Top products from r/army

Peltors/Liberators are absolutely top notch if you can snag an issued pair, but they are prohibitively expensive if you're to buy your own. Unless you need to interface with a radio just get a pair of Howard Leights off amazon (you can still use with a hand mic though), they are about $50 and fit under an ACH just fine. https://www.amazon.com/Howard-Leight-Amplification-Electronic-R-01526/dp/B001T7QJ9O/


Otherwise just run some cheapo foam earplugs, buy a 40 pack or whatever and change them out as needed.

>SuperBeast4721

Reduce friction. Sounded like fuckery to me when I first read it Fixing Your Feet, Later heard SGM Mike Glover mention it as well.


My feet are softer than a Thai Hooker's overly lubricated labia now and blister free. (Lack of STDs helps that part)

I bought a Casio F105W ( http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000GB1RAU/ref=pe_385040_30332200_pe_309540_26725410_item ) a few weeks ago. I like it. I'm planning on taking it with me to BCT. It's cheap enough so I don't care if it breaks or not, but it's good enough to spend my money on (read some of the Amazon reviews, they praise it like it saved their lives).

It's a very basic watch. Time (does 12hr & 24 hr), Alarm, and Stop Watch. And light.

The Mission, the Men, and Me: Lessons from a Former Delta Force Commander by Pete Blaber

>As a commander of Delta Force-the most elite counter-terrorist organization in the world-Pete Blaber took part in some of the most dangerous, controversial, and significant military and political events of our time. Now he takes his intimate knowledge of warfare-and the heart, mind, and spirit it takes to win-and moves his focus from the combat zone to civilian life.

>As the smoke clears from exciting stories about neverbefore-revealed top-secret missions that were executed all over the globe, readers will emerge wiser, more capable, and more ready for life's personal victories than they ever thought possible.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0425236579/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pd_nS_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=81L6TNMLAXFN&coliid=IBUHZCVGIWB98

Critical thinking, small unit leadership,

I have these for civilians shooting. http://www.amazon.com/Howard-Leight-Impact-Electric-Earmuff/dp/B001T7QJ9O


I brought them once to an m 16 qualification range and found it hard to get a good sight picture with these in the prone and prone supported. They did fit under my ACH, I just had to loosen then chin strap.

I recommended he read them so what do you think they are? Google is your friend.

http://www.amazon.com/Get-Selected-Special-Forces-Successfully/dp/0975355279

http://www.amazon.com/Chosen-Soldier-Making-Special-Warrior/dp/0307339394/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1463092494&sr=1-1&keywords=chosen+soldier

Buy a smart card reader. They're like $20 at the PX and $10 on amazon

Thank You for Arguing
This is a great read.

That's just based off of a highly regarded book I enjoyed:


The Mission, the Men, and Me: Lessons from a Former Delta Force Commander

$13 Casio F105W-1A Illuminator

Found in the gravel in Kandahar in 2013; still goin' strong.

Black Hearts: One Platoon's Descent into Madness in Iraq's Triangle of Death

Chosen Soldier is a must read if you're curious.

Here.

Wild Tiger Energy Drink 8.3 fl. oz 24/case https://www.amazon.com/dp/B016YVE5MC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_dbpxCb1SQSP36

Blackhawk Holster
with Quick Disconnect kit and the Paddle platform to tuck it into your belt. This allows you to easily transfer your holster from your vest to your waist, when you're not wearing the vest.

If you're wearing a vest or in a vehicle, its hard to access the holster when its mounted to your hip.

I feel like this question doesn't warrant a new thread, so does anyone have wristwatch suggestions? Right now I have this one but I'm thinking of getting a new one.

I also recommend reading this

http://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Wars-Afghanistan-Invasion-September/dp/0143034669

It's a very in depth book about the history of Afghanistan, US, an Pakistan relations. It's not really a light read but it's also not a light subject.

I bought this and used it on my last deployment with no issues.

Holster

And then this attachment will keep it on your hip better (the piece included with the first item is meant to attach to MOLLE webbing). Hip Paddle

Thank You For Arguing by Jay Heinrichs.

Book answer of Leadership is "Influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation."

Ergo, having a solid foundation in rhetoric, in my opinion, is tantamount to being a gooder NCO; in line with management and expertise (subject matter/technical/MOS & soldiering).

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B016YVE5MC/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_dbpxCb1SQSP36

Yo you can buy wild tiger on the amazons.

It's not for the switch, but other consoles

​

https://www.amazon.com/VANGUARD-Personal-Gaming-Environment-Consoles-Included/dp/B00H0R9DSG/ref=asc_df_B00H0R9DSG/?tag=bingshoppinga-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid={creative}&hvpos={adposition}&hvnetw=o&hvrand={random}&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=e&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl={devicemodel}&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=&hvtargid=pla-4584345016113342&psc=1

​

this is one for the PS4. Lots of folks had this at Camp Buehring.

