Customer Reviews

The COMPANY THEY KEEP

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book is about what kind of people make up Special Forces A-team. The book does not tell any heroic stories or talk about dangerous missions. The book also does not talk about weapons or tactics. This is what I expected to be reading when I began to read the book. Even without this information the book is fascinating. The author is actually the wife of a former SF soldier. She basically tells the reader what kind of a person the Special Forces soldier is. She also explains what their lives are really like on a day to day basis. I found it fascinating because these people are a rare breed.

As a former active duty Special Forces soldier and a current author, this book was probably the best look inside the life that I have read. It does away with the "Rambo" image so many people view us as. What I always found to be the most critical asset of SF soldiers was their high maturity level and ability to operate on their own, with less guidance being better.
I recommend this book to anyone wishing to learn more about Special Forces and the men who comprise the A-teams that are the core of the unit, particularly the NCOs who are Special Forces

They all sound alike. Gee, a military-hater claiming that the author is biased while using multiple uninformative, anonymous reviews to try to run the book down? How original is that?

Anyway, I read this book when it was new. It is not about combat stories or Rambo wannbes are anything like that. It is the story of one woman's quest to better understand her husband. It succeeds quite well at that.

Inadvertantly, she reveals how far the current SF guys have fallen from the original high standards and how much their mission had changed by the time of the writing. (They and their new missions have changed just as much since this was published as they have become even the step-and-fetchits of the State Department and feel-goodism.) Instead of the level of excellence that the SF founders were (let's face it, most of those guys had 5-10 years of actual combat experience hundreds of miles behind enemy lines in occupied Europe before their ever was a SF)or the shake-and-bakes that were created to expand SF and replace casualties from 1964-65 or so onward. These guys are modern Americans in every sense.

Her descriptions of them reveal that they are flawed with all of the same shortcomings that characterize today's society from which they come. They frequently lack the age of experience that made the old SF what it was. They typically come through the Airborne/Ranger "Super Soldier" pipeline. They are still Type A personalities; some of them not-so tempered, either. And they are still very bright fast-learners.

Their standards are about what should be the minimum for a professional soldier. And that is what puts them so far ahead of anybody's average and makes them "elite" in comparison to the others. They are soldiers while the masses are just that, masses of uniform fillers.

Since this book was published the guys at SF have been adapting to new wrinkles on old missions. They still get more than their share of Ranger-type assignments; but they are getting to interact more with indigenious people than they were. They aren't training guerilla forces as stay-behinds against to harass the invading Red Army in Europe. And a lot of other units are also training people and attempting to engage them in constructive ways. With their relatively recent popularity (since the formation the joint special warfare command structure and the realization among the promotion-hungry types that in SOF is where they want to do their hiding behind "authority" and beneath desks act)come unrealistic expectations and delibitating interference as everyone wants to take credit for success.

Other things remain the same; changing only when they become worse. The strains of constant deployment upon the dream of having a family have always been difficult for any military; but it isn't as "easy" for today's guys to find understanding and supporting mates. Emails and videos home may not be too difficult for a REMF in a walled compound with electricity, mattresses, DVD players and refrigerators; but what about the guy humping the mountains on foot for weeks or months at a time with 180-200 pounds of mission essential equipment?

But as much as the SF mission changes and as much as it's practicioners reflect the ever-changing society from which they are drawn; one thing remains constant: SF guys have to better than most and able to accomplish a greater variety of missions in a greater variety of roles with less support and more responsibilty and, ususally, more criticism. I'm willing to bet that you will find guys in today's SF who are just like the guys in her book.

In my opinion, that speaks well for the it.

The motto of Special Forces translates out to "Liberate The Oppressed" that is what they do. It isn't just about going in blowing something up and leaving. It is about providing medical care for the indigenous peoples, building infrastructure, and helping them achieve better lives as a means of Warfare. While the general military is about winning battles these guys (sorry but it is still and all male unit)are winning friends while defeating our enemies behind their own lines. Some of the finest individuals I have ever met wore the Beret. This book gives a much clearer picture than most that I have read.

Professor Simons did an excellent job of portraying the Special Forces Soldier and their mission. Before Ms. Simons, no author to date has demonstrated any real grasp of the dynamics that make a good A-Team. As a retired Team Sergeant and SF Warrant Officer, I find her analysis and observation right on target. Special Forces is not a bunch of choir boys, nor are they hired for their looks and chest size. Her book is the first step in showing America that it posesses an extremely effective military unit; warts and all. Bravo Zulu! << Tracy-Paul Warrington, CWO (retired), US Army SF >>

This book does alot toexplain the mission and life of these extraordinary soldiers. Many people tend to compare these soldiers to the Navy SEALs or other elite units, but to make that comparison is wrong. The author does alot to illustrate the difference in mission and trainig of the SF and other special forces units. I feel a book like this has been in need of because of the popular misconception of these soldiers as Rambos or some type of supermen. I highly recomend this book to those in the military or in the government.

Very detailed and good book, but definitely written by an outsider. I read it quickly and it moves nicely. There are better books if you are looking to be a soilder, but there are certainly worse. If you are really interested on the anthropology than this is for you.

Anna Simons debunks the myth of the Rambo SF soldier. She explains the way they live train and execute missions. Although her specialty is in anthropology, Simons does a great job at illustrating the SF soldiers. On few occasions, her scientific background shows through and hinders her ability to vividly describe the soldiers, but overall the book is great. The true SF book without the Ramboesque quality that is so fictitious...excellent read!

While Ms. Simons makes a few good comments, reading "The Company They Keep: Life Inside the U.S. Army Special Forces" is like sitting in a Team Room listening to all the team's grips and complaints. The only difference is that we use to keep them in the Team Room and not air our dirty laundry in public. Married to a former SF NCO, she has transformed the age old complaints that can be traced back to the beginning of SF about officers, politics in SF, and how everyone is ruining SF from "how it use to be" and tries to make them issues of great national concern. Get a grip. Special Forces is a dynmaic organization that naturally changes with its environment. It it unfortunate that Ms. Simons has to character assassinate those people she didn't like in the book(probably those who didn't want to talk to her) because her slant and bias really came through as she relates her adventures of walking point with the boys. What really troubles me about this book is two things; 1) Ms. Simons doesn't tell "the rest of the story" and 2)she takes the moral high ground upon neither she or her husband can claim title to. Ms. Simons made the age old mistake; she became too involved with her story. I would grudingly recommend reading this book only after one has read some of the great SF background books (Banks, Plaster, Simpson, etc.) and some of the more current writers (Adams, Marquis, etc)before falling in the trap of making a snap judgement that everything is terrible in SF. I give this book two stars only because the process doesn't have half-star ratings.

awesome book. its like a "behind the scenes" view of life in sf. normally i only read books written by people who actually did what they are writing about but this book was recommended by another sf book so i risked it.

its written by a woman and i think that actually makes it better because 1) its honest without the usual tough guy stuff that accompanies a military book 2) it explains things that a man probably wouldn't include, such as home life during deployment and wife/gf roles.

its a great book that talks about more than the usual running-and-gunning, parachuting, PT, and general azz-kickery that you're used to reading in sof books.