(Part 3) Best afghan & iraq war biographies according to redditors

I came across this book titled "Thank you for my service" by a guy called Mat Best who was wearing an American flag. It was a ridiculous cover and I thought "wow, what a toolbox." I laughed a good laugh, confident I knew that the title and cover photo were typical justbootthings. I walked away feeling pretty damn good about myself. I even stopped to smell one of my own farts in smug self-satisfaction, but as I took it in, the thought occurred to me that if I really wanted to enjoy the smell of my own fart, I ought to at least make sure I wasn't misinterpreting it. I went back and read the inside of the jacket. As I understood it, the author was actually saying that his service was the greatest experience of his life, and that he wanted to thank citizens and generally for putting him in a position to serve in a way that was meaningful for him. I felt pretty darn foolish. That seemed like a generally laudable perspective and something the opposite of what I assumed he meant by "Thank you for my service."

In my defense, the guy's name is Mat with only one T, like doormat and so his name and the cover picture worked to confirm my existing bias.

https://www.amazon.com/Thank-You-Service-Mat-Best/dp/1524796492

Holy shit, Matt's gonna be psyched to find out he's on the front page of reddit.

[runs to his door, knocks]

Me: "Dude, you're on the front page of reddit! Isn't that fucking awesome?"

Matt: "What the fuck is red-dit?"

Also, make sure to check out his new Graphic Novel by David Axe, illustrated by Matt Bors, "War is Boring". Buy It! Buy It!

There's a part in a book called House to House, which is about American Army soldiers in Fallujah, that I think of whenever I see movies where people get shot and just instantly die. I copied this by typing it out so any errors are mine, not the author's.

>I look over at Fitts, and I know what he's thinking. If this is true, these guys are going to be hard to kill. In Muqdadiyah, my squad watched a drug-crazed Mahdi militiaman charge Cory Brown's Bradley. He climbed up the front glacis plate, screaming like a lunatic. The gunner blasted him with coax machine-gun fire, shredding his legs. He tumbled off the Bradley and flopped faceup onto the street. As we approached him, he started to laugh. The laughter grew into a hysteria-tinged cackle, then ended with a bone-chilling keen. That froze us cold. Watching us with wild eyes, he then pulled a bottle of pills out of a blood-soaked pocket and drained its contents into his mouth. Then he went for something under his jacket. Thinking he was about to detonate a bomb vest, three of us opened fire and riddled him with bullets. We shot and shot until he finally stopped moving.

>Leaving my men behind, I went to investigate the corpse. His right arm was torn off. His legs were nothing but punctured meat. Most of his face was gone, and only a bloody lump remained of his nose. Both eyes had been shot out. I put a boot on his chest. The Mahdi militiaman didn't move. I kicked him. No movement. Given how many times he had been shot, I didn't expect anything else, but just to be sure, I shot him twice in the stomach. Then I marked him with a chem light so the body disposal teams could find him later that night.

>A few minutes later, a Blackhawk landed and we started loading wounded insurgents into it. While we worked, two men carried the shattered husk of that Mahdi militiaman to the helicopter. To our astonishment, he was still alive. Blood bubbles burbled up through his mangled nose and mouth. Blind, in agony, he still managed to scream through broken teeth and punctured lungs. We loaded him on the helicopter and never saw him again.

>We later discovered the Mahdi militia had gained access to American epinephrine--pure adrenaline that will keep a heart pumping even after its owner has been exposed to nerve gas or chemical weapons. A dude with that in his system is almost superhuman. Short of being blown to pieces with our biggest guns, he'll keep fighting until his limbs are severed or he bleeds out.

It's not the perfect example, since the guy was doped up, but I always think of it. Anyway, House to House is a really great book. I actually randomly chose a page on my kindle and pulled up that exact passage I was looking for. Kinda spooky!

Mark Hunt: Born to fight

Forrest Griffin: Got Fight?, Be Ready When the Sh*t Goes Down

John McCarthy: Let's Get It On!

