Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)If you love the American military, don't read this review; just get a copy of the book. Used copies are easily found online. It reads like Tom Clancy, i.e., you won't be able to put it down.
I've heard a lot of people complain about bureaucracy, but this book does an excellent job of painting an exacting picture of the problem. Gabriel argues that 3 issues produce American military failures:
1. Size of the officer corps (it is too big).
2. Rapid reassignment of officers (no one learns their job).
3. Self-promotion ( and self-serving bureaucracies).
4. Amateurism of political leadership.
The result is a lack of force preparedness and competent mission design.
Gabriel quotes a lot of numbers, so it is easy to check them. I was surprised to discover the ratio of enlisted to officers had gotten worse since the books publication in 1985. At publication, the ratio of enlisted to officers was about 7 to 1, it is now a little above 5 to 1.
Chapters on post-Viet Nam military operations make up the bulk of the book. Each chapter represents a detailed look at the planning and execution of the operation. Each operation is described as a failure in fact, if not political representation. The operations are:
1. Sontay Prison rescue attempt
2. The Mayaguez rescue attempt
3. The Iran rescue attempt
4. Peace keeping in Beirut
5. Grenada (rescue of students)
I am not comfortable with the concluding recommendations. I find them little more than tilting at wind-mills. Gabriel recommends fewer officers, fewer promotions, fewer reassignments, and end to the Joint Chiefs of Staff bureaucracy.
Enjoy.
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