Download or read book SUVs Suck in Combat written by Kerry C. Kachejian and published by . This book was released on 2010-05 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It was an unbelievable mission - to rebuild Iraq while the U.S. military was fighting a raging insurgency. In 2004, the soldiers and civilians of the Gulf Region Division (GRD) answered the call to duty and began the largest and most complex reconstruction project ever undertaken by our nation. They made great personal sacrifices that few of their fellow Americans would dare endure. This book tells the rest of the inspiring story - much of which was ignored by the mainstream media as "not newsworthy" or reduced to mere sound bytes. In the face of imminent danger, the GRD team braved daily car bombs, rocket attacks, improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and kidnappings to rebuild thousands of projects throughout a chaotic war zone. These projects spread throughout a hostile country included schools, hospitals, police stations, oil production, electrical power and water treatment plants. Despite the odds, GRD was able to complete its critical strategic mission, and its members were awarded the Meritorious Unit Commendation. A few of the amazing stories include: - A massive car bomb on author's first day in Baghdad that leveled a nearby hotel. - High speed "Mad Max" drives through the streets of Baghdad in unarmored SUVs. - The dependence on security contractors who performed with great valor while protecting American civilians. - The perilous war waged on the reconstruction mission that was largely invisible to U.S. combat forces and the American public. - The accidental rescue of an American hostage. - Living and working in Saddam's great palaces. - How a Yahoo email message was used to send an urgent plea for help. - A daring rescue mission in the Tigris River that ended in tragic loss. - The parade of Congressional Delegations that diverted precious combat resources from the war effort. - The unbelievable (but true) story of how a Yahoo email account is used to send an urgent message to the author to "PLEASE SAVE US." About the Author: Kerry Kachejian is one of the nation's most qualified soldiers and engineers, having served in and supported reconstruction operations in both Iraq and Afghanistan as well as relief operations during Hurricane Katrina. A 1982 graduate of the US Military Academy (West Point), Kachejian also holds a Master's Degree in Systems Engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute. He is a Distinguished Graduate of the Industrial College of the Armed Forces earning a second Master's Degree in National Resource Strategy. Kachejian has numerous military decorations, awards, and qualifications, including the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal and the Combat Action Badge. He was presented the Bronze de Fleury Medal by the Army Engineer Association and the Reserve Award for Leadership Excellence - a national award presented annually by the Military Officers Association of America (MOAA). He is Airborne and Ranger qualified. Kachejian recently retired from the Army Reserve, holding the rank of Colonel. He currently supports the U.S. defense industry. He has spoken at a number of major conferences and private events on topics, including the Reconstruction of Iraq and Afghanistan, the Psychology of Terrorism, Contractors on the Battlefield, and Critical Infrastructure Protection. Kerry, a native of West Chester, Pennsylvania, lives with his wife Alice and three children near Springfield, Virginia.
Download or read book Private Security Companies during the Iraq War written by Scott Fitzsimmons and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2015-07-16 with total page 253 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores the use of deadly force by private security companies during the Iraq War. The work focuses on and compares the activities of the US companies Blackwater and Dyncorp. Despite sharing several important characteristics, such as working for the same client (the US State Department) during the same time period, the employees of Blackwater fired their weapons far more often, and killed and seriously injured far more people in Iraq than their counterparts in DynCorp. In order to explain this disparity, the book undertakes the most comprehensive analysis ever attempted on the use of violence by the employees of these firms. Based on extensive empirical research, it offers a credible explanation for this difference: Blackwater maintained a relatively bellicose military culture that placed strong emphasis on norms encouraging its personnel to exercise personal initiative, proactive use of force, and an exclusive approach to security, which, together, motivated its personnel to use violence quite freely against anyone they suspected of posing a threat. Specifically, Blackwater’s military culture motivated its personnel to fire upon suspected threats more quickly, at greater distances, and with a greater quantity of bullets, and to more readily abandon the people they shot at when compared to DynCorp’s personnel, who maintained a military culture that encouraged far less violent behaviour. Utilizing the Private Security Company Violent Incident Dataset (PSCVID), created by the author in 2012, the book draws upon data on hundreds of violent incidents involving private security personnel in Iraq to identify trends in the behaviour exhibited by the employees of different firms. Based on this rich and original empirical data, the book provides the definitive study of contemporary private security personnel in the Iraq War. This book will be of much interest to students of the Iraq War, Private Security Companies, Military Studies, War and Conflict Studies and IR in general.
