thedrifter
09-03-07, 09:03 AM
Books: Pre-deployment must-reads
By Rob Colenso Jr. - rcolenso@militarytimes.com
Posted : September 10, 2007
Amid the sea of recent publications focusing on the challenges of Iraq and Afghanistan, and the insurgencies there, it’s easy to overlook some of the older books that point up the lessons history offers.
Here’s a look at three that should be on your packing list for your next deployment:
Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph
By T.E. Lawrence, 1926
If all you know about T.E. Lawrence is what you saw in the movie “Lawrence of Arabia,” you’re missing much of the story of his efforts to organize Arab forces during World War I. It’s not an easy read, but the little gems you’ll pick up along the way make this one worth the effort.
His observations — “Better the Arab forces do it tolerably than that you do it perfectly. It is their war and you are to help them, not win it for them” — still resonate today. In fact, that passage is quoted in the new Army and Marine Corps counterinsurgency manual. Those involved in training Iraqi forces, take note.
Counterinsurgency Warfare: Theory and Practice
By David Galula, 1964
A French military officer who saw combat in World War II and Algeria, Galula also witnessed the Greek civil war and Communists in action in China. His book is on the Army’s Command and General Staff College reading list, and you should read it, too. “He provides the best description available of how insurgency differs from war,” the college notes.
His work also is heavily cited in the new counterinsurgency manual, including a passage that succinctly captures the demands placed on front-line grunts in Iraq and Afghanistan. “The soldier must be prepared to become ... a social worker, a civil engineer, a schoolteacher, a nurse, a Boy Scout. But only for so long as he cannot be replaced, for it is better to entrust civilian tasks to civilians.”
Small Wars Manual
Marine Corps, 1940
The Marine Corps’ experience between the two world wars, serving in numerous Caribbean hot spots, was key to shaping the role the service plays today.
Some of the material in the manual is time-and-place, such as the extensive instructions on how to handle pack mules (though the Corps still has a small mule-team operation). But overall, it remains strikingly relevant to today’s fight.
Ellie
By Rob Colenso Jr. - rcolenso@militarytimes.com
Posted : September 10, 2007
Amid the sea of recent publications focusing on the challenges of Iraq and Afghanistan, and the insurgencies there, it’s easy to overlook some of the older books that point up the lessons history offers.
Here’s a look at three that should be on your packing list for your next deployment:
Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph
By T.E. Lawrence, 1926
If all you know about T.E. Lawrence is what you saw in the movie “Lawrence of Arabia,” you’re missing much of the story of his efforts to organize Arab forces during World War I. It’s not an easy read, but the little gems you’ll pick up along the way make this one worth the effort.
His observations — “Better the Arab forces do it tolerably than that you do it perfectly. It is their war and you are to help them, not win it for them” — still resonate today. In fact, that passage is quoted in the new Army and Marine Corps counterinsurgency manual. Those involved in training Iraqi forces, take note.
Counterinsurgency Warfare: Theory and Practice
By David Galula, 1964
A French military officer who saw combat in World War II and Algeria, Galula also witnessed the Greek civil war and Communists in action in China. His book is on the Army’s Command and General Staff College reading list, and you should read it, too. “He provides the best description available of how insurgency differs from war,” the college notes.
His work also is heavily cited in the new counterinsurgency manual, including a passage that succinctly captures the demands placed on front-line grunts in Iraq and Afghanistan. “The soldier must be prepared to become ... a social worker, a civil engineer, a schoolteacher, a nurse, a Boy Scout. But only for so long as he cannot be replaced, for it is better to entrust civilian tasks to civilians.”
Small Wars Manual
Marine Corps, 1940
The Marine Corps’ experience between the two world wars, serving in numerous Caribbean hot spots, was key to shaping the role the service plays today.
Some of the material in the manual is time-and-place, such as the extensive instructions on how to handle pack mules (though the Corps still has a small mule-team operation). But overall, it remains strikingly relevant to today’s fight.
Ellie