Stich Duran: From the Fields to the Garden

Chuck Liddell: Iceman

John Kavanagh: Win or Learn

Brian Stann: Heart for the Fight

Chael Sonnen: The Voice of Reason

Bruce Buffer: It's Time!: My 360-Degree View of the UFC

GSP: The Way of the Fight

Jeremy Stephens: Who the fook is that guy?!

...I was complementing the sniper's position. I appreciate the sincere effort to point him out.

I read Red Circle as well as American Sniper. Both great books.

https://www.amazon.com/Red-Circle-Americas-Deadliest-Marksmen/dp/1250055091

If you want to understand the nature of the war and the strategy used to fight it from the surge (2007) onward I recommend David Petraeus and the Plot to Change the American Way of War by Fred Kaplan. This book will describe all the big names and texts that helped formulate modern counterinsurgency doctrine and will give you plenty of authors and publications to further explore. To further understand counterinsurgency, I recommend The Accidental Guerilla by David Kilcullen (this link downloads the file, it does not open it a new window) that has a great chapter on Iraq since he was the senior COIN advisor for a few months into the surge. You can also read FM3-24 the original 2006 version, but its a dense read and I recommend you familiarize yourself with the doctrine through other publications before tackling the field manual itself.

Fiasco by Thomas Ricks is a decent history of the run up to the Iraq war and the first years, I would say 2002-2005 is where it is strongest although it does discuss important history prior to 9/11 in the containment of Iraq and some detail into 2006.

From the Surge onward I recommend Ricks' follow on book The Gamble, and The Surge by Peter Mansoor. These books will detail the important changes and in strategy and operational practices that characterized the Surge and the post 2006 war effort.

These are the books I have personally read that best address your questions. Books that are more tactically oriented instead of focusing on the big picture include The Forever War by Dexter Filkins, which is a morbid book that does justice to the horror of the Iraq's sectarian civil war. Thunder Run by David Zucchino is worthy of being a masterpiece in terms of how well the author constructed an incredible narrative on the tank forays into the heart of Baghdad in the early weeks of the war. My Share of the Task by Stanley McChrystal is a great read on McChrystal fomented a significant evolution in JSOC's intelligence culture and operational tempo. This book is of value specifically to what you asked because his men were the ones that were tracking Abu Zarqawi, the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, and was the first iteration of what is now known as ISIS. McChrystal describes the structure of Al Qaeda in Iraq, and much of ISIS's organization and methods can be traced back to Zarqawi's leadership.

I don't think you will find any books that will do justice to your interest in terms of recent events however I have some advice that I feel will help you immensely. Simply type in (topic of interest) and end it with pdf into google. This cuts out brief news articles and wikipedia entries and leaves you with top notch reports published by peer reviewed journals and think tanks. This is all free, and its very well researched work.

A report I'm currently reading that I'm sure you will find interesting is Iraq in Crisis by CSIS. It's of course long for a think tank report, but it has a lot of information and great statistics and charts that help the reader better understand Iraq's trends in violence and other challenges. Here are two more interesting reports by well known think tanks that pertinent to what you are looking for.

On the evolution of Al Qaeda and other salafi jihadists by RAND

Iraqi politics, governance and human rights by the Congressional Research Service

[Extreme Ownership: How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin] (https://www.amazon.com/Extreme-Ownership-U-S-Navy-SEALs/dp/1250067057/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1501607776&sr=8-3&keywords=Jocko+willink)

[Heart for the Fight: A Marine Hero's Journey from the Battlefields of Iraq to Mixed Martial Arts Champion by Brian Stann] ( https://www.amazon.com/Heart-Fight-Journey-Battlefields-Champion/dp/076033899X/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1501607842&sr=1-1&keywords=brian+stann+book)

I would also highly recommend subscribing to [Jocko Willink's youtube channel] (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkqcY4CAuBFNFho6JgygCnA)

He has amazing podcasts with combat veterans and it's really interesting to hear the tactics/mindset. On a side note there's not many people that can motivate me like Jocko can. You could send me those pictures of a landscape with inspirational words on them and it wouldn't do shit for me...However there's been many days where I was being lazy/feeling sorry for myself and not wanting to work out...
thats when I watch this video

I shit you not there have been many days where that video alone has gotten me to nut up and grab my bag to go train jiu-jitsu when I didn't feel like it...or go to the range and get some practice in when I would rather stay home get cozy and watch netflix.

