(Part 3) Top products from r/army

When do you ship? I ship on Aug 13.

I bought this one bc its recently published and cheap with good ratings:
http://www.amazon.com/Emergency-Medical-Technician-Practice-Preparation/dp/0738610062/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1368246529&sr=8-2&keywords=emt+basic


But other good ones are (buy it used to save :p):

http://www.amazon.com/McGraw-Hills-EMT-Basic-Second-Edition-DiPrima/dp/0071751270/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1368246529&sr=8-4&keywords=emt+basic

http://www.amazon.com/SUCCESS-EMT-Basic-Edition-Joseph-Mistovich/dp/0132253968/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1368246529&sr=8-5&keywords=emt+basic

I like the hula hoop idea.

My go to suggestion is a copy of Basic Training for Dummies with Air Force Confetti between the pages and a Marine Corps bookmark marking Chapter 22: Ten Ways to Make Your Drill Instructor Happy.

And make sure to address it using Navy Rank. They love that shit.

Here are a couple books I have. The author of the first one was a teacher of mine a while back. She really knows her stuff. That book in particular is good for explaining all the protocols involved and how the packets are put together.

http://www.amazon.com/TCP-Illustrated-Protocols-Addison-Wesley-Professional/dp/0321336313/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1382132562&sr=1-1&keywords=tcp+ip+illustrated


This second book is more general networking stuff. Still some really good reference material.

http://www.amazon.com/Illustrated-Network-Modern-Kaufmann-Networking/dp/0123745411/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1382132562&sr=1-7&keywords=tcp+ip+illustrated

And for operating system basics, this is a good all-rounder:

http://www.amazon.com/Operating-Concepts-Seventh-Abraham-Silberschatz/dp/0471694665/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1382132818&sr=1-4&keywords=operating+system+concepts

And for *nix because it is important and nobody thinks about it:

http://www.amazon.com/UNIX-Linux-System-Administration-Handbook/dp/0131480057/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1382132917&sr=1-1&keywords=Linux+System+administration

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0595425119

The author of this book is a fantastic guy who went through basic later in life and wrote a modern day version. Might be a good lead for you.

This guy did it, then led an Infantry platoon in Afghanistan, and wrote a pretty solid book.

A good book on this phenomena (The Marshall System) is "The Generals" by Tom Ricks
https://www.amazon.com/Generals-American-Military-Command-World/dp/0143124099

Actually, the book is by Harold Coyle, part of his series of modern armor, "Trial by Fire" https://smile.amazon.com/Trial-Fire-Harold-Coyle/dp/0671796585/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1487182297&sr=8-5&keywords=%22Trial+by+fire%22

It's not a bad book overall, from my memory. Deals with some interesting issues and problems that are pretty realistic (helps that Coyle's a former armor officer).

You also want to pick up a copy of King of the Killing Zone by Orr Kelly. It's old and out of date, but it will give you a good feel for what tech was developed and how it was deployed.

This reminds me of Stephen Ambrose's D-Day. The amount of planning, coordinating, training, preparation that went into D-Day alone is nuts.

It's a long read, and it can be dry, yet absolutely fascinating to realize what kind of effort went into that operation.

http://www.amazon.com/Chickenhawk-Robert-Mason/dp/0143035711

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

Read this book: https://www.amazon.com/Subtle-Art-Not-Giving-Counterintuitive/dp/0062457713

Practice, you’ll get better with time. I approach every task I’m given the same way: I do my best at it, and if I fail then I learn what I’m not good at. That tells me what to work on for the next time I do it. You can get a lot of self development done that way.

Fake it till you make it man. Soldiers look at you and see an NCO. If you try to project what you think they should be seeing, then eventually you’ll get used to acting that way and it will become normal. Nobody has access to the inside of your head but you, it’s okay to be nervous or freak out to yourself, but what you project outwardly is what counts.

Push to/Battle of Badhdad: Generation Kill (The book), written by a reporter assigned to Marine Recon: https://www.amazon.com/Generation-Kill-Captain-America-American/dp/0425224740

Koran Kalashnikov and Laptop: The Neo-Taliban Insurgency in Afghanistan 2002-2007 https://www.amazon.com/dp/0199326355/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_Pw6rzbGW39TW2

War, Politics and Society in Afghanistan, 1978-1992 https://www.amazon.com/dp/0878407588/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_lx6rzb509WDTW

Afgantsy: The Russians in Afghanistan 1979-89 https://www.amazon.com/dp/019983265X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_dz6rzbDMP6KG2

No Good Men Among the Living: America, the Taliban, and the War through Afghan Eyes https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GVRVAXM/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_VB6rzbJ0EBR87

The Afghan Campaign: A Novel https://www.amazon.com/dp/0767922387/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_WC6rzbEDZ3B3Z

Afghanistan: A Cultural and Political History (Princeton Studies in Muslim Politics) https://www.amazon.com/dp/0691154414/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_jD6rzb6MQ4J2N

"Hell in a Very Small Place" taught me how insane they were in Vietnam. They had guys make there first Airborne jump, into an encircled DZ. Like holy shit.

