Customer Reviews

Battleground Iraq: Journal of a Company Commander

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Whether you agree with the war or not, this book will enable you to experience the daily operations of an Army combat company. These men spent time in Samarra, an active part of the Sunni Triangle and were responsible for pacifying the area. The story brings you the good, bad and ugly of their experience and illustrates the bravery of those directly involved with the Iraqis in the first year of the war.
You will need to use the glossary of terms in the back frequently unless you are already in the military. Good reading for those thinking of enlisting. The real thing, not glorified.

This book represents an unfiltered look at the experience of war as witnessed by a company commander in Iraq. The writing is not in a style a professional writer would use and that makes it better. There isn't a lot of extended description - just a telling of the facts most of the time. It stays focused on what a commander has to think about rather than on descriptions of sunsets on the desert. As a reader I was reassured by this.

The humor is often sublime and comes from the practical nature of Mr. Brown's thinking. For example, when the armor commanders in his mechanized unit suggest beefing up security during early morning hours (even though there was very little probability of attack) Major Brown suggest instead of putting rangers on the perimeter they just conduct life fire ranging exercises with his thinking being "I don't think anyone would prove a mechanized company doing live fire training." The break from the Field Manual way of doing things produces the humor.

Besides military jargon which the book is rife with, there is also a casual use of colloquialism. While not the mark of a professional writer it does add color and probably reflects how Major Brown actually speaks in person. It adds a lot of human element to the writing.

My own grandfather spoke extensively about his experience in the Central Pacific during WWII as a Seabee. Oddly, I reread many of his comments in Major Brown's book. Apparently there are common experiences in all wars. For me it improved my sense that this book was telling the real story of the Iraq war. The difference may be generational, but my grandfather was less sarcastic in his telling his story. His was also unfiltered and at one point the war deeply changed for him driving him to pessimism and one could argue poor discipline. Major Brown is already a bit of a pessimist to start with but one with a practical view on soldiering. All of his surprises are good ones. I think the best lesson of the book is the practical application of pessimism - how to survive through it, how to understand any situation through it and how to get of the war on it.

I recommend this book to anyone looking for a real take on warfare. It is just as applicable to any other modern war as it is to the Iraq war. For the soldier the lessons at the end offer fantastic advice. The book was suggested to me by a Major and good friend who is off to Afghanistan.

I had to have a book were I knew the author not often that happens.

I had never tried to read a book that was this bad. Is fair for me to write a book review if I didn't read a quarter of it? Major Todd Barry publishes his diary to give you an account of day to day life of deployed officer.It baffels my mind how a 14-year-old girl can write an engaging and meaningful memoir but adult man can't. I think this author is illiterate. The book is full of incomplete thoughts, split infinitives, dangling participles, and incorrect word usage.