Customer Reviews

Defense of Hill 781: An Allegory of Modern Mechanized Combat

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This allegory about LTC A. Tack Always having to serve his time in purgatory (the NTC) is an outstanding read. Having served 12 years in the Army as an Armor officer I found this book dead on about tactics and operational planning. This book is geared more toward someone who has some military knowledge, though. If you are a civilian with no military knowledge then this book might be a little hard to understand. Overall it is a great read.

This book is the modern version of "The Defense of Duffer's Drift." Inspired by that classic (a series of fictional small unit actions in the Boer War intended as a learning experience for the commanding officer), this book follows the same story line (as freely admitted by the author.) "The Defense of Hill 781" substitutes Ft. Irwin NTC for South Africa, OPFOR for the Boers, and a U.S. mechanized task force for the British army. A well done, light read.

The Defense of Hill 781 is the clearest and most accurate depiction of what the National Training Center at Fort Irwin is all about. I've deployed there three times and still learned from this book.

Today no one thinks that they could fly a jet or command a ship. But everyone thinks that they could command troops in the field. This book shows its not as easy as it looks. You don't line your tracks and grunts up in a line & go get them. This small, slim book is a great primer for the people who are going into the Mechinized Infantry or if you are going into the NTC for fun in the Sun.
Altogether this is a great companion for the "Defense of Duffers Drift" and should be read and shared by the rough ,tough soldiery of the Green Machine.

Take the reader through a mythical officers time in pergatory (which is the National Training Center). Learns a bunch about how to fight as we all do as well. Kind of folksy, but I've reread it twice. A good analysis of the keys to winning a combined arms battle at the battalion leve

If you are riding in a combat vehicle that weighs over 11 tons, and you have to read this book. It takes basic tenants from Duffer's drift and puts it into a mechanized framework. Read Duffer's drift first, then this book. It will change the way you look at terrain or I'll eat a box of MREs!

I read this book years ago when I was a young armor officer. I'm now a field grade but I can't find my old copy so I just ordered two; one for me and another for my daughter's boyfriend who will become an officer soon.

As other reviews say, people w/out military experience or knowledge may not appreciate this book a great deal. It does a great job of demonstrating how all the pieces have to work together in order to be successful. I think it's important that in this Counter Insurgency (COIN) era we don't forget about large scale high intensity kinetic ops. It's easier to practice high intensity ops and then learn COIN than the other way around. COIN relies on common sense, small unit leadership and understanding 2nd and 3rd order effects; but high intensity requires lots of technical training. If you are a cadet or young officer read this book every couple of years.

Pretty good, although recommended only for military professionals or the more advanced military reader; the book is very focused on modern warfare command level issues and so may not appeal to the casual reader.

Maybe not so timely nearly twenty years of its publication given all that has happened in Iraq and Afghanistan in the war on terror, Col. McDonough's educational monologue about modern mechanized warfare is still an outstanding read for anyone interested about what life would be like in an ACR against an equal and determined opponent. This work is an updated version of the military classic 'The Defense of Duffer's Drift'. Col. A. Tack Always is tasked to lead a mechanized battalion at the US Army's NTC to prove himself worth. Each chapter describes one battle against a roughly equal opponent. The point of this text is largely educational - mistakes are made in the early battles, but each time the Col (and the reader) learn valuable lessons that are put to use in the next battle. Overall this is an outstanding work and I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in the tactics or history of mechanized combat.

Most of the other reviews are written by soldiers. I am not and never have been in the military, but have an interest in military affairs. If you want to know what combat in a mechanized battalion would have been like against the Soviets, this is about the best book I've found. Presumably this is a fair characterization of what mechanized combat would have been like in WWIII in Europe, and if so it would have been fast-paced and extremely lethal on both sides. Additionally, this is a story foremost about leadership - the skills and character required to lead a mechanized battalion. The amateurs are interested in the tanks and APCs and the tactics. For the professional, it is overcoming the sleep deprivation and the fear to make confident decisions (even when you don't know what the hell you are doing), to learn from one's mistakes, to understand your subordinates (know their strengths and weaknesses), and to get back up after you've been humiliatingly knocked down.

This is a no-brainer - if you have even a passing interest in mechanized warfare (either professionally or as an amateur), you aren't going to find a better way to spend $15. I'm glad to have this on my shelf - highly recommended.

This is an interesting book for anyone who sees themselves serving as an Army Officer. While it doesn't go into too much detail about each branch of the Army (the book assumes the reader knows a little about the branches of the Army), it does stress the importance of being a commander who knows how to use each element of his force. Rivalries will always exist among the branches, but this story illustrates how a task force can accomplish its mission if and only if all of the elements (infantry, armor, mechanics, air support, artillery, etc) function together under a motivated, selfless leader.