Download or read book SAS Combat Vehicles 1942 91 written by Gavin Mortimer and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2021-05-27 with total page 49 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A concise illustrated history of the Special Air Service's lightweight, heavily armed vehicles and their combat use. The SAS, the world's most famous special operations unit, made its name in the desert of North Africa, shooting up Axis airfields from specially modified Willys jeeps. Following the start of the El Alamein offensive in October 1942, the SAS used jeeps effectively in reconnoitring and ambushing the retreating Afrika Korps. After the conclusion of the North African campaign, the Willys underwent several small but significant changes, including the introduction of the .303 Browning machine gun. Between June and October 1944, the SAS brigade operated deep inside Occupied France, harassing Germans reinforcements heading to Normandy, calling up air strikes on installations, and carrying out reconnaissance missions - all made possible with jeeps dropped by the RAF. Jeeps were also used in the push into Germany in the spring of 1945. Transported across the Rhine in 'Buffalo' amphibious landing craft, they formed part of the vanguard of the Allied advance, and their agility, speed and firepower proved crucial in crushing fanatical pockets of Nazi resistance. 22SAS in 1952, the regiment adopted the Series 1 Land Rover - introduced in 1948 - as the successor to the Willys jeep. A decade later the Regiment updated to the Series IIA 90 Land Rover, which saw service in the Oman and Aden, where its distinctive colour led to the 'Pink Panther' nickname. In the 1970s, the SAS begin using Range Rovers for covert operations while the Land Rover 110 HCPU became the SAS's new Desert Patrol Vehicle (DPV) in the 1991 Gulf War. This book describes the successful deployment of these combat vehicles in SAS operations from the Second World War to the present day and gives a rare insight into one of the most prestigious and secret forces of modern times.
Download or read book Assembly written by West Point Association of Graduates (Organization). and published by . This book was released on 2010 with total page 490 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The U S Combat and Tactical Wheeled Vehicle Fleets written by Terrence K. Kelly and published by . This book was released on 2011-02-11 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Congress recently requested a study of the U.S. ground combat and tactical wheeled vehicle fleets. The authors reveal risks in the technologies required to close capability gaps, the business processes used by the U.S. Department of Defense in managing vehicle production and modification initiatives, and the modeling and simulation process supporting research, development, and acquisition, making recommendations for mitigating these risks.
Download or read book Suck and Blow written by John Popper and published by Da Capo Press. This book was released on 2016-04-05 with total page 354 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A hilarious, candid, and moving memoir by John Popper, the voice and harmonica of Blues Traveler
Download or read book Combat Actions in Korea written by Russell A. Gugeler and published by Government Printing Office. This book was released on 1970 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Army Historical Series. CMH Pub. 30-2. Originally published in1954, the year following the close of the Korean War, this book describes combat actions of small Army units, squads and platoons, companies and batteries. The1984 and later printings include a new foreword written in 1984.
Download or read book The Afrika Korps in Combat written by and published by Coda Books Ltd. This book was released on with total page 114 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Tomorrow s War Science Fiction Wargaming Rules written by Ambush Alley Ambush Alley Games and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2011-10-20 with total page 261 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A miniatures wargame of gritty futuristic combat, Tomorrow's War projects the tactics and technology of today's military conflicts hundred's of years into the future. While robot drones, anti-gravity vehicles, and advanced battle-suit technology have changed the face of warfare, the essentials of combined-arms tactics have remained constant. Using the popular Force on Force rules as a basis, Ambush Alley Games has created the most realistic and tactically challenging science fiction wargame on the market. The rulebook includes a detailed optional 'future history' and a campaign system so that individual battles can be linked into an ongoing storyline.
Download or read book Strong Towns written by Charles L. Marohn, Jr. and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2019-10-01 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A new way forward for sustainable quality of life in cities of all sizes Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Build American Prosperity is a book of forward-thinking ideas that breaks with modern wisdom to present a new vision of urban development in the United States. Presenting the foundational ideas of the Strong Towns movement he co-founded, Charles Marohn explains why cities of all sizes continue to struggle to meet their basic needs, and reveals the new paradigm that can solve this longstanding problem. Inside, you’ll learn why inducing growth and development has been the conventional response to urban financial struggles—and why it just doesn’t work. New development and high-risk investing don’t generate enough wealth to support itself, and cities continue to struggle. Read this book to find out how cities large and small can focus on bottom-up investments to minimize risk and maximize their ability to strengthen the community financially and improve citizens’ quality of life. Develop in-depth knowledge of the underlying logic behind the “traditional” search for never-ending urban growth Learn practical solutions for ameliorating financial struggles through low-risk investment and a grassroots focus Gain insights and tools that can stop the vicious cycle of budget shortfalls and unexpected downturns Become a part of the Strong Towns revolution by shifting the focus away from top-down growth toward rebuilding American prosperity Strong Towns acknowledges that there is a problem with the American approach to growth and shows community leaders a new way forward. The Strong Towns response is a revolution in how we assemble the places we live.
Download or read book Technical Challenges of the U S Army s Ground Combat Vehicle Program written by Bernard Kempinsky and published by . This book was released on 2012-12-26 with total page 64 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Combat Support in Korea written by John G. Westover and published by . This book was released on 1955 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Covers the participation in the Korean War of these arms and services of the United States Army: Corps of Engineers; Transportation Corps; Chemical Corps; Signal Corps; Medical Corps; Ordnance Corps; Quartermaster Corps; Security, Combat, Morale.
