(Part 3) Top products from r/Military

It depends on if your "ethic" prohibits being part of something that's main purpose is violence. We do a lot of other things, but the military exists for war. If you can accept that basic premise, then there is a good chance your values will have a place in the military. The military will shape, change, and otherwise inform your existing value set, and you may have to compromise some of them. For instance, if you're an atheist, you might find yourself biting your tongue out of respect and tolerance for some of your fellow soldiers more extreme religious beliefs.

Further, there is a military ethic, largely based in stoicism, and value system that you must adopt in order to serve. Loyalty. Obedience. Selfless Service. Sacrifice. Loss of individuality. Loss of innocence. Pain. Suffering. Those are all on the menu when it comes to military service. Oh, and if you're smart and enlist, get used to the idea of being treated like an dumb ass depending on what MOS you pick. Mowing the grass in the motor pool doesn't take ethical model nor does surviving a firefight. There is a large body of work on military ethics, just war theory, and ethical military decision making. The military teaches its leaders to make ethical decisions, and the more senior you get, the more time you spend studying the issue.

Now, I'm no expert in this field, but I think you're conflating ethics with morals and values. Kant argued that the desired effect of an action not the results of an action was what made it ethical or not. So take an issue like the death penalty. I oppose it on moral grounds, but you can make a solid Kantian case in favor of it. The same goes for war. Organized violence in service of political aims, i.e. war, contains a host of morally repugnant acts, but it, based on the Kant's ideals, is can be ethical if it serves a higher purpose. You can see what a philosophical quagmire you can find yourself in when you start thinking about this. So, make sure you aren't confused with what you are asking.

Here's the thing though...your parents? I say this as a fairly liberal minded person. Their values sound really out of line with anything mainstream. You might be in a for a bit of a culture shock if you join. The world is not the liberal, vegan, free-range paradise that I infer your parents raised you in. Life isn't a Subaru with a bunch of "Coexist" and "Well Behaved Women Rarely Make History" stickers. Military life is a rough business filled with rough people doing rough work that is often in service of what can be considered morally ambiguous goals. It recently came out that the CIA is leaving bags of cash in President Karzai's office in order to buy his continued "loyalty" in the war in Afghanistan. Moral? No. Ethical? Certainly under Kant's model and some others like utilitarianism.

Or take for instance fighting piracy in the Gulf of Aden. Wouldn't it be more moral for the US to engage in a long-term development strategy in Somalia in order to mitigate the economic conditions. Maybe. But, killing a few now and again so we avoid getting sucked into another Black Hawk Down certainly seems like a decent ethical trade off. So if you don't mind offing a few pirates so that trade can flow unimpeded through the global commons, then your ethics will be fine if you join the military.

Oh, and your parents will get over it unless they are really, really self absorbed.

I read a book about the Soviet invasion with Afghanistan and the time right before that went into some detail of what life was like in 1970s Afghanistan. Obviously it was focused more on the war itself, but several chapters were devoted to peacetime. I'll try to find the name of the book for you.

Edit: Found it! I quite recommend it.

If you're looking to start investing, I'd recommend The intelligent Investor to help learn how to save.

Billy's Afghan adventures are chronicled in First In by Gary Schroen. First person account of the first team into Afghanistan after 9/11 (CIA prep for SF).

Also read Jawbreaker by Gary Berntsen which picks up where First In leaves off, including the taking of Kabul. Also a first person account.

Then read the prequel that ends on Sep 10: Ghost Wars. 2005 Pulitzer Prize.

These three books are truly a trilogy in every sense.

I am not sure about any Canadian Forces specific books. But some standard military officer books that in my mind are good to read about leadership and wisdom would be:

• The Good Shepherd by C.S. Forester
  
• Master and Commander by Patrick O’Brian
  
• The Art of War by Sun Tzu
  
• Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein
  
• [The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell]
  (http://www.amazon.com/Tipping-Point-Little-Things-Difference/dp/0316346624/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1342986110&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Tipping+Point+by+Malcolm+Gladwell)

https://www.amazon.com/Thank-You-Service-Mat-Best-ebook/dp/B07Q3NMVHY

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And this is where Mat Best jumped the shark from being a slightly goofy youtuber hawking cringey t-shirts into the patron saint of bro vet douchebaggery.

Read this book. Out of interest, whats your chosen regiment? Have you visited them yet, talking to people there?

edit Have you been to Westbury yet?

[Mastery by Robert Greene] (http://www.amazon.com/Mastery-Robert-Greene/dp/014312417X)

Amazing.

Not having to do with the time period of WWII or books that would have been read then, but two excellent references that I was turned onto were;

The Maneuver Warfare Handbook

And with a more modern twist, Col. John Boyd's OODA loop. I hear that Boyd is making a comeback. Here's a link to a book about him.

