Customer Reviews

My Nuclear Family: A Coming-of-Age in America's Twenty-first-Century Military

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

 

 

I have never before read a book where the author is so shamelessly self-promoting as Chris Brownfield. As another reviewer previously pointed out, his arrogance removes most (if not all) of his credibility, and makes this book very difficult to enjoy. For someone who was clearly not an outstanding JO (not by a long shot), he has way too much criticism and not enough respect for his fellow Navy submariners.

For a book titled "My Nuclear Family", Brownfield spends a lot of time talking about his IA in Iraq and his problems with the US government and the War on Terror. All organizations, particularly the US government has it's fair share of problems, however I hardly consider a sub JO an expert on politics or the intricacies of war. His claims that submarines are obsolete in today's Navy only further demonstrate his ignorance on the subjects.

I was led to read this book because I am quite familiar with the Navy's nuclear training pipeline and the job requirements of a submarine JO. As such, I was most interested in the first part of Brownfield's book which focuses on his time as a JO on the USS Hartford. It seems to me that Brownfield was a sub-standard officer at best, and is now a disgruntled ex-employee of the Navy who wanted to write a bitch-fest about how difficult his job had been while simultaneously making himself out to be the lone person deserving of respect in a profession he believes to be fallen.

I wouldn't recommend this book to anyone. The officers currently serving in our sub force are an important part of our national defense and are very deserving of our respect and gratitude, despite what Brownfield thinks.

I might as well say it straight out: I just don't trust this man. His book consists of a series of stories about his experiences in the US Navy, interspersed with expositions on the nature of war in general and the Iraq War in particular. The tone of both the stories and the expositions is one of unremitting arrogance. He's always the smartest guy in the room, and -- with a few notable exceptions -- everyone around him is incompetent, dishonest, or both. This attitude not only makes for some tortuous reading, it also undermines his credibility as an author. And credibility is everything for this book, because Brownfield makes some pretty damning claims about the U.S. Military without providing any evidence to back them up.

Now, perhaps these claims are all true. I have no illusions about the perfection of either our military or our political leadership, particularly during the Bush administration. But I need facts to back up the kinds of claims of incompetence Brownfield makes, not just opinions, and the author provides no evidence whatever that the events actually happened, much less in the contemptible, bumbling manner he describes. There are no footnotes in this book, no documentation of the events, no research -- just a series of stories and opinions. According to his introduction, he is revealing classified information and he's changed the names of all the people he belittles, so there's no way to check his facts, much less validate his opinions. All we have to go on is his word, and that's why personal credibility is so important to this book. Given the smug, self-serving tone of superiority that permeates the book, I find no compelling reason to believe his claims.

As to the lectures on war that break up the stories, they mostly state the obvious or rehash events that are much better covered in other books -- books that carefully document the inner workings of our military and the political manipulations that led to the invasion of Iraq (read Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in Iraq, 2003 to 2005 if you really want the facts). But if there is anybody left on the planet who still thinks that Saddam Hussein was behind the 9/11 attacks, or that he really did have weapons of mass destruction, this author has nothing new to say to them.

I was hoping to learn something of value from this book, something that might help me understand why our country continues to have these terrible and costly military misadventures. All I learned from this book is that the author was always the smartest guy in the room. Or chose to believe that he was.

Christopher Brownfield was a substandard nuclear officer by his own admissions. He uses his weaknesses (non-technical major in a technical field and being a junior officer) to excuse unprofessionalism and the acceptance of low standards.

The guy who can barely pass his nuclear plant basic exams after over a year of training somehow (according to his writings) turns out to be the smartest, most ethical guy in the room on every occasion. Strange isn't it? Not so strange if you are the author of the book and have a huge ego and want to look back at your past and see everyone else to blame for anything that went wrong around you.

When Chris gets older and perhaps reaches maturity, he may look back on his time in the Navy and be ready to write a real tell all book about where he went wrong and let down all his bosses ... from the CO that he didn't save from running the Sub aground to the Iraqi's that he couldn't help protect or help get electrical power.

Yes, there are things beyond one's control, but Chris is a loser who makes excuses for his own shortcomings. It is obvious why "Jessica Rabbit" (a character in the book) dumped him. If he was a "doer" rather than a whiner, he would have had successes to write about.

I'm throwing my copy of his book away. It wasn't worth the $4 I paid for it.

Having some knowledge of of the topics covered in this book, I was very disappointed at the material covered and the authors overwhelming ego in presenting his "story". Granted, anyone properly selected for the nuke program is going to be rather smart, but this guy stands out in this selected crowd for his huge ego and total lack of professionalism as an officer. Since he did state that he was going on memory rather than notes in recalling his Sub and IA experiences, I guess we can put down to selective memory his perfect handling of every situation and his witty briefings of the senior staff... ie.. like how many generals does it take to change a light bulb. I don't buy it, (the story), don't buy the book

This is a poor submarine service story, and a weak, possibly fictional account of his "Army" service.

In the spirit of full disclosure I should