Download or read book Kaboom written by Matt Gallagher and published by Da Capo Press. This book was released on 2010-03-23 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When Lieutenant Matt Gallagher began his blog with the aim of keeping his family and friends apprised of his experiences, he didn't anticipate that it would resonate far beyond his intended audience. His subjects ranged from mission details to immortality, grim stories about Bon Jovi cassettes mistaken for IEDs, and the daily experiences of the Gravediggers-the code name for members of Gallagher's platoon. When the blog was shut down in June 2008 by the U.S. Army, there were more than twentyfive congressional inquiries regarding the matter as well as reports through the military grapevine that many high-ranking officials and officers at the Pentagon were disappointed that the blog had been ordered closed.Based on Gallagher's extraordinarily popular blog, Kaboom is "at turns hilarious, maddening, and terrifying," providing "raw and insightful snapshots of a conflict many Americans have lost interest in" (Washington Post). Like Anthony Swofford's Jarhead, Gallagher's Kaboom resonates with stoic detachment and timeless insight into a war that we are still trying to understand.
Download or read book Rescue Missions written by Frederick Busch and published by W. W. Norton. This book was released on 2006 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Rescue Missions" collects stories of mercy and need among lovers, family, and friends by "one of our very best short-story writers" (Anne Beattie).
Download or read book Generation Kill written by Evan Wright and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2005-02-01 with total page 332 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on Evan Wright's National Magazine Award-winning story in Rolling Stone, this is the raw, firsthand account of the 2003 Iraq invasion that inspired the HBO® original mini-series. Within hours of 9/11, America’s war on terrorism fell to those like the twenty-three Marines of the First Recon Battalion, the first generation dispatched into open-ended combat since Vietnam. They were a new pop-culture breed of American warrior unrecognizable to their forebears—soldiers raised on hip hop, video games and The Real World. Cocky, brave, headstrong, wary and mostly unprepared for the physical, emotional and moral horrors ahead, the “First Suicide Battalion” would spearhead the blitzkrieg on Iraq, and fight against the hardest resistance Saddam had to offer. Hailed as “one of the best books to come out of the Iraq war”(Financial Times), Generation Kill is the funny, frightening, and profane firsthand account of these remarkable men, of the personal toll of victory, and of the randomness, brutality and camaraderie of a new American War.
Download or read book Hearings of Special Subcommittee on Development and Procurement of New Combat and Tactical Vehicles by the Department of the Army of the Committee on Armed Services House of Representatives Eighty sixth Congress Second Session written by United States. Congress. House. Committee on Armed Services and published by . This book was released on 1960 with total page 1072 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Committee Serial No. 75. Investigates GAO allegations of inefficiency in Army military vehicle contracting procedures. Focuses on Army contract with Chrysler for the production of M-48 tanks and subsequent mechanical failures with that tank. Sept. 26 hearing was held at Fort Hood, Tex.; and Sept. 27 hearing was held at Camp Lejeune, N.C. Includes GAO report "Review of Development and Procurement of New Combat and Tactical Vehicles by the Department of the Army" May 1960 (p. 7591-7788)
Download or read book Combat Ready Kitchen written by Anastacia Marx de Salcedo and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2015-08-04 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Americans eat more processed foods than anyone else in the world. We also spend more on military research. These two seemingly unrelated facts are inextricably linked. If you ever wondered how ready-to-eat foods infiltrated your kitchen, you’ll love this entertaining romp through the secret military history of practically everything you buy at the supermarket. In a nondescript Boston suburb, in a handful of low buildings buffered by trees and a lake, a group of men and women spend their days researching, testing, tasting, and producing the foods that form the bedrock of the American diet. If you stumbled into the facility, you might think the technicians dressed in lab coats and the shiny kitchen equipment belonged to one of the giant food conglomerates responsible for your favorite brand of frozen pizza or microwavable breakfast burritos. So you’d be surprised to learn that you’ve just entered the U.S. Army Natick Soldier Systems Center, ground zero for the processed food industry. Ever since Napoleon, armies have sought better ways to preserve, store, and transport food for battle. As part of this quest, although most people don’t realize it, the U.S. military spearheaded the invention of energy bars, restructured meat, extended-life bread, instant coffee, and much more. But there’s been an insidious mission creep: because the military enlisted industry—huge corporations such as ADM, ConAgra, General Mills, Hershey, Hormel, Mars, Nabisco, Reynolds, Smithfield, Swift, Tyson, and Unilever—to help develop and manufacture food for soldiers on the front line, over the years combat rations, or the key technologies used in engineering them, have ended up dominating grocery store shelves and refrigerator cases. TV dinners, the cheese powder in snack foods, cling wrap . . . The list is almost endless. Now food writer Anastacia Marx de Salcedo scrutinizes the world of processed food and its long relationship with the military—unveiling the twists, turns, successes, failures, and products that have found their way from the armed forces’ and contractors’ laboratories into our kitchens. In developing these rations, the army was looking for some of the very same qualities as we do in our hectic, fast-paced twenty-first-century lives: portability, ease of preparation, extended shelf life at room temperature, affordability, and appeal to even the least adventurous eaters. In other words, the military has us chowing down like special ops. What is the effect of such a diet, eaten—as it is by soldiers and most consumers—day in and day out, year after year? We don’t really know. We’re the guinea pigs in a giant public health experiment, one in which science and technology, at the beck and call of the military, have taken over our kitchens.
