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"The War I Always Wanted,"
By Brandon Friedman
"The welcome mat for memoirs by veterans of operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom might never wear out so long as they write with the savvy of Brandon Friedman . . . Friedman's take is vivid, frank, precise and dramatic."
--Military Times
"Add Brandon Friedman's The War I Always Wanted to the ranks of outstanding non-fiction produced by officers from elite combat units in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Always truthful, often excruciatingly so, The War I Always Wanted rises at numerous points to the level of literature."
--Steven Pressfield, author of Gates of Fire
Buy The War I Always Wanted here.
"A Time To Lead,"
By General (Ret.) Wesley K. Clark
"A Time To Lead confirms the rewarding benefits of military service at a time when such service is experiencing considerable strain. It also includes a comprehensive description of America's current national imperatives, which deserve serious consideration."
--General Alexander M. Haig, Jr., former Secretary of State
"This is a primer on leadership forged in battle and by decades of experience. . .This isn't just a book; it's a manual for leading people and living a good life."
--Barry McCaffrey, General, USA (ret.)
Buy A Time to Lead here.
"Love My Rifle More Than You,"
By Kayla Williams
"Whip smart, sassy, with a mouth as foul as a sailor's, 28-year-old Sergeant Kayla Williams. . .tells what it's like to be a female soldier in Iraq."
--Booklist
". . .echoes military memoirists from Julius Caesar to Ernie Pyle."
--Publishers Weekly
". . .a shocking, on-the-ground view of one military woman's experience in Iraq."
--Bookmarks Magazine
Buy Love My Rifle More Than You here.
"How to Break a Terrorist,"
By Matthew Alexander
"...a riveting, fast-paced account that reads like a first-rate thriller."
--Publisher's Weekly
" ...an absorbing behind-the-scenes look at the secret intelligence war within a war."
--Military.com
Buy How to Break a Terrorist here.
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Now that may mean that there is a larger number of soldiers that fit the bill who are in years 5-6-7 of their MSO.
But I can assure you that IRR soldiers in the highest field grade ranks and NCO's are getting the plain brown thick envelopes in the mail.
In the old days, any IRR mobilization requirement to meet a fill would be based on a very precise mos and grade requirement.
As readers have now seen, that has been blown apart to the farthest extreme by placing sister service officers into positions that would normally and rightfully be held by those in the Army.
While less noticeable, but in my opinion equally important, is recoding positions from a specific mos into "branch immaterial, combat arms immaterial, combat support immaterial or combat service support immaterial."
Further more latitude has been given with regards to rank/grade such as putting an O-3 into an O-4 position. That alone would not be so disturbing if it was not coupled with the recoding of mos requirement.
In the old days highly trained square pegs were placed into square holes. In the new world highly trained square pegs are hammered into round holes in order to man the force.
I think back to the phrase from the movie Dirty Harry where he said "A man has to know his limitations." Based on my two decades in the Army, I have come to appreciate that phrase and I think most that I serve with understand and appreciate that phrase. Over the years, many of us have taken branch training, that would provide branch entry training qualification on paper, for the sole purpose of gaining familiarization with another branch in order to help us in our primary branch. We clearly understand that even though on paper we may be "qualified" to do something that there is not a chance in hell we should ever be doing that as a primary job.