Customer Reviews

Hogs in the Shadows: Combat Stories from Marine Snipers in Iraq

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

A "HOG" is a "Hunter Of Gunmen" and is the only one of 3 designations to be considered a Marine scout/sniper. The other two classifications are: "SLUG", an acronym for "Slow, Lazy, Untrained Gunman", and "PIG", Professionally Instructed Gunman."

The potential reader should be made aware that this is not a "book" in the conventional sense that one thinks of a book. A book normally has a character or characters that you are introduced to in the beginning and then get to know intimately throughout what becomes hopefully a coherent interweaved story with a beginning, a middle, and an end. If the story is written well, the reader "buys in" to the characters and the plot, whether it's because of identifying with a character, or character's, or with the intrigue or educational flow of the unraveling story. Hating or loving character's, or having your emotions effected in any way by people you've "gotten to know" in the course of the story is what makes a good book.

"Hogs In The Shadows" consists of a nice concise 11 page introduction as to what type of training and dedication it takes to become a "HOG". The remainder of the book is broken down into what I really wouldn't call chapters, but would more accurately describe as 12 separate Iraq sniper "incident-reports". There are some interesting combat situations in each one, but they're bogged down with way too much jargon and enough acronyms to sink a ship. Because the "incident-reports" (chapters) are unrelated and have different sniper teams, you're starting off each incident like a short story. The writing style has no artistic flow, and as previously mentioned they read like a police report.

As a Viet Nam era veteran I totally relate to the universal hunger for the "kill" that all the snipers share. Someone who has not served in the military may be taken aback by the constant raging desire to not only kill, but to go on a hunt, but the reader must understand this is what war is! It's very interesting to me as a veteran, how much the use of sniper teams has changed from war to war. This "book" has a few good moments, but it is definitely not on the level of books such as: "Shooter", Phantom Warrior", "Lone Survivor", "House To House", and others of this genre.

I think the most telling summary as to the benefit of these highly trained sniper teams was made by Sergeant Reyes as he reflected on his precision killings: "He couldn't help but dwell on the fact that it was true that they killed a lot of the enemy, but in reality, he knew that they had saved more lives than they took."

I served in 3rd Battalion 7th Marines Scout Sniper Plt. during Operation Iraqi Freedom 2-3 and knew many of the Scout Snipers included in the stories of this book. I could not put the book down, it was very accurately written, and portrays exactly what it takes to become and operate as a Scout Sniper in combat. It makes me even more proud to be a HOG and part of the very small community. I'd definately recommend this book to my fellow snipers and anyone else interested in the community.

Books on snipers and sniping have been popular of late. This book by a former USMC sniper/scout introduces readers to the exploits of various gyrene 'hunters of gunmen' in Iraq.

After a brief introductory chapter covering the training that transforms a Marine into a HOG, Afong presents a dozen accounts of USMC snipers practicing their deadly craft in Iraq between 2003 and 2005. As such, the book is a series of individual snapshots broadly tied together by the overall subject.

What the book lacks in terms of a cohesive narrative it makes up with dramatic impact. The tales of endlessly scanning for and acquiring a target, getting in the zone and squeezing off a round and the shot's outcome are morbidly fascinating. I found the book especially valuable for the glimpses of the man behind the dispassionate, focused warrior stereotype. Several of the HOGS confess they were eagerly looking forward to their first kill, got caught up in running up a score once they notched up kill #1, deliberately left a wounded opponent alive so that his friends would try and rescue him therein supplying the HOG with additional targets, etc.

HOGS IN THE SHADOWS certainly provides an unvarnished look at modern combat. There's no glory here; just trained professionals carrying out their duty.

Recommended.

The book is exactly as the title states, a collection of stories from Marine snipers in Iraq. No getting to know characters and locations. A quick intro and you are thrown into the action. A good book that gave me new insight on what snipers are doing in Iraq. A little lacking on the detail and description of locations. I found myself having to imagine too much on what places looked like, but that didn't hinder the book too much in my opinion. A good read as there aren't many books on Snipers in Iraq or A-stan yet. 5 stars for the entertainment coupled with the knowledge I was able to garner from the book.