Also made you appreciate how good of a general Giap was. One of the best books about a battle I've ever read. The author sadly died in Vietnam when he was reporting on the American effort there.

https://www.amazon.com/Hell-Very-Small-Place-Siege/dp/030681157X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1538095807&sr=8-1&keywords=hell+in+a+very+small+place

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

So I wrote my thesis paper on Chinese militarization in the South China Sea and while entertaining, I see a lot of issues with his whole assessment, primarily;

1. China and the U.S. have no interest in going to war with each other. The economic devastation to both countries would be so unbelievably vast and widespread that the ability of either country to conduct a long drawn out war (like the one described in the video) is highly suspect. If the U.S. and the U.S.S.R had mutually assured destruction due to nuclear arsenals, the PRC and the US have it due to the level of interconnectivity between their economies. The video describes a conflict spanning months and months, but it's just not realistic.
   
   > Army War College Study #1
   
   > Army War College Study #2
   
   > Neither discusses the economic ties in depth, but they both acknowledge that actual war between the two countries is a horrible idea. For the economic ties, see Debating China. Particularly the sections from Naughton/Yang, Twomey/Hui, and Xinbo/Green.
   
   
2. The possibility for conflict does exist though. There have already been multiple incidents of run ins on the South China Sea, and numerous close calls with the Chinese Coast Guard, Navy, and Airforce. It's possible that one of these conflicts could flare up into a short term 'hot war,' but it'd be in the interests of both countries to shut it down as quickly as possible.
   > Just one of many examples
   
   
3. In the event of a short term conflict, China is sure to have and maintain the upper hand throughout. Their entire military strategy since the late 90's has been Anti Access/Area Denial. A2AD specifically designed to take out US forward basing and operational capabilities. Taking down comms networks and radar systems would be one of the first priorities, thusly further delaying the U.S.'s ability to fully mobilize its forces to the region. The U.S. counter to China's A2AD is the Air Sea Battle Concept. It's fairly complex to get into over reddit, but the gist of it revolves around fast rapid strikes against Chinese C4ISR networks (likely a combined Cyber Command and Ballistic Missile operation) to shut down their ability to target US comms networks. That would enable more conventional forces to occupy the geographic areas needed for precision strikes against mainland targets and those targets in the SCS/ECS.
   
   > Air Sea Battle Concept in depth. Note, this theory hasn't been tested. If the US even possess the capability to shut down Chinese C4ISR networks is debated. RAND published a study on it, but I can't find it in my bookmarks.
   
   Again I want to stipulate that this type of conflict is unlikely, and even if it were to occur I don't see it lasting longer than a few days at the most.
   
   
4. In my opinion, Obama's "Pivot to Asia" has lost.
   
   • The court ruling in the Hague over the summer was justification for the US to continue helping the Philippines and Vietnam in their struggle against the 9-line dash, but it's all been for moot. The newly elected Filipino President Rodrigo Duterte has expressed the desire for U.S. forces to leave the Philippines. At the same time, he's started accepting military supplies from the Chinese, announced trade deals and bi-lateral agreements (valued at 13 billion dollars) with the Beijing, and agreed to joint drilling ventures in the contested regions while he simultaneously announced a moratorium on Filipino fishermen returning to the scarborough shoal.
     
   • The TPP had a small chance at economically tieing ASEAN nations to the US and South America instead of China's RCEP FTA, but with Pres. Elect Trump now at the helm the TPP is quite literally dead. This however has not dulled the ambitions of ASEAN or Latin American nations. ASEAN nations are now turning to RCEP and the China controlled AIIB as they slowly recognize the China's dawning hegemony in Asia. Xi Jinping has also announced that he will be looking to S. America. The desire for trade is there, and if the U.S. won't take it, someone will.
     
     EDIT: Wanted to add more sources for some of my information.
     
     

• Anti Access Warfare: Countering A2/AD Strategies. Sam J. Tangredi. Naval Institute Press.
  
  > Discusses A2/AD strategies throughout the history of warfare and how they either failed or were overcome. Discusses China's use of A2/AD strategies in the latter sections of the book.
  
  
• Fire on the Water: China, America, and the Future of the Pacific. Robert Haddick. Naval Institute Press.
  
  > Discusses the rise of a Chinese blue water navy and how the US should counter that threat.
  
  
• The South China Sea: The Struggle for Power in Asia. Bill Hayton. Yale Press.
  
  > Covers the geopolitical dispute over the SCS from historical, legal, resource driven, geostrategic, and military aspects.
  
  
• Red Star Over the Pacific: China's Rise and the Challenge to U.S. Maritime Strategy. Toshi Yoshihara and James R. Holmes. Naval Institute Press.
  
  > Discusses the rise of China with regard to Alfred T. Mahan's sea power theories. Offers comparisons to the Kaiser's rise in Germany.