Funny enough a Delta commander wrote a book called... Kill Bin Laden.

I've recently posted twice on the Anabasis of Xenophon. Great story, based on true events, of a 10k strong Greek mercenary army that enters Persia to help a pretender to the throne, Cyrus, who gets killed in the first battle, Cunaxa, 399 B.C. The army is now behind enemy lines, and Xenophon, student of Plato, from whom he learnt the art of rhetoric, organizes this army, and they march northward, along the Euphrates, to the Black Sea, via Armenia. The novel is about how does this young man organize the return of this massive army, with its soldiers having identity struggles within the army (think Athens vs Sparta), and how this affects their ability to work together in their common struggle to return home.

In terms of translations, you have either W.H.D. Rouse or Rex Warner. Also this is the story that the [Warriors film is based on](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Warriors_(film)

There's a book for that: https://www.amazon.com/Little-Book-Atheist-Spirituality/dp/0143114433

Read this:
http://www.amazon.com/Violent-Politics-Insurgency-Terrorism-Revolution/dp/0061236209/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1299722027&sr=8-1

http://www.amazon.com/Sua-Sponte-Forging-Modern-American-ebook/dp/B0072O02XW/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1421627853&sr=1-1&keywords=sua+sponte

http://www.amazon.com/Chosen-Soldier-Making-Special-Warrior/dp/0307339394/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

http://www.military.com/military-fitness/army-special-operations/army-green-beret-training?comp=1199451047853&rank=2

Some suggestions:

https://www.amazon.com/Hammerhead-Six-Unconventional-Against-Afghanistans/dp/0316341436/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

https://www.amazon.com/Level-Zero-Heroes-Operations-Afghanistan/dp/1250030404/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=

https://www.amazon.com/Modern-American-Snipers-Reaper----Battlefield/dp/1250067170/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1466573098&sr=8-1&keywords=Modern+American+Snipers

I have a few books collecting dust if you're interested...

Hunting the Jackal
http://www.amazon.com/Hunting-Jackal-Soldiers-Frontlines-Terrorism/dp/0060564105/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1293764592&sr=8-1

Brotherhood of Warriors
http://www.amazon.com/Brotherhood-Warriors-Behind-Commando-Counterterrorism/dp/0061236160/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1293764614&sr=1-1

Generation Kill
http://www.amazon.com/Generation-Kill-Evan-Wright/dp/0425224740/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1293764637&sr=1-1

Legion of the Lost
http://www.amazon.com/Legion-Lost-Experience-American-Foreign/dp/0425210154/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1293764668&sr=1-1

I'll mail em to you if you want em... I didn't participate in the secret santa so think of it as a late gift. Let me know if you want any of em.

"Global War on Terror (GWOT) was known by those who fought it for long periods of boredom, punctuated by masturbation and enemy fire."


Seriously, there are so many viewpoints and critiques of the GWOT and implications of such an effort and progressing, globalizing world that Google really is your friend.

To give you only bullet points would be unfair. But I will toss a few good book links below.

http://www.amazon.com/Taliban-Militant-Fundamentalism-Central-Edition/dp/0300163681/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1405913163&sr=8-1&keywords=taliban

http://www.amazon.com/American-Spartan-Promise-Mission-Betrayal/dp/0062114980/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1405913151&sr=8-1&keywords=american+spartan

http://www.amazon.com/Horse-Soldiers-Extraordinary-Victory-Afghanistan/dp/1416580522/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1405913294&sr=8-2&keywords=horse+soldiers

http://www.amazon.com/In-Graveyard-Empires-Americas-Afghanistan/dp/0393338517/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1405913285&sr=8-1&keywords=graveyard+of+empires

Uhhhh.....I'd be careful about that and research a bit more. The Argies lost for reasons other than the -9L. Get Air War: South Atlantic.

For some lunatic reason that has not been well explained, they only used their Mirage IIIs as escort fighters once and they didn't engage. Every other sortie was a strike sortie, with the Arg aircraft carrying bombs instead of air to air. Thus, the Harriers were acting as CAP most of the time, intercepting (if they could) incoming strike......which they didn't do that well. Unless they were in the correct position, most of the strike aircraft could out accelerate and outrun the Sea Harriers, especially after dropping ordinance.

Why not recognize that only 28 Sea Harriers were the key to maintaining air cover for the task force and attack those aircraft? Each Harrier only carried two missiles. A dedicated fighter sweep for a few days against the Task Force would have resulted in appalling losses to the Arg Air Force, but would have whittled down so many Sea Harriers that eventually the Task Force would be forced to withdraw for lack of aircraft it had no way to replace. Argentina wins......

...Until Reagan sees the US's closest ally lose a sea war, sends two CVBGs with good AEW, F-14s w/ long loiter times and AIM-54s and A-6Es to plow the islands and sink the de Mayo.