I've never awaited/anticipated the release of a book for as long or as much as I did this one. It was three years ago when I first heard about this story and Michael Golembesky's quest to find a publisher and tell the world of the exploits of MSOT 8222 on that historic deployment in 2009-2010. This book is about an area of Afghanistan most people don't know about and that has seen a very small American footprint since the war started. So austere this valley (Bala Murghab) was that it's ancient occupants have never even heard of Osama bin Laden or what happened on 9/11/01. I think a lot of people (commanders) took this as a sign that the area was not important and uncontested, that would be proven wrong in the months of MSOT 8222's deployment. It was extremely kinetic. In his book, you will read about tragedies and selflessness, and also about supreme ignorance. This book is a tribute to all the warriors who fought and died in the Bala Murghab Valley. It is wonderfully done.
In the beginning I enjoyed reading about his (authors) perspective coming into MARSOC and being thrown onto a team as an outsider (he was a JTAC, not an operator). Also how he navigated the very close-knit team dynamic he encountered during the work up, and how he had to prove himself worthy to the guys. The author strikes me as an introverted, reflective, professionally aware, deeply compassionate warrior who has a strong moral base and never would have joined the military had it not been for 9/11. At times in the book it was all I could do but shake my head at the TYPICAL bone-headed officers who haven't a clue about combat and put people's lives at risk whilst sitting in an air-conditioned TOC miles away. The WORST type of officer you can have leading a unit in combat is one worried about his next promotion. The author strays away from pointing fingers or calling people out though, this book is not a base for personal attacks and doesn't detract from the real point to the story. If it weren't for guys like Golembesky and his brothers doing such skilled work surely they would have taken a lot more casualties though. The meat of the book is about the fight on Pathfinder Hill and the action does not disappoint. As of this writing there are 31 reviews on Amazon.com and 29 of them are rated five stars. Sounds too good to be true? It's not.
I HIGHLY recommend this book. I also rated it five stars.
http://www.amazon.com/Level-Zero-Heroes-Operations-Afghanistan-ebook/dp/B00IQOC2IK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1410235827&sr=8-1&keywords=Level Zero Heroes
In the beginning I enjoyed reading about his (authors) perspective coming into MARSOC and being thrown onto a team as an outsider (he was a JTAC, not an operator). Also how he navigated the very close-knit team dynamic he encountered during the work up, and how he had to prove himself worthy to the guys. The author strikes me as an introverted, reflective, professionally aware, deeply compassionate warrior who has a strong moral base and never would have joined the military had it not been for 9/11. At times in the book it was all I could do but shake my head at the TYPICAL bone-headed officers who haven't a clue about combat and put people's lives at risk whilst sitting in an air-conditioned TOC miles away. The WORST type of officer you can have leading a unit in combat is one worried about his next promotion. The author strays away from pointing fingers or calling people out though, this book is not a base for personal attacks and doesn't detract from the real point to the story. If it weren't for guys like Golembesky and his brothers doing such skilled work surely they would have taken a lot more casualties though. The meat of the book is about the fight on Pathfinder Hill and the action does not disappoint. As of this writing there are 31 reviews on Amazon.com and 29 of them are rated five stars. Sounds too good to be true? It's not.
I HIGHLY recommend this book. I also rated it five stars.
http://www.amazon.com/Level-Zero-Heroes-Operations-Afghanistan-ebook/dp/B00IQOC2IK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1410235827&sr=8-1&keywords=Level Zero Heroes
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