Look at me!....any good books to read???

[SteveG75]

Very, very, VERY good books on insurgency/unconventional warfare are "The Bear Went Over the Mountain" and "The Other Side of the Mountain". They provide accurately translated after-action reports from Soviet and Mujahadeen (sp?) commanders, respectively, during the Soviet debacle there. They're a little hard to find, but B & N or Borders might have them.

Also find, "The Soviet-Afghan War", it is the Russian General Staff's after action report. Very Good.

For the original poster,

"Angles of Attack" - Pete Hunt (Intruder Pilot in Gulf War I, also one of my old RAG instructors)
"In the Company of Heros" - Michael Durant (the -60 pilot captured in Mogadishu)
"The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors" - James Hornfischer (Leyte Gulf, Battle of Samar, destroyers vs. battleships)
"Leadership: The Warrior's Art" - MAJ Chris Kolenda, US Army (lots of good essays, the guy was in my War College class, graduated #1)
"The Blond Knight of Germany" - Toliver and Constable (biography of Erich Hartmann, #1 ace of all time with 352 kills, 10 years in Soviet POW camp)

Anything by Victor Davis Hanson, John Keegan, or Cornelius Ryan. All good history stuff. For background on Islam, I recommend Bernard Lewis.

Oh, and don't forget "Clash of Civilization" by Sam Huntington, very interesting reading.

 

[Steve Wilkins]

For background on Islam, I recommend Bernard Lewis.

Oh, and don't forget "Clash of Civilization" by Sam Huntington, very interesting reading.

Bernard Lewis is the sh!t.....and Clash of Civilization....well, that should just be mandatory reading for all officers.

 

[RockyMtnNFO]

"Raising the Big White Flag" French War Doctrine Manual

 

[Sundown]

all good recommendations

http://www.airwarriors.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12164&highlight=good+books

http://www.usna.edu/Library/Marineread.html

 

[BlazeUSMC]

Jarhead

If you're looking for a good book to read about the armed forces, read Jarhead by Anthony Swofford. Its a true story about a marine in desert storm from his own perspective. The new movie out in theaters called "Jarhead" with Jake Gyllenhall and Jamie Foxx is based on the book. Semper Fi.

 

[oztin79]

"The Little Prince" is excellent (an unlikely gift from a girlfriend), not to be confused with Machiavelli. I think it might be a great book to keep near during combat.

Also, there's a guide that's issued during TBS called "Warfighting." In my opinion, it rivals Sun Tzu as a masterpiece and surpasses him in accessibility.

And no, my girlfriend's nothing like Machiavelli (most of the month).

 

[gaijin6423]

"The Little Prince", as in the french book about a little boy on a tiny little planet? Uh, I might be missing something here, but I'm failing to see how that one's combat-related. Granted, I read it in high school, and I really, really didn't want to do so. Some elaboration, please?

 

[oztin79]

...the mind of an Iraqi...

One of our biggest problems over there is that "Iraqis" don't really exist. We're trying to make people over there into something called "Iraqis" for the sake of stability.

I think that If you really want to read a book about the mind of an Iraqi, you're going to have to choose between a book by or about a Hanbali/Wahhabi Sunni, a Shiite, or a Kurd (or maybe all three).

Since I don't know any of those written without a crazy agenda from one side or the other, I can highly recommend two books on the Iraq war entitled "The Iraq War" by war historian John Keegan (who also wrote an extraordinary historical account of intel in "Intelligence in War") and "The Interrogators" by someone whose name I've forgotten, which is about our "intelligence extraction interviews" with detaines throughout the middle east (the author's supposedly one of the secret interrogators).

 

[oztin79]

"The Little Prince", as in the french book about a little boy on a tiny little planet? Uh, I might be missing something here, but I'm failing to see how that one's combat-related. Granted, I read it in high school, and I really, really didn't want to do so. Some elaboration, please?

I just read it last night for the first time and it impressed the hell out of me. No relation to combat whatsoever. I just think that if I should I find myself in a combat theater sooner or later, I'd probably want simple, but strangely meaningful reading like that book.

 

[gaijin6423]

Yeah, but it's FRENCH... Seriously, though, I think I see where you're coming from here, but I'm not sure I agree. Granted, it really has been a long time since I read it, but if you're looking for multi-layered meaning, etc. I suggest "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card. Yes, it's Sci-Fi, but it's also on the Commandant of the Marine Corps' reading list and one of the best books I've ever read. I recommend reading the book prior to reading the forward, but that's just me.

 

[oztin79]

Yeah, but it's FRENCH... Seriously, though, I think I see where you're coming from here, but I'm not sure I agree. Granted, it really has been a long time since I read it, but if you're looking for multi-layered meaning, etc. I suggest "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card. Yes, it's Sci-Fi, but it's also on the Commandant of the Marine Corps' reading list and one of the best books I've ever read. I recommend reading the book prior to reading the forward, but that's just me.

We're both Francophobes, for sure...but that guy was a pilot and shot down in a fighter by ze Germans. Seems like one of the few things France ever produced that didn't flee.

I'm going to check out "Ender's Game."

 

[Ex Rigger]

If you're looking for a good book to read about the armed forces, read Jarhead by Anthony Swofford. Its a true story about a marine in desert storm from his own perspective. The new movie out in theaters called "Jarhead" with Jake Gyllenhall and Jamie Foxx is based on the book. Semper Fi.

You've got to be kidding.........

 

[oztin79]

You've got to be kidding.........

Yeah, I've never heard of this movie either.

 

[riley]

Just a side note on the Little Prince.

The author spent a lot of his time in the early days of WWII in America trying to convince us to enter the war. He would have rather spent this time flying against the Germans. But he really didn't have a chance because he was over the age of 40 already.

He died flying a P-38 on a photo recon mission in 1944.

You can't just denigrate him by saying he's French.

 

[gaijin6423]

No one's seriously trying to speak poorly of the dead, dude. Just having a little joke at the expense of the French. People around the world talk smack about the US in much more serious tones, so a little humor never hurt anyone or anything. They weren't just pulling your chain when they said that having a sense of humor was a leadership asset. A little LIGHTHEARTED humor does everyone some good.