What Are You Currently Reading?

[AWP]

Donovan's Devils by Albert Lulushi. The book is a history of the OSS' Operational Groups and so far is really good. I'm wrapping up Italy about 1944 after an OG secured Corsica and Sardinia. The same OG (Italy) performed a badass POW recovery no one ever hears about:

Office of Strategic Services Operational Groups

Another group was parachuted into southeast Italy to help recover Allied prisoners released by the Italians upon their surrender September 8th. The officer commanding the group was captured and some of the men remained behind the lines for almost nine months.

http://www.soc.mil/OSS/operational-groups.html

Really a good book and you rarely hear about these guys with most press going to the Jeds.

 

[x SF med]

I'm into my every-so-often rereading of KIM by Rudyard Kipling.

I always get something new out of it, and it reinforces the fact that 99% of our command and forces have absolutely no clue what they are up against in the lands at the top of the world and the Kush.

Should any of the uninitiated decide to undertake this novelized autobiography, trade craft primer, area study, cultural treatise... get an unabridged copy. I believe the apologists will very soon be attacking all things Kipling and rending it asunder as they have other classic works, for reasons of political correctness and a different world view that that which they promulgate.

If you are getting ready to head to A'stan for the first time, second time, third time yada yada.... read it, first timers will walk in slightly aware, returnees will smack their heads and wonder why it's not on the reading lists for deployment.

Hell, just get a full Kipling library...

 

[256]

There’s something about Afghanistan that catches my attention. I’m looking forward to reading/listening to your suggestion. I read “Afghanistan: A Military History...” by Stephen Tanner. Honestly, I had to read/reread some chapters. My regret is not reading this stuff before deploying to Afghanistan..

I'm into my every-so-often rereading of KIM by Rudyard Kipling.

I always get something new out of it, and it reinforces the fact that 99% of our command and forces have absolutely no clue what they are up against in the lands at the top of the world and the Kush.

Should any of the uninitiated decide to undertake this novelized autobiography, trade craft primer, area study, cultural treatise... get an unabridged copy. I believe the apologists will very soon be attacking all things Kipling and rending it asunder as they have other classic works, for reasons of political correctness and a different world view that that which they promulgate.

If you are getting ready to head to A'stan for the first time, second time, third time yada yada.... read it, first timers will walk in slightly aware, returnees will smack their heads and wonder why it's not on the reading lists for deployment.

Hell, just get a full Kipling library...

 

[SaintKP]

Thanks to @RackMaster for the recommendation in the My Random TV Thread, it has gotten me wanting to reread The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. I remember hating it when it was required reading in school, but it offers a nice foil to the documentary in regards to where we used to be as a country versus where we are now. Not to mention how far we still have to go.

 

[x SF med]

There’s something about Afghanistan that catches my attention. I’m looking forward to reading/listening to your suggestion. I read “Afghanistan: A Military History...” by Stephen Tanner. Honestly, I had to read/reread some chapters. My regret is not reading this stuff before deploying to Afghanistan..

Read War at the Top of the World also.

 

[Sendero]

I'm into my every-so-often rereading of KIM by Rudyard Kipling.

I always get something new out of it, and it reinforces the fact that 99% of our command and forces have absolutely no clue what they are up against in the lands at the top of the world and the Kush.

Should any of the uninitiated decide to undertake this novelized autobiography, trade craft primer, area study, cultural treatise... get an unabridged copy. I believe the apologists will very soon be attacking all things Kipling and rending it asunder as they have other classic works, for reasons of political correctness and a different world view that that which they promulgate.

If you are getting ready to head to A'stan for the first time, second time, third time yada yada.... read it, first timers will walk in slightly aware, returnees will smack their heads and wonder why it's not on the reading lists for deployment.

Hell, just get a full Kipling library...

I'll be reading this soon. For those interested, I prefer paper but KIM is available for free download on the Gutenberg Project's site.

LINK: Kim by Rudyard Kipling

 

[Marauder06]

BH Liddell Hart's "Strategy" is my current "bathroom sit down" reading:

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/305909.Strategy

 

[256]

I’m currently read Leadership and Self-Deception, pretty interesting ideas. Easily applied to policing and soldiering.

I finished The Final Mission of Extortion 17 a little while ago, by Ed Darack. Awesome book! I’ve heard Darack has caught some flack about his version of what he thinks happened during Operation Red Wings. If you can put that aside I strongly recommend read it.

 

[AWP]

If you are getting ready to head to A'stan for the first time, second time, third time yada yada.... read it, first timers will walk in slightly aware, returnees will smack their heads and wonder why it's not on the reading lists for deployment.

There’s something about Afghanistan that catches my attention. I’m looking forward to reading/listening to your suggestion. I read “Afghanistan: A Military History...” by Stephen Tanner. Honestly, I had to read/reread some chapters. My regret is not reading this stuff before deploying to Afghanistan..

I'm not a "boots on the ground" Afghan guy, but I'd like to think I have a respectable grasp on the forest level stuff. I'll dig through my Kindle and post an amoral war profiteer's Afghan reading list. Maybe it will help a member or two.

