thedrifter
08-20-09, 09:07 AM
STEAL THIS BOOK.... NOW!
Posted By Mr Wolf
Yeah, yeah.. Abbie Hoffman got away with that title. But what I'd like to really recommend is this book, below. I mean, you REALLY need to get this book...
My good friend, Sergeant Major Steve Valley, has finally released his book. This is a topic that, til now, has not been covered at all by books or press. SGM Valley and I served together in Baghdad as PAO brothers, trying to keep together all the mayhem that made up the daily press briefings and other workings of the CPIC (Coalition Press Information Center).
From his publisher:
Inside the Fortress isn't a traditional "blood and guts" wartime book. It's a behind the scenes look at life for an Army senior listed leader inside Baghdad's world renowned Green Zone. The book is based on a written journal kept by Steve Valley from the day his Army Reserve unit was mobilized in December 2003, to the night he returned from the Middle East in January 2005.
Inside the Fortress gives readers an up-close look at the inner workings of an Army public affairs unit that dealt with a non-stop barrage of bullets, explosions and convoys on the dangerous Airport Road, all the while trying to satisfy the never ending requests from the media that brought the successes and failures of Operation Iraqi Freedom into American homes every night. Valley lived it for a year and writes of the daily struggles that war had on the men and women that serve in today's all volunteer American military.
Whether you are a private citizen, politician, journalist or Soldier, you will envoy Valley's point of view as a husband and father, a military leader and an American Soldier serving in Baghdad.
Steve Valley is a 24-year Army veteran whose former Army Reserve unit returned from a year-long deployment to Iraq in February 2005. Valley served as the unit's first sergeant, the senior enlisted Soldier at the Combined Press Information Center (CPIC) and as a media spokesperson for Multi-National Forces-Iraq. He currently serves as a Sergeant Major in the US Army Reserve. He's also an All-American VFW Post Commander and a sustaining member in the AUSA, the USO and the Wounded Warrior Project. Valley is a Massachusetts native now residing in Florida with his wife and two sons.
Ok, that aside, what I can tell you about the content of this book is that its a FANTASTIC read; simple, to the point, and very funny. Yeah, its like the 'inside baseball' stuff to me, but I can guarantee that you will be amazed at some of the stuff that went on behind the scenes there.
What is also amazing is that his editor/publisher required him to REMOVE a fantastic amount of stuff, just because they could not fathom that it actually happend. I can, from first hand knowledge, say that these things DID happen. The SGM has changed a few names to protect the 'innocent' and those still on duty, but beyond that, this is no work of fiction.
We are trying to get a TV series set up based on this book. Because of its location, its proximity to every high-level person in the country, and its visibility on the world stage, the CPIC was the epicenter of much that happened in Baghdad over the last 6 years. MOST of it never before explained nor described anywhere.
Take a look- and stay tuned. More interviews and information from the SGM are forthcoming. Also follow updates on Twitter via @warriororg and @sogmedia.
Wolf
http://www.blackfive.net/.a/6a00d8341bfadb53ef0120a55b3da0970c-800wi
Ellie
Posted By Mr Wolf
Yeah, yeah.. Abbie Hoffman got away with that title. But what I'd like to really recommend is this book, below. I mean, you REALLY need to get this book...
My good friend, Sergeant Major Steve Valley, has finally released his book. This is a topic that, til now, has not been covered at all by books or press. SGM Valley and I served together in Baghdad as PAO brothers, trying to keep together all the mayhem that made up the daily press briefings and other workings of the CPIC (Coalition Press Information Center).
From his publisher:
Inside the Fortress isn't a traditional "blood and guts" wartime book. It's a behind the scenes look at life for an Army senior listed leader inside Baghdad's world renowned Green Zone. The book is based on a written journal kept by Steve Valley from the day his Army Reserve unit was mobilized in December 2003, to the night he returned from the Middle East in January 2005.
Inside the Fortress gives readers an up-close look at the inner workings of an Army public affairs unit that dealt with a non-stop barrage of bullets, explosions and convoys on the dangerous Airport Road, all the while trying to satisfy the never ending requests from the media that brought the successes and failures of Operation Iraqi Freedom into American homes every night. Valley lived it for a year and writes of the daily struggles that war had on the men and women that serve in today's all volunteer American military.
Whether you are a private citizen, politician, journalist or Soldier, you will envoy Valley's point of view as a husband and father, a military leader and an American Soldier serving in Baghdad.
Steve Valley is a 24-year Army veteran whose former Army Reserve unit returned from a year-long deployment to Iraq in February 2005. Valley served as the unit's first sergeant, the senior enlisted Soldier at the Combined Press Information Center (CPIC) and as a media spokesperson for Multi-National Forces-Iraq. He currently serves as a Sergeant Major in the US Army Reserve. He's also an All-American VFW Post Commander and a sustaining member in the AUSA, the USO and the Wounded Warrior Project. Valley is a Massachusetts native now residing in Florida with his wife and two sons.
Ok, that aside, what I can tell you about the content of this book is that its a FANTASTIC read; simple, to the point, and very funny. Yeah, its like the 'inside baseball' stuff to me, but I can guarantee that you will be amazed at some of the stuff that went on behind the scenes there.
What is also amazing is that his editor/publisher required him to REMOVE a fantastic amount of stuff, just because they could not fathom that it actually happend. I can, from first hand knowledge, say that these things DID happen. The SGM has changed a few names to protect the 'innocent' and those still on duty, but beyond that, this is no work of fiction.
We are trying to get a TV series set up based on this book. Because of its location, its proximity to every high-level person in the country, and its visibility on the world stage, the CPIC was the epicenter of much that happened in Baghdad over the last 6 years. MOST of it never before explained nor described anywhere.
Take a look- and stay tuned. More interviews and information from the SGM are forthcoming. Also follow updates on Twitter via @warriororg and @sogmedia.
Wolf
http://www.blackfive.net/.a/6a00d8341bfadb53ef0120a55b3da0970c-800wi
Ellie