Customer Reviews

Eyes on the Horizon: Serving on the Front Lines of National Security

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is the autobiography of retired General Richard B. Myers former Chairman and Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The author shares his life story that ranges from his fear of air planes as a child due to a plane crash near his home in Kansas through his college years at Kansas State University as an engineering student and member of the ROTC. The reader is led with intricate detail through Myers entire military career that took him from Second Lieutenant up through his retirement as a Four-Star-General and the honor of being the Chairman of The Joint Chiefs of Staff. As you accompany Myers on his military career... there are so many assignments and transfers (I lost count after twenty) that I'm reminded... as an honorably discharged Viet Nam era veteran... of one of the many reasons I didn't want to make the military a career. The General acknowledges the hardships that his forty-plus-year military career placed on his family... when he states with admiration... that at one point in time "I was especially proud of our oldest daughter, Nicole, who was starting her fourth high school in three years when we arrived at Langley."

One of the most interesting parts of the book was during the time the General was a young fighter pilot during the Viet Nam War. Not only his time in the cockpit... but his thorough analysis in hindsight... of what America could have done better during the war. As he and many others summarized about the Viet Nam conflict: "WE NEVER LOST A BATTLE... BUT WE LOST THE WAR." It is this straight-forward character trait... that really "grabs" the reader's attention throughout this literal history of America's last forty-years of military action. The author does not "blink-an-eye"... nor even flinch... when he points out..."TWO OF THE MOST GLARING - AND DISASTROUS - EXAMPLES OF MUDDLED OPERATIONS WERE THE FAILURE OF THE IRANIAN HOSTAGE RESCUE MISSION IN APRIL 1980 AND THE BADLY EXECUTED U.S. INVASION OF GRENADA IN OCTOBER 1983." He was also very disappointed in America's response to Bin Laden's terrorist attacks in 1998 which he described as meager... and the reaction to the Cole bombing in 2000. As Chairman of the Joint Chief's perhaps his biggest goal was to have all branches of the military and government to be able to work as one cohesive unit on any incident affecting America or its allies. Potential readers will of course have a deeply personal behind the scenes look at our nations shock and response to the greatest attack on our shores on 9/11. The reader will also be fully schooled on tense situations that are constantly in the news... but there is so much more involved than the average citizen knows... or contemplates. Such as the importance and delicacy of the border between North and South Korea.

"This was the world's tensest frontier, with almost TWO-MILLION North and South Korean and American forces confronting each other across the line. The North Koreans had deployed thousands of truck-mounted heavy rocket launchers and self-propelled artillery pieces in hardened cave shelters dug into the north slopes of the ridges, shielded from direct fire from the south. IF THEY CHOSE TO ATTACK, THE COMMUNISTS COULD UNLEASH A HOLOCAUST ON THE SPRAWLING SEOUL-INCHON NATIONAL CAPITAL AREA - HOME TO TWENTY-THREE-MILLION SOUTH KOREANS. INTELLIGENCE ESTIMATED THE NORTH KOREAN ARMY COULD FIRE BETWEEN FOUR-THOUSAND AND TEN-THOUSAND ROCKETS AND ARTILLERY SHELLS A *MINUTE* IN THE INITIAL SALVO ON GREATER SEOUL."

The areas where this excellent book tends to plod periodically is whenever the author describes... and/or defines... innumerable unit commands... government groups... associations... divisions... task forces... et al. ... there are so many acronyms... so many alpha-numeric titles... in addition to prefacing each full name with a rank and branch of service or government... all the way up and down endless chain of commands... that the reader feels like they're in a temporary staging area... waiting for the next exciting tour of recent military history. That is the only reason I gave this four-stars instead of five.

General Richard Myers has the experience to back up his words. While not all sane folks would believe a fighter pilot, Myers has walked the walk his entire career--now he has the tickets to talk the talk. And we better listen--we are at war, regardless of what the politicians want to call it, and we better develop and understand the strategy necessary to win this war--the consequences of not doing so will leave a sad and bloody leagacy for our grand children. I just hope our political leadership is listening...

This book is a chronological account of the major events and milestones within the career of Air Force General Richard B. Myers. It is an interesting and engaging read with detailed insight into the significance of many military positions. I found it to be insightful, current and respectful of the importance the U.S. Military plays on the global platform. Highly recommended read for any military or civilian personnel interested in learning the path to America's most senior military position. ***Unfortunately, the ignorance of ideological extremists will appear in the less informed, unintelligent reviews featured. The individual is no Marine. Nothing more than a dishonest disgrace to a great organization (USMC).***

General Myers gives us a first-person behind-the-scenes look at the events surrounding 9/11. Exciting and informative. His tell-it-like it is honesty is refreshing--not afraid to point out mistakes but does so without blaming and finger-pointing. His Air Force career leading up to this time in our nation is interesting and captivating--makes you want to know how he got to where he was when he did. Buy it. You'll like it.

AN AMAZING STORY OF THE RIGHT MAN WITH THE RIGHT BACKGROUND AT THE RIGHT TIME IN HUMAN HISTORY. TERRIFIC READ............

I found the book interesting in terms of it giving me a better understanding of his career and the architecture of the military, but what I found lacking was a discussion of the impact of the severe Clinton era budgetary cutbacks on the security of the nation. While I wasn't looking for the typical bad-mouth "tell-all" book that so many Washington insiders are writing these days, I am curious whether these cuts affect or affected the military's ability to protect America. Certainly, I've heard that once Clinton left office it took years to rebuilt the strength of our military. So I came away with an uncomfortable feeling that Mr. Myers was unnecessarily sugar-coating the story. It led me to question whether in achieving the top rungs of the Department of Defense one must suppress their real feeling about things, which could stifle discussion of serious needed differences of opinion.

Let us all hope that General Myers can get President Obama to read this book....and take notes!

I bought this book to read on our upcoming vacation. I saw this on NBC's Today Show and Richard Myers was interviewed by Matt Lauer. I am looking forward to it. Shipping was prompt!

Very disappointing book and obviously ghosted. It failed to address the role of the JCS, DOD, and the JAG's in abrogating US Law and US Treaty obligations such as the Convention Against Torture. He was in charge and torture happened on his watch. In addition it does not explain how the JCS were taken in by stovepiped intelligence on WMD.
Myers provides mind boggling detail complete with acronyms about his rise to power but he comes across as a military bureaucrat looking for the next star or renomination as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs. In the highly political world of the senior military he was no truthteller to those in power nor did he seek to rock the boat For more detail on the torture issue seeThe Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned Into a War on American Ideals

Myers is another incompetent Bush/Rumsfeld General who said whatever he was told to say and toadied up to Rumsfeld as required. Like them he has the blood of thousands of Americans and Iraqis on his hands. Yet that is not enough for him. He has to cash in on their deaths and hideous injuries by selling a book. Nowhere in this book does he mention his cronyism or the fact that he jumped to a defense contractor after retirement to cash in even more. As a 13 year Marine Corps veteran who was badly wounded after multiple combat tours I spit in his face.