Customer Reviews

Hazardous Duty

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Hackworth's Newsweek credentials and military experience have given him a unique ability to observe the operations of our armed forces over the past ten years in Iraq, Haiti, Somalia, Korea, and Bosnia. His analysis is critical of many of the leaders and decision makers in our military establishment. His critisim centers on the leadership, equipment, and policy decisions which cause soldiers to be killed needlessly. He has a keen eye. Even though I detect some self-serving nature to his narrative, I find myself agreeing with his analysis and most of his conclusions. This book should be required reading for all military officers with a rank of Colonel or above, and any defense industry civilian working in a decision making position, and for government and Congressional leaders dealing with defense issues. Paul J. Kratz, US Army (retired).

I really, really enjoyed this book! As a former enlisted US Army soldier myself, this book added extraordinary insight to the confounding, herky-jerky decision making that came from every headquarters higher than Battalion level, regardless of unit.

Col. Hackworth's brilliant revelations on the self-serving motivations of O-5 and higher officers were invaluable and revealing of the top-heavy, job-preserving nature of not only the military, but of the federal government itself.

I must say that a few of Hackworth's "Perfumed Princes" seem to have read the book and given it a sour-grapes 1 star rating. Mainly because of the blunt writing style. God forbid that we should read the truth about self-serving flag officers in plain language!

Hackworth cuts through today's political doublespeak with a chainsaw. Part of what's wrong with America today is an unwillingness of high-level decision makers to speak plainly, in layman's terms.

Dissertation-dry military books are as full of misdirection and obfuscation as a US congressman. Truth and plain speaking are as rare as hen's teeth in the litigation-cowed tortocracy that is America today.

If you want hoity-toity, quasi-intellectual pabulum, read someone else. If you want the truth, from a warrior who's been there and is willing to stand up the slings and arrows of the entrenched status quo elite, then Col. Hackworth delivers in spades.

When Ike left office, he warned of the emmergence of a military industrial complex. A union forged between high ranking officers in the military, defense contractors, and legislators. Each member of this triangle has a different goal, but a common road that leads to that goal. In this book, Hack documents the toll that the "triangle" is taking, on the soldiers of this country and on its' economy. Hack presents disturbing example after another of how neglected our troops are, from that "gem" of a weapon called the m-16 that cursed our boys in Vietnam, to the cavalier attitude u.n. commanders displayed in mis-using OUR troops in Somalia. When someone tells you that the sky is purple, you don't need to read the detailed report they put together explaining their conclusion, just look out the window and see for yourself. Hack has reported from the front by giving us a first hand look at what no "triangle" spin-doctor can justify, willfull neglect and mis-use of our fathers, mothers, brothers and sisters. This behaviour does not border on criminal, it goes way beyond that.

Col Hackworth gives a rundown on recent skirmishes the US has been involved in, and the inside track on a lot of Gulf War skinny that only he could find out because of his reputation and ability to slip through the standard Press security.

A great read.

I really wanted to like Hazardous Duty, because I thought About Face was great. Hazardous Duty suffers from inaccuracies (especially about Hack's claims of numerous amputations due to infections in Somalia, it just did not happen), relying on far too many unnamed and anonymous sources, which strains credibility, and his constant, every other page raging against the Perfumed Princes, grows tiresome and boring quickly. It's only really worth reading if you're a big fan of Hack or want to know how some things work about our military, but take it with a grain of salt. Oh, to the guy on here who thinks Schwarzkopf is the greatest general in the modern era, read "The Generals' War." It backs up Hack's every criticism of that buffoon. P.S. my uncle was a war-planner LTC in Desert Storm, he said the same things about Schwarzkopf.

The book is ok, but not great. About Face was excellent and I was expecting something more. While I did learn from this book, and it was a worthwhile read, there wasn't enough substance. There was a bit too much about Hackworths exploits in getting the interviews, and not enough analysis.

The contents of the book could have been summarized in 25 pages. It wouldn't have been as entertaining but it would have been a much faster read.

The book was an enjoyable read, but I wanted more analysis, and less story telling.

Very interesting book. I couldn't put it down after the first page or two. I've been inspired to read his other books -- esp. About Face, and support his organization Soldiers for the Truth.

I agree with Col. Hackworth 100% about the reforms we need to make in the military. Most important of all, as a veteran myself, I agree that we need to return to mandatory national service or reinstate the draft. There are too many people in this conutry that take their freedom and standard for living for granted. Moreover, there are too many people who are ending up in the corporate CEOs chair and in elected office that aren't endowed with the stuff they need to succced which best comes from the military. We have too many elected leaders who don't know what a battalion is, or what the military and the government can or cannot do. Hackworth is one of the few military leaders today that has the courage to say that we need to revisit Harry Truman's program of Universal Milttary Training.

There are two types of soldier, peacetime and wartime. Hackworth is from that wartime brand. A pain in the ass in peace but vital in conflict. He clearly identifies the issues and yet is lambasted as a poor staff leader, funnily enough so was Patton, and what a fighting general he was! No one believed him about the Russians at the end of WW2. As an ex-soldier from a recon background i'd really have liked to have met and even served under Col. Hackworth. At least he wouldn't have thrown my life away like modern leadership. The quickest way to resolve an issue is to accept that it exists. The US Military should listen to these views and act on them, otherwise when the big day comes and they are up against an effective force they will be sorely embarrased. Look how badly they are currently handling the insurgency in Iraq.

As a correspondant for Newsweek, Hackworth has the savy to keep the reader interested, even at times when he is mundane. A great first person take on military events of the past three decades. Hackworth definitely captures the mediocraty involved with politicos in "greatest military on the face of the earth". Hackworth can be compared to Richard Marcinko, who yearns for the truth be told with today's military. A definite read for both military and non-military folk.