For anyone who would like to know, the following books I've read are my favorite and I'd really recommend them to anyone: The Martian by Andy Weir, Gerald's Game by Stephen King, The Panther by Nelson DeMille, Unflinching by Jodi Mitic, American Sniper by Chris Kyle, and Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk

EDIT: Oh, and Blackwater - The Rise of the World's Most Powerful Mercenary Army by Jeremy Scahill.

EDDIT 2: Oh, and Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card which is so much better than the movie. The movie does not do this novel justice. And Killing Lincoln by Bill O'Reilly.

Not part of the army at all but can recommend you read: Junior Officers' Reading Club - http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Junior-Officers-Reading-Club/dp/1594484791 Great book about being an officer in Iraq and Afghanistan and insight into Sanhurst (If you are planning as joining as an officer).

Amazing amazon book review part 1:

The most intriguing and troubling part of Mary Tillman's book about Pat Tillman is found at the back of the book. It seems that journalists had used the Freedom of Information Act to obtain from the Pentagon, no less, a copy of the Army doctor's autopsy report on Pat. While the Army doctors state that they virtually never before questioned the official versions of events given to them, this time they did.

They said that after Pat had been shot in the legs by three or four of his own men, and fell to a crouching position, still yelling "Cease fire! Friendlies! It's Pat F...ing Tillman! Ceasefire!", he was then shot in the chest. Since he had body armor on, he was still alive. However, he then received three bullets from a 50 caliber machinegun between the eyes to the forehead.

The doctor's said the spray pattern was so close together, that the machine gunner had to be very, very close. 60 to 120 feet away, not the much greater distance that the official version stated. The doctors said the gunmen were so close, they may have known who they were shooting, or should have - so they asked for a homicide investigation - and were turned down by Army brass.

The officer that was initially charged with the investigation (which was later "lost"), walked the spot Pat was shot 24 hours later, found the smoke grenade Pat threw about 90 to 120 feet and which landed where the attacking vehicle's tracks ended, showing he was quite close. It was after this smoke grenade went off, and the attacker's quit firing a second sequence, that Pat stood - and was shot in a third sequence of firing,in three seperate places.


Although Pat had his head essentially blown off,and was put into a body bag - the Army officially claimed he was still alive and had CPR performed - twice. Of course, his mother questioned this, saying his head had been blown off. She was told, "Ma'am, we usually aren't questioned about trying to save someone's life".

Pat's younger brother, Richard, states in the book that he believed Pat had been murdered. It is important to remember that the driver of the attacking vehicle, Ranger Kellet Satyre,said he knew instantly when coming out of the canyon that his Ranger buddies were firing on U.S. Rangers, and saw Ranger vehicles, yet still continued towards Pat's position without turning his vehicle around and leaving the scene. He also failed to notify his buddies that they were firing at Rangers through three sequences of firing - one to reload. How did he escape courts-martial?

All three Rangers claimed they had "tunnel vision" and did not see the Ranger vehicles in plain sight, in daylight. One claimed he had eye laser surgery the week before and only saw shapes....why was his eye doctor not court-martialed for allowing him to be out on patrol with a dangerous weapon among his buddies?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/review/1594868808/R1Z95PXU6ZBFJL/ref=mw_dp_cr?cursor=1&sort=rd

This is a book. Dear God.

