He is now Commander of USEUCOM and SACEUR.

 

[helolumpy]

What if you like that kind of shit? Comparable in any sense to Mahan?

If someone likes reading 19th century Prussian translated to English, then by all means, go for it. For the Middie or Officer Candidate the topics discussed by Clausewitz and Mahan are WAY above thier paygrades.

Clausewitz discusses war and the relationship of the government, the military and the people (aka 'the trinity). He goes explains the importance of warfare to statecraft.... 'diplomacy by another means'. I think this is a bit much for someone who is trying to figure out how the navy operates.

Mahan is one of the reasons we still have a War College. He uses historical analysis of 17th & 18th centurty stuggles in Europe to show conclusively that world powers require world class navies. Since navies are expensive things to maintain, isolationish Americans would sometimes question the need for a powerful navy.

Mahan then explains what you can do with a navy to get what you want; the essence of sea control or to use a UJTL term, maritime superiority. His concepts of decisive engagements influenced modern navies ever since. The Imperial Japanese Navy were much much followers of Mahanian concepts.

For a Middie or Officer Candidate both of these books are too much to digest. They should be more concerned with learning the dynamic between JO and Chief Petty Officer and leadership. In addition to trying to learn all the Admin BS that goes with being a DivO.

One book that I would recommend is Mister Roberts by Thomas Heggen. This is the book that the movie is based on. I think this story is one of best illustrative examples of naval leadership you can find.

The dynamic of LT Roberts with the Captain, ENS Pulver shows how a leader must do what is right even at the expense of career ambitions. If only some of our senior leadership would embrace that notion....

 

[dirtydog]

In Love and War - VADM Stockdale and Sybil Stockdale

Outstanding book on his experience as a POW and hers as a Navy wife.

For some laughs/cries: Catch-22 - Joe Heller

 

[Junkball]

On Yankee Station by Barrett Tillman is a great book about Naval Aviation's contribution to the war over Vietnam. It's in the Bluejacket Books club.

The Caine Mutiny is a fictionalized account of Herman Wouk's experiences in WWII and is a famous and pretty widely-read novel. I really enjoyed his other books, The Winds of War and War and Remembrance. If you get into them, you won't put them down.