The book is a good read, but there are stories in there about missions I was on, and stories from my platoon that are not accurate. The stories were taken from one HOG, who noone had any respect for.

Loved the format of telling the individual stories of snipers in a misunderstood profession. Each story provided a nitty gritty view of the men that chose this profession and how they practice it.

I especially liked the epilogue telling us what the individual is doing today.

I downloaded this book as my first purchase for the new Kindle app on my new IPhone. I'm not sure if the Kindle is unable to show pictures, or if the book did not have any. I thought pictures of the individuals and locations would have added interest. As previous reviewers mentioned, the stories are a little dry in style, but the substance is riveting. As a retired military officer, I thought the writing style was very realistic and the understated narrative was exactly what I would have expected from the heroes whose stories are recounted here. It sort of reminded me of the old movie line "No brag, just fact." When you read between the lines, the courage and professionalism of these "HOGS" and "PIGS" is inspiring. Where do we get such men?

I'm halfway thru this book and feel compelled to write a review.This is
the best book i,ve read on Iraq and i've read a lot.The combat descriptions are visceral brutal and graphic.I would recommend this book to anybody who wants a grunts eye view of the horrific urban warfare in Iraq.Highly recommended.

For the first thing, in order to qualify as a Hunter of Gunmen(HOG),there are very rigid requirements.Only a select few make it to the level of the Marine snipers whose stories are told in this book. Even with the heavy doses of "overtraining" these snipers receive,situations arise that necessitate improvisation and just plain"Guts".I thought this would be a "how they do it" book,but each story was dramatically different,from"friendly fire"casualties to all out urban street fighting where "fistfighting" skills would be better than marksmanship.Could you imagine being in the sights of a "friendly" HOG?The main motivation of the HOG mentioned throughout the book is to protect American troops and if there are notches on any gunbarrels,it's more to signify another young American who has a better chance of making it home.I was also a little taken aback to find some of these snipers are forced to impro due to a lack of immediate support.
Too often the media presents the image of a hightech war with only sophisticated electronics and "called in" airstrikes.Little do people realize that the age old sniping game is just as critical,if not more.These soldiers are really putting their lives on the line for us.I was hoping there would be a tale in the book about a woman sniper but there wasn't.These teams are truly "colorblind",with Latinos,Thai's,blacks,(you name it).None want to die for their country though they accept the risks unquestioningly.They are very good however at "making some other poor sucker die for his Country".

The real acts of heroism in this book are overshadowed by stupid comments by the subjects and other Marines about just wanting to kill someone. As an OIF veteran myself I found it disgusting when in one of the chapters the 'sniper' shot an Iraqi Soldier in the chest and then critiqued a machine gunner whom he allowed to use his rifle so that he could have a chance to kill. In neutral tones he describes this machine gunner jerking the trigger and shooting the wounded Iraqi several more times without any fatal effect. What sort of impression might that have left on winning the hearts and minds? A soldier is shot, they can understand that. He gets shot up even more crawling off the street so he can suffer more before bleeding out some time later... what the hell is that? I have no respect or admiration for anyone so unprofessional as to do anything short of doing everything possible to make a clean, ethical kill on what they believe to be a legitimate target. Several accounts talk about the so call hunters of gunmen being in such a rush to claim a kill that they made bad or hurried shots, even hoping someone would pick up a weapon lying in the street so they could be considered a legal target. War is hell and in war it is neccessary to kill. I have talked to snipers from all wars going back to WWII and many of them can still recall the faces of some of the people they killed. You would think some of the clowns in this book were shooting pop cans off the fence. There is a difference between someone who is technically capable and a true professional. Maybe these guys could shoot but most of them were anything but professional. There are enough true heroes and true professionals out there to write about, I strongly recommend Heroes Among Us for one. This is a collection of stories these guys pulled together and decided to cash in on. I wouldn't even pass this on to someone else, I threw it in the trash.