> The unapologetic, laugh-your-ass-off military memoir both vets and civilians have been waiting for, from a five-tour Army Ranger turned YouTube phenomenon and zealous advocate for veterans
>
> Members of the military’s special operations branches share a closely guarded secret: They love their jobs. They relish the opportunity to fight. They are thankful for it, even, and hopeful that maybe, possibly, they’ll also get to kill a bunch of bad guys while they’re at it. You don’t necessarily need to thank them for their service—the pleasure is all theirs.
>
> In this hilarious and personal memoir, readers ride shotgun alongside former Army Ranger and private military contractor and current social media phenomenon Mat Best, into the action and its aftermath, both abroad and at home. From surviving a skin infection in the swampy armpit of America (aka Columbus, Georgia) to kicking down doors on the outskirts of Ramadi, from blowing up a truck full of enemy combatants to witnessing the effects of a suicide bombing right in front of your face, Thank You for My Service will give readers who love America and love the good guys fresh insight into what it’s really like inside the minds of the men and women on the front lines.
>
> It’s also a sobering yet steadying glimpse at life for veterans after the fighting stops, when the enemy becomes self-doubt or despair and you begin to wonder why anyone should be thanking you for anything, least of all your service. How do you keep going when something you love turns you into somebody you hate? For veterans and their friends and families, Thank You for My Service will offer comfort, in the form of a million laughs, and counsel, as a blueprint for what to do after the war ends and the real fight begins.
>
> And for civilians, this is the insider account of military life you won’t find anywhere else, told with equal amounts of heart and balls. It’s Deadpool meets Captain America, except one went to business school and one went to therapy, and it’s anyone’s guess which is which.

> The Red Circle

Link for the lazy GGG

	

	

	

> # America Would Need More Than 100,000 Troops to Invade Venezuela
>
>
>
> 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.
>
> 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.
>
> Not, of course, that invading Venezuela is a good idea. Experts agree it’s not.
>
> Image
>
> Most major U.S. military forces are by nature expeditionary, as they typically must travel long distances to participate in major operations.
>
> 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.
>
> 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.
>
> 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.
>
> 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.
>
> 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.
>
> 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.
>
> 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.
>
> 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.”
>
> “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.”
>
> 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.
>
> 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.”
>
> “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.”
>
> “In the end, this, I think, will play out politically and diplomatically, not militarily,” Stavridis said.
>
> 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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I did two WTI's in Yuma, never saw one do anything vertical. I'm sure they do but they seemed to operate at 45 degrees on the nozzles most of the time. [A Nightmares Prayer] (https://www.amazon.com/Nightmares-Prayer-Marine-Harrier-Afghanistan/dp/1451608071) is a pretty good look at the operations at Bagram. At that altitude it did good to leave the ground at all and used up all the runway doing so.

"The Last True Story I'll Ever Tell".

this one

I'd also recommend this book and the book by his mother.

http://www.amazon.com/Boots-Ground-Dusk-Tribute-Tillman/dp/1594868808

Forgot one more, although I don't know if it fits exactly into your criteria:

http://www.amazon.com/WAR-Sebastian-Junger/dp/044655622X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1318315932&sr=8-1

Stryker: The Siege of Sadr City by Konrad Ludwig is pretty good.

Plenty. Check this book out. Also, this. You just need to look for them. There are plenty out there.

The Billion Dollar Spy is a fascinating story of how the CIA ran a Soviet spy while he was working at an advanced radar facility. It is estimated that the intelligence he passed to America ended up being worth nearly one billion dollars.

First In: An Insider's Account of How the CIA Spearheaded the War on Terror is about the first Americans to land in Afghanistan in the weeks after 9/11

The Code Breakers One of the most comprehensive anthologies on all forms of cryptology of the past 5,000 years.

Are you looking for pulse pounding, believable-but-still-inventive enough, hardcore mercenary action? Well look no further.

Direct Action - Written by a former Ranger/SF guy, this is the first in a set of (so far) 3 books featuring Deckard as the main character. Deckard is a former SF and CIA SAD guy who ends up getting contracted by a shady cabal to form a PMC for them to use in their attempt to bring about a NWO. He says "fuck that." This is honestly some of the best in the genre of military fiction. Written by a dude who has been there and done that, it's well written and believable enough, and the action...gritty, hardcore, doorkicking, operating action. It does not stop once it starts, and neither do the sequels, Target Deck and Direct Action. They're a blast to read and I can't recommend them enough.