 

[SpitfireV]

Quick and dirty thoughts on For Heaven's Sake (link above) and The Vietnam Air War: First Person.

I've read a couple of chapters of each and I'm on leave now so planning to hit both hard. FHS is a really interesting book but it suffers from a common problem- no maps. I like maps in my war books. Lots of maps but at least one with the major places would be good. It also seems to have translation issues, being first published in Hebrew. Some more care could have been taken there since it sometimes reads oddly. The author is inconsistent between Hebrew and English names for aircraft too- I would have preferred that he kept to one method. It also assumes the reader to have a certain knowledge of the IAF- this may be true for Israelis who were reading it in Hebrew but not for non-Israelis.

That said, it's a good book and it's important for Yom Kippur histories and has historic values. So far I give it a 4.5/5. The above isn't enough to knock it down much since they're mostly minor annoyances.

The Vietnam Air War one so far is excellent. It's a series of chapters written by or told by fighter pilots in the Vietnam War. It starts off chronologically with the first F105 Wild Weasel missions. It's well edited and well put together and my only complaint is that some of the stories so far have related to the same mission but that isn't clear until you're half way through the story. A bit of a tie up of the stories would make this a solid 5. 4.8/5.

 

[Viper1]

Barbara Jordan: American Hero

 

[Muppet]

I have read The Ranger Way and 13 Hours by Kris Paranto. Next month, in my A.O. at a new range/toy store, Paranto and Dave Benton (Boon) will be there, signing those books.

M.

 

[Downtown “Funky Stuff” Malone🍆]

I was at the Uniform Shop and picked up Land Nav by Bronston Clough. Thought the skill set might come in handy in my new AFSC.

 

[Ooh-Rah]

Just finished Our Damaged Democracy, by Joseph Califano Jr.

For those who do not recognize the name, he was an editor at Harvard Law Review and most importantly was LBJ's top White House domestic aide. All of his books are fascinating, and really give you perspective to how much our politics have changed over the past 20 years.

 

[Devildoc]

The Admirals: Nimitz, Halsey, Leahy, and King: The 5-star admirals who won the war at sea, by Walter Borneman. Essentially a mixed biography of each of them, covering their careers from the naval Academy through post-WWII. It's a great read, intertwining their careers as they influenced each other and worked with/under each other through the years. Also speaks to their relationships with the Roosevelts (Teddy and FDR) and how the relationships ended up impacting their wartime commands. Additionally, the book exposes how they each viewed Japan and Germany starting in the late 1800s, and how those views impacted how they commanded during WWII.

Now, what I should have been reading was schoolwork. But for Pete's sake, there's only so much of that I can take.

 

[CQB]

I'm into my every-so-often rereading of KIM by Rudyard Kipling.

I always get something new out of it, and it reinforces the fact that 99% of our command and forces have absolutely no clue what they are up against in the lands at the top of the world and the Kush.

Should any of the uninitiated decide to undertake this novelized autobiography, trade craft primer, area study, cultural treatise... get an unabridged copy. I believe the apologists will very soon be attacking all things Kipling and rending it asunder as they have other classic works, for reasons of political correctness and a different world view that that which they promulgate.

If you are getting ready to head to A'stan for the first time, second time, third time yada yada.... read it, first timers will walk in slightly aware, returnees will smack their heads and wonder why it's not on the reading lists for deployment.

Hell, just get a full Kipling library...

...and if you're heading to Asia, The Quite American by Graham Green...ditto.

 

[CDG]

Airborne: The Combat Story of Ed Shames of Easy Company

"As one of the last surviving members of the Band of Brothers, Ed Shames wanted to commit his memories of World War II to paper to preserve the legacy of the men who served with him in Europe. Airborne is his dramatic wartime biography, a riveting tale of fierce combat, astounding bravery, and an unwavering determination to survive. Parachuting into Normandy on D-Day with 3rd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division, Shames was involved in some of the most pivotal moments of the Allied invasion, advancing through the bocage of France, and after his transfer to Easy Company in Holland, battling the elements and the ferocious German counterattack at Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge, liberating Nazi concentration camps, and helping to capture Hitler's Eagle's Nest.

Startlingly honest and raw, Airborne is the compelling combat biography of a man whose forthright opinions and gruff manner often put him in conflict with his fellow officers, but who was respected by the soldiers he commanded, because he was determined to bring as many of them home alive as he could."

 

[Topkick]

I decided to pick this up from the local library because I've worked school security for a few years. From a Mother of a Columbine shooter, thinking maybe I can learn something useful.

 

[Gladesmen19]

Currently reading "Suffer in Silence" by David Reid, it's really good if you're interested in what Bud/s is like or just wanna hear about how these savage men get tore up to become SEALs.

 

[SaintKP]

Reading through the Powder Mage Trilogy again, it's set in a fantasy Napoleonic themed environment where there are Gods, Priveliged (traditional magic users who can control the elements), and Powder Mages (people who can control gunpowder and bullets with their mind).

It's extremely entertaining and I almost always find myself envisioning what's occurring in the books.