Zhukov
VIP Member
This is simultaneously part textbook on modern military maneuver and the arrangment of the Army's line of battle for an armored corp, as experienced during Desert Storm, and part an autobiography of Gen. Fred Franks (ret.) who led coalition VII Corps into Iraq in 1991 (I say 'coalition' VII Corps because at the time it incorporated the 1st UK Armoured Division).
I haven't finished it yet but so far it's quite good.
The book is written by Tom Clancy with Gen. Franks contributing information and in certain areas taking up the story to explain, among other things, his experience in Vietnam and the loss of his leg below the knee, his subsequent recovery, and the post-Vietnam restructuring of the US Military, in equipment, attitude, and doctrine.
Gen. Franks input on the character and leadership qualities of the CINC, General Schwarzkopf, are surprising when compared to the rather one-dimensional picture one might otherwise have learned about at the time of the war or since.
Likewise the details of battlefield conditions during the operational phase of the 100 hour land war are suprising and interesting, as is the general description of how Gen. Franks led his Corp on it's mission to destroy the Iraqi Republican Guard.
A great deal of time is also spent explaining the difficulties associated with driving hundreds of thousands of men and thousands of vehicles hundreds of miles across barren desert to find, engage, and destroy the enemy, reinforcing Napoleon's dictum: Amateurs study tactics. Dilletantes study strategy. Veterans study Logistics.
Certainly the kind of book one would enjoy thoroughly if one were interested in such things.
I haven't finished it yet but so far it's quite good.
The book is written by Tom Clancy with Gen. Franks contributing information and in certain areas taking up the story to explain, among other things, his experience in Vietnam and the loss of his leg below the knee, his subsequent recovery, and the post-Vietnam restructuring of the US Military, in equipment, attitude, and doctrine.
Gen. Franks input on the character and leadership qualities of the CINC, General Schwarzkopf, are surprising when compared to the rather one-dimensional picture one might otherwise have learned about at the time of the war or since.
Likewise the details of battlefield conditions during the operational phase of the 100 hour land war are suprising and interesting, as is the general description of how Gen. Franks led his Corp on it's mission to destroy the Iraqi Republican Guard.
A great deal of time is also spent explaining the difficulties associated with driving hundreds of thousands of men and thousands of vehicles hundreds of miles across barren desert to find, engage, and destroy the enemy, reinforcing Napoleon's dictum: Amateurs study tactics. Dilletantes study strategy. Veterans study Logistics.
Certainly the kind of book one would enjoy thoroughly if one were interested in such things.