Task Force Desperate - America's dollar has collapsed. The military is incredibly underfunded and no longer has the ability to project power. This all comes to a head when an American military base in Djibouti is attacked and taken over. With the US no longer able to respond to events such as these, Jeff's PMC, Praetorians, are contracted to handle the situation. The guy that wrote it is a former Recon Marine, so similar to Jack Murphy, he's been there, done that, and it shows. If you want hardcore action, this is another solid book for you. The plot is a bit out there, but hey, fuck it, it's fun.

Moving away from fiction...

Level Zero Heroes - Written by one of the first MARSOC dudes that went into Afghanistan when MARSOC was first stood up. He's his MSOC's forward air controller, and it's just a pretty cool and interesting look into the special operations world from a new (at the time) SOF unit.

Horse Soldiers - About the first ODA that went into Afghanistan within weeks of 9/11. They worked really closely with CIA SAD, and it's an incredibly interesting write up on what these guys managed to do in incredibly austere conditions. They rolled around the country on horseback. That's bad ass.

First In - Similar to Horse Soldiers, but written by one of the CIA paramilitary officers that coordinated with the Northern Alliance and the SF ODAs when they first came in country. A bit dry, but if you're interested in this sort of thing, it's one of the best (and only, from its perspective) accounts of the early parts of the Global War On Terror.

Now for some non military stuff.

Dune - The best sci-fi novel ever written, bar none. It has political intrigue, an oppressed people against an overwhelmingly larger force, oh, and giant sandworms. It's hard to describe just how rich the world of Dune is in a simple paragraph, so I won't even try. If you're into sci-fi and you haven't read Dune, you owe it to yourself. You're in for a treat.

The Road - The bleakest thing I've ever read. It takes place after some type of apocalyptic event in the US (which is never detailed), and is the story of a father and his young son attempting to survive in the wasteland amongst cannibals that keep their "livestock," chained in a basement, roving bands of marauders, and other horrors. It's written in an incredibly minimalist style which adds to the tone and atmosphere so much. If you want something heavy, this is your book.

I'll probably add more but here are my recommendations for now.

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

"House to House" by David Bellavia. More recent history, 2004 Fallujah, didn’t care much for the style of the writing, but still intensely captivating.
http://www.amazon.com/House-David-Bellavia/dp/1416574719

This immediately makes me think of the last chapter of The Last True Story I'll Ever Tell

You know, it's hard to keep up with everything that's in the news, but I guess I had just swallowed the whole line about Pakistan being our ally. The truth is much more complicated than that, as I learned in a recent article in the New Yorker. I also just finished War, by Sebastian Junger. The author of War, if I understand him correctly, said at the end of the book that we are basically at war with Pakistan by proxy, with the Taliban as their stand-in.

Embarrassing Confessions of a Marine Lieutenant: Operation Branding Iron, 2.1A https://www.amazon.com/dp/1943979006/ref=cm_sw_r_other_awd_cxv3wbPPGNCH4

The Lieutenant Don't Know

The Lieutenant Don't Know: One Marine's Story of Warfare and Combat Logistics in Afghanistan by Jeffrey Clement

>In our wars since 2001, the term "front line" has lost its meaning. Our opponents have not been able to stand against conventional forces in battle, and resort to guerrilla tactics, engaging our forces with IEDs and ambushes. Into this mix of behind-the-lines attacks, combat logistics have played a larger role than ever.

>In Afghanistan particularly, the long convoy routes have been vulnerable to the same kind of surprise attacks suffered by the Soviets in past decades, the British 150 years ago, and Alexander the Great 2,000 years ago. In that godforsaken landlocked land, the means to supply a Western army has to be undertaken with blood and sweat, once the quick panacea of airpower is overtaxed.

>When he joined the Marines, Jeff Clement was not a high-speed, top-secret recon guy. A logistician instead, he led combat convoys across treacherous terrain in southern Afghanistan through frequent enemy attacks in order to resupply US and British positions. As such he and his vehicles were a constant target of the resistance, and each movement was a travail, often accompanied by thundering blasts as the insurgents paved their way with IEDs. Each movement was fraught with danger, even as each objective had to be met.

