One of my seeming multitude of WIPs is the first novel I ever wrote. It is a gritty, tactical depiction of an infantry squad leader in a “Light” infantry division deployed to the Persian Gulf war. Through the four days of fighting he winds up the Platoon Leader. Much like Youth In Asia, it is not so much about heros doing superhuman things. Instead, it is about young men trying to accomplish their mission and stay alive.
Work on that novel has been a multi-decade, on again, off again exercise. Over the last ~9 months I’ve decided to revisit it. Though I still enjoy the story and the characters, and I think much of it is good and engaging, it has its flaws and is need of substantial work.
One area in which it needs work is more accurate setting details about the daily life of soliders in Desert Shielf and Desert Storm, more details on the terrain and weather, etc. Which brought me to this book. It has very mixed reivews on Amazon, but not because it is not accurate… Below is a copy and paste (with a few tweaks) of the review I posted to Amazon.
I’ll start with the blurb: “Alex Vernon with Neal Creighton, Jr., Greg Downey, Rob Holmes, and David Trybula with foreword by General Barry R. McCaffrey, retired (commander of the 24th Division during Desert Shield and Desert Storm) Winner of the 1999 Army Historical Foundation Distinguished Writing Award: A highly personal account of the day-to-day experiences of the five platoon leaders who served in the same tank battalion during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm…”
My review…
Though not without its shortcomings, this book is an exceptionally personal presentation of the thoughts, fears, triumphs, and mistakes of young lieutenants in the US Army preparing for and in combat. Its strength is the deep – and honest – exploration of what young officers feel and experience as platoon leaders. These officers’ dedication to their country and especially their men is beyond question and rings true through their sharing.
To emphasize what the authors call out a number of times, this is their view of the war they experienced, and there can be no one, all-encompassing view of this or any war. The actual war is – as it was historically – brief and one-sided. The five platoon leaders share great detail of their race across southeast Iraq and the immense combat power they helped unleash on the hapless and inept Iraq military. The combat prowess of the US Army, of which these five lieutenants were a material part, is impressive. But in all cases, this is five unique and personal views of what they experienced.
Though a scholarly work that is well documented and organized, it is arguably too long. A significant portion of the book covers the many months the 24th division spent in Saudi Arabia preparing for combat. Though the color of daily life in the various platoons is interesting and provides deep historical detail, it becomes tedious.
The war, such as it was, is depicted in a relatively short portion of the book and consists mostly of relentless driving and short, profoundly one-sided destruction of the few Iraqi units that actually tried to fight.
The final section of the book is an honest, personal sharing by the lieutenants, reflections on their experiences and how it helped shape their decisions to leave the Army. In many ways, it echoed my own experience.
After earning my commission in 1985 and graduating from the Army’s Airborne and Ranger school and serving in the 7th ID(L), I also opted to leave active duty after completing my Advanced course…and the Berlin wall came down. I was on orders to join an armor division in Germany managing a battalion motor pool. I could not imagine a worse fate for a light infantryman: 3 years of turning in equipment as America extracted most of our military out of the reunified Germany.
I separated from the Army and was on terminal leave hanging out with my friends in Europe before I was to start graduate school when, while wandering around Greece, an endless stream of C-141s began flying over, headed southeast. The war had started, and the first American military units were heading to Saudi Arabia.
Similar to the experiences shared by these young men, though I was never in combat, I had been the platoon leader for infantry, anti-tank and scout platoons, as well as a company executive officer. In various ways, the authors of The Eyes of Orion note there is no greater job in the Army than being a platoon leader. I will quibble and say that being a company commander of a combat unit is equally exhilarating. After my time on active duty, I joined the National Guard and commanded an M2 Bradley company of an Enhanced Readiness Brigade.
So much of what these officers shared in the final section of the book echoed my own experiences and thinking. Being a platoon leader is an exciting time, but it is also incredibly daunting and lonely as these men described.
A young lieutenant’s experience and perception of the Army is greatly influenced by his platoon sergeant and his company commander. This is triply so in combat, I’m sure. There is no officer’s club to retreat to on Friday nights to learn from your peers in an informal setting, there are no roommates to compare notes with in the evening, there are no siblings or parents to call when you need a sounding board. As a young officer – learning the ropes of what it really means to lead in combat – you can find yourself very much alone, and often the enforcer of unpopular and sometimes idiotic orders. You constantly think: Mission first, men always. You fear you won’t bring them all home. You fear you will fail them when they need you most.
Overwhelmingly, the writers of this book depicted competent and insightful leaders above them and dedicated, trusting young men in their command. There were some exceptions, which I’ll leave for future readers to discover. On the whole, though, they were well-led, well-equipped, well cared for, and they took their responsibilites seriously. So much so that at times their own self-doubt became almost debilitating.
As detailed in the book, the coalition brought to bear overwhelming weapon systems and withering firepower. Frightening not just to imagine being on the receiving end, but frightening because of how close together the units operated, and how often that ended in fratricide or near fratricide. On this count, what these leaders shared is both tragic and disheartening.
I highly recommend this book especially to young officers and those about to earn their commission. The first half can become tiresome, and the combat scenes are short and one-sided, but the flavor of life as a young officer, and what can be learned to help you prepare for your first years as a leader is of tremendous value.