Gaems Vanguard

>I don't have a CAC reader for my laptop

https://www.amazon.com/SGT111-Military-Common-Access-Reader/dp/B003HI83WO

Same price at PX. Start walking.

Break yoself: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0190229233/ref=tmm_pap_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=&sr=

Do you not know how to google?

https://www.amazon.com/Chosen-Soldier-Making-Special-Warrior/dp/0307339394

https://www.amazon.com/Get-Selected-Special-Forces-Successfully/dp/0975355279

https://www.shadowspear.com - mentor program

Sun Company Slip-On Wrist Compass - Easy-to-Read Compass for Watch Band https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001949J1W/

https://www.amazon.com/Sun-Company-Slip-Wrist-Compass/dp/B001949J1W/ref=asc_df_B001949J1W/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=198093803401&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=14656310532792234270&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9033288&hvtargid=pla-350535832778&psc=1

Plus G-Shock

I need this.

Read the book Fixing Your Feet: Preventions and Treatments for Athletes

The Mission, The Men, and Me -Pete Blaber

On Killing is a pretty good one that talks about how soldiers have adapted through the ages to overcome the aversion to killing. A bunch of the 12B's in my platoon were reading it and I didn't even know they could read.

i paid like $380 for a cheap ass game screen thing. i brought it on deployment and it was fine. movers moved it once and broke the screen.

That sounds like it could be a potential muscular issue. If it's pain like cramping pain, try increasing potassium into your diet. I like bananas.

Your tendon issues could be tendinitis. Does it feel painfully right and like it won't expand/stretch in the full motion? If that's the case you need stretching + recovery time.

There are also legit foot issues that you could have. My twin brother had a problem where the bone on the top of his foot kept growing and they had to break and cut it because he was getting to the point where shoes were painful.

Also, you need to read Fixing Your Feet.

https://www.amazon.com/Fixing-Your-Feet-Prevention-Treatments/dp/0899978304

It'll teach you how to prep and care for them. His stuff works.

This is probably up there... Mahmudiyah rape and killings


Black Hearts: One Platoon's Descent into Madness in Iraq's Triangle of Death

Afghanistan: A Military History from Alexander the Great to the War against the Taliban

Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001

The Middle East Then and Now: The History of Israel, Iran, Syria and Afghanistan

A Journey through Afghanistan

Holy shit, it's real.

Agree with Lummocks.
I was an Infantryman for 10 years and never saw a successful officer show any signs of quitting. Ever. The two company commanders I lost in Iraq certainly never showed any signs of quitting.

Get your shit together, get to work, run these fuckers into the ground, work them like dogs, have S3 do your PT tests or grade every swinging dick yourself. Let them know the standards aren't going anywhere, and neither are they. Don't destroy your Company, build it. Your career will follow.
You are the goddamned Commander- Command!

Reading list: Steel My Soldiers Hearts, from Hopeless to Hardcore by Col David Hackworth

http://www.amazon.com/Steel-Soldiers-Hearts-Transformation-Battalion/dp/0743246136

While the practice ASVABs the recruiters use can be woefully limited compared to the real asvab...I'm going to say no. If you're scoring a 25 on the practice, I think you'd be hardpressed to get a 50 on the actual.

You might find prep courses and tutors locally to you. You should also be able to go to your local bookstore and grab some ASVAB study guides. They will generally contain practice tests.

Don't just go and bomb on the ASVAB. You can do the first retest within 1 month. But subsequent retakes have longer minimum retest periods. You don't want to put yourself in the position where you barely missed out, and now yuo have to wait at least 6 months for your next retest. Do yourself the favor, grab a study book.

EDIT: And stop doing drugs.

Second EDIT: Here's my recommended.

http://www.amazon.com/Kaplan-ASVAB-Premier-Practice-Tests/dp/1625231385/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1450722303&sr=8-1&keywords=asvab+study+guide+2015-2016#reader_1625231385

Has multiple full practice tests.

"What happened next is a warning of how bad things could yet become: a full-scale rebellion against the British broke out in Kabul, and the two most senior British envoys were murdered, making the British occupation impossible to sustain. On the disastrous retreat that followed, as many as 18,000 East India Company troops and maybe half again as many Indian camp followers (estimates vary), were slaughtered by Afghan marksmen waiting in ambush amid the snow drifts and high passes, shot down as they trudged through the icy depths of the Afghan winter.

The last 50 or so survivors made their final stand at Gandamak. As late as the 1970s, fragments of Victorian weaponry could be found lying in the screes..."

NYT article

Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan, 1839-42...great book about the British learning their lesson about fighting in Afghanistan.

I can't think of any modern army that's ever conquered Afghanistan.

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