>The Lieutenant Don't Know provides a refreshing look at the nitty-gritty of what our troops have been dealing with in Afghanistan, from the perspective of a young officer who was willing to learn, and also take responsibility for his Marines in a confusing war.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/161200248X/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=81L6TNMLAXFN&coliid=I261R25I3GR0SW

Junior leadership, logistics

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

Looks like we all read the same books. I know Donovan Campbell's Joker One has already been mentioned, but if you enjoyed Fick's writing you might like The Unforgiving Minute by Craig Mullaney and The Heart and the Fist by Eric Greitens. Also, an honorable mention for Paul Rieckhoff's Chasing Ghosts.

Gotta be Patrick Bishops's 3 PARA (amazon UK, amazon US) or The Junior Officers' Reading Club by Patrick Hennessey (amazon UK, amazon US)

3 PARA is a British journalist's account of the 2006 tour of Afghan, focussing on the operations of the 3 PARA battle group, while The JORC is a semi-biographical account of the early career of Patrick Hennessey, detailing his time in training at Sandhurst and Brecon, going on to multiple tours as a Pl Comd with the Gren Guards.

Both well worth a read.

Here it's spammable: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=plY9hpA_Nbg

Seriously though, start reading books about modern warfare and the men who deal with high pressure situations; learn how they are able to deal with all the shit life throws at you. This is a good one to start out with: http://www.amazon.com/Joker-One-Platoons-Leadership-Brotherhood/dp/0812979567/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1278777167&sr=8-1. Other than that, start an intense physical training regime. Crossfit.com is the ultimate fitness site for anyone sick of the "normal workout routine." Plus, they have a ton of free information and videos for anyone starting out; not to mention they usually post an intelligent article that doesn't have anything to do with fitness. Speaking of interesting articles, check out this one by soon to be retired General Stanley McChrystal. If you want to be a man, and don't want to listen to anything else I said, just read that nytimes article. Lastly, look into purchasing a rowing machine. Concept II is the best one on the market, and it's grueling workout. After all, rowing is the only sport to start out as a form of capital punishment.

Good luck, and stay thirsty my friends!

Edit: sorry the link to the General's article doesn't work. Type this into google: general mcchrystal+nytimes article"asceticism" and you should be able to find it. Definitely worth the quick read.

Hammer From Above:Marine Air Combat Over Iraq - Jay Stout

USMC Hornets, Harriers and Cobras during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Really nice details of CAS missions, F/A-18D doing FAC for F/A-18Cs, Harriers landing on an LHD during a sandstorm, Cobras landing on a Highway to get fire directions from Marines on the ground and plenty of other great stories!



Loud and Clear: Memoir of an Israeli Fighter Pilot - Iftach Spector

Memoir of an Israeli pilot from the 1960s to 2000s flying Mirage IIIs, Phantoms and F-16s, he took part in the infamous Operation Opera bombing of the Iraqi nuclear plant. A really excellent book, head and shoulders above most military aviation memoirs writing wise.

I'll add others when I can look at my shelves!

Here are a few books that I recommend that are more academic in nature. Let me know if there is anything in particular with regard to either conflict that you would like.

Both Wars

Author | Title | Synopsis
---|---|----
Bob Woodward | Obama's Wars | Outline of the U.S. foreign policy decision making towards Iraq and Afghanistan in the early years of the Obama administration.
Daniel Bolger | Why We Lost: A General's Inside Account of the Iraq and Afghanistan Wars | Bolger offers a unique assessment of these wars, from 9/11 to the final withdrawal from the region, and the shortfalls of U.S. strategy.

