Reddit reviews Out of the Mountains: The Coming Age of the Urban Guerrilla

More of a question than a comment, but looking at the last couple decades, I'd say we're seeing more urban combat than ever before in history. As more and more of the world's population moves into large cities, this trend seems only likely to increase. Assuming that these trends and predictions are accurate, what does that imply for the future of armor, which has traditionally been at its lowest value in urban situations. Will we see a return of assault guns, which can be more easily armored all sides? a decline in the use of armor? Basically, what do you do to adapt armor to an urban, man portable anti tank rich environment?

Here what I've picked up
On War by Clausewitz

MCDP 1 Warfighting

FMFRP 12-18 Mao Tse-tung on Guerrilla Warfare

FMFRP 12-13 Maneuver in War

On Grand Strategy

The Art of War by Baron De Jomini

Just and Unjust Wars (apparently it's on the Commandant's reading list too)

Soviet Military Operational Art: In Pursuit of Deep Battle

Out of the Mountains: The Coming Age of the Urban Guerrilla

Seapower: A Guide for the Twenty-First Century

The Bear Went Over the Mountain: Soviet Combat Tactics in Afghanistan

Blitzkrieg to Desert Storm: The Evolution of Operational Warfare

Why Air Forces Fail: The Anatomy of Defeat

Deep Maneuver: Historical Case Studies of Maneuver in Large-Scale Combat Operations (Volume 5)

JP-1 Doctrine for the Armed Forces of the United States

DoD Law of War Manual

The Soviet Army: Operations and Tactics

Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS

Napoleonic Warfare: The Operational Art of the Great Campaigns

The Air Force Way of War: U.S. Tactics and Training after Vietnam

Strategy: A History

LikeWar: The Weaponization of Social Media

The Utility of Force: The Art of War in the Modern World

MCTP 3-01C Machine Guns and Machine Gun Gunnery

Man, the State, and War: A Theoretical Analysis

The U.S. Army in the Iraq War – Volume 1: Invasion – Insurgency – Civil War, 2003-2006

The U.S. Army in the Iraq War – Volume 2: Surge and Withdrawal, 2007-2011

Illusions of Victory: The Anbar Awakening and the Rise of the Islamic State

Concrete Hell: Urban Warfare From Stalingrad to Iraq

The American Way of War: A History of United States Military Strategy and Policy

Supreme Command: Soldiers, Statesmen, and Leadership in Wartime

This is all I can name off the top of my head right now

I read a really interesting book, Out of the Mountains: The Coming Age of the Urban Guerilla by David Kilcullen, and in the section regarding Somalia, the author presents this concept of the rural areas rising against the cities out of a sense of resentment. I'm gonna have to go home and find the passage I'm referring to, because it's especially relevant to the concept of reactionaries attacking cities.

Honestly that whole book is fantastic. Reading it feels like getting a (terrifying) glimpse into the future.

Get an AR15. If you can't afford the $400 to $500 get a good basic AR or they are banned in your state, then we can talk about other long arms, but if neither of those is a problem there is no reason to get any other type of rifle. Getting a pistol would be good too, but I don't consider myself qualified to recommend pistols, so I'll leave that subject to others.

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As for manuals, I'd recommend staying away from the classic leftist books on guerilla warfare, such as those my Mao and Che. Their interesting historical pieces but don't hold up in many ways. If you want a more theoretical overview of how asymmetric warfare works, I'd recommend David Kilcullen's book Out of the Mountains: The Coming Age of the Urban Guerrilla. As for a more hands on approach, I found many of these videos helpful. The US Army manual and the Smartbooks manual on small unit tactics seem good from what I can tell, but I'm not an expert.

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Cybersecurity is very important, but something I'm not super knowledgeable in. At the very least I'd recommend using TOR, Signal, and Protonmail. Be careful of what kind of history you leave of yourself on social media accounts.

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Basic survival skills are a good thing to learn as well. How to start a fire, how to purify water, etc. Also, become familiar with concepts such as every day carry (EDC) kits, and being the Greyman. Learning how to pick locks probably wouldn't hurt either. Tactical driving is good to know as well. Learn basic first aid/emergency medicine. Skinnymedic on Youtube had good videos.

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Train train train with whatever weapon you have. Having more training is far more important than having a super nice/fancy gun.

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Make connections with your neighbors, community, comrades, etc. Having community to fall back on and to back you up is so important. Seriously, our success depends on community support the same way fish depend on water.

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Anyway, that's just a quick list of things off the top of my head.

Those aspiring to get deployed to The Sand: [Soviet side] (https://www.amazon.com/Bear-Went-Over-Mountain-Afghanistan/dp/1304069451), and [Afghan side] (https://www.amazon.com/Other-Side-Mountain-Mujahideen-Soviet-Afghan/dp/1907521054/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=1907521054&pd_rd_r=3DPC4DJGX4FWTXWVVA9C&pd_rd_w=pYIT6&pd_rd_wg=ayrK0&psc=1&refRID=3DPC4DJGX4FWTXWVVA9C&dpID=415unPMqb0L&preST=_SY344_BO1,204,203,200_QL70_&dpSrc=detail). If you're a big fan of [COIN] (https://www.amazon.com/Out-Mountains-Coming-Urban-Guerrilla/dp/0190230967/ref=pd_sim_14_11?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0190230967&pd_rd_r=PBGEGVZYSHTMSAR5MGE2&pd_rd_w=gbkvM&pd_rd_wg=tmqj7&psc=1&refRID=PBGEGVZYSHTMSAR5MGE2).

Being an officer is about using your brains to keep your men alive and keep the enemy dead. Never stop learning from other people's mistakes.

David Kilcullen has done some exceptional thinking on this topic recently. His newest book, Out of the Mountains, is a superb wide-ranging framing of megacity conflict, both sociologically, strategically, and tactically.

This lecture vid quickly outlines the book's ideas very well.

Just started digging into Out of the Mountains: The Coming Age of the Urban Guerilla by David Kilcullen. So far it's fascinating but I've only had time to get a chapter or two in.

Also got my latest issue of Foreign Affairs last week, I do enjoy the book reviews.

Lots of great answers everyone. I see that I have a lot of reading to do and that is a good thing. Just for anyone also interested I compiled all of the named books into a list and sourced them, for your reading pleasure.



The Accidental Guerrilla by David Kilcullen

Counterinsurgency by David Kilcullen

Out of the Mountains by David Kilcullen

Learning to Eat Soup With a Knife: Counterinsurgency Lessons From Malaya and Vietnam by John Nagl

Tactics of the Crescent Moon: Militant Muslim Combat Methods by John Poole

Modern War: Counter-Insurgency as Malpractice by Edward Luttwak

A Savage War of Peace by Alistar Horne

The Bear Went Over the Mountain by Lester Grau

Invisible Armies by Max Boot

Vid Putivla do Karpat by Sydir Artemovych Kovpac

Fire in the Lake by Frances FitzGerald

Inside Rebellion by Jeremy M. Weinstein

Also, Out of the Mountains: The Coming Age of the Urban Guerrilla is a good read too.