Iraq

Author | Title | Synopsis
---|---|----
Michael Gordon | The Endgame: The Inside Story of the Struggle for Iraq, from George W. Bush to Barack Obama | Follows U.S. strategic and political decision making process during the Iraq War and the U.S. occupation.
Peter Mansoor | Surge: My Journey with General David Petraeus and the Remaking of the Iraq War | An extensive outline of the development and outcome of the Surge during the U.S. Occupation of Iraq.
Emma Sky | The Unraveling: High Hopes and Missed Opportunities in Iraq | As one of the longest serving diplomatic volunteers and a former opponent of the war, Sky provides unique insights into the US military as well as the complexities, diversity, and evolution of Iraqi society.
Michael Gordon and Bernard Trainor | Cobra II: The Inside Story of the Invasion and Occupation of Iraq | A definitive chronicle of America’s invasion and occupation of Iraq that traces the interactions among the generals politicians and reconstructs the principal battles from interviews with those who fought them.
Thomas Ricks | The Gamble: General David Petraeus and the American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2006-2008 | The author offers news-breaking account, revealing behind-the-scenes disagreements between top commanders and the internal development of the Surge strategy.
Joby Warrick | Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS | An historical look at how Abu Musab al-Zarqawi's leadership of become al-Qaida in Iraq would influence the rise of ISIL.
General Stanley McChrystal | My Share of the Task: A Memoir | A memoir of the former head of the Joint Special Operations Command during the Iraqi occupation who played a central role in defeating al-Qaida in Iraq.

Afghanistan

Author | Title | Synopsis
---|---|----
Thomas Barfield | Afghanistan:A Cultural and Political History | An examining of the competing cultural and tribal dynamics in Afghanistan's recent history through an anthropological perspective.
Seth Jones | In the Graveyard of Empires: America's War in Afghanistan | Jones examines the insurgency in Afghanistan, arguing that weak governance and religious ideology, coupled with the American insistense on a "light footprint" are the primary drivers behind it.
Ahmed Rashid | Taliban:Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia | The authoritative account of the Taliban, explaining the Taliban’s rise to power, its impact on Afghanistan and the Middle East and Central Asia.
Ahmed Rashid | Descent into Chaos: The U.S. and the Disaster in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia | Rashid provides a detailed account of the regional context and interconnections of the Afghan conflict, insisting that the key to peace for the entire region lies with Pakistan.
James Dobbins | After the Taliban: Nation-Building in Afghanistan | Dobbins examines the first year of the intervention in Afghanistan and describes how inter-agency rivalry, aversion to nation building, opposition to the presence of peacekeepers, and refusal to send more troops and commit more resources undermined U.S. efforts.
Mark Mazzetti | The Way of the Knife: The CIA, a Secret Army, and a War at the Ends of the Earth | An overview of the CIA's targeted killing program against terrorist organizations.

If you want to learn a bit about FARP logistics and operations to add some realism, check this book out:

http://www.amazon.com/Hammer-Above-Marine-Combat-Over/dp/0891418717

> the mainstream consensus now is that it was a failed war

Hindsight is funny like that.

>non-existent WMD

Not according to Iraqi General Georges Sada He publicly admitted that he (and others) were ordered to move chemical weapons to across the Syrian border before the coalition forces attacked. And of course, we now know what happened to those chemical weapons.

> the US: invaded illegally

The invasion was backed by the international community, and it wasn't just the US it was an international coalition of forces.

Hey man, that’s a really unfortunate accident and I wish you all the best in your recovery. There is a book I think you should read. It’s about a Canadian sniper by the name of Jody Mitic who lost both legs in Afghanistan and the trials and successes he faced after the fact.

I had a surgery in 2008 and he was in the bed next to me. He was having one of his legs reshaped to fit the prosthesis better. We talked for a good portion of the day but what I remember the most was his supremely positive attitude. He faced a lot of trials but he is now an Ottawa City Councillor. It’s definitey worth a read.

Here is the amazon link https://www.amazon.ca/Unflinching-Making-Canadian-Jody-Mitic/dp/147679510X/ref=nodl_

[A Nightmare's Prayer](a nightmare's prayer: A Marine Harrier Pilot's War in Afghanistan https://www.amazon.com/dp/1451608071/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_NVRUAb4GVST48)

Falsified intelligence? Like what? I've heard one of Saddam's generals said that they moved nukes and chemical agents from Iraq to Syria. He even wrote a book on it.

Source

Book

Sure, we have been there way, way, way too long. But I do think they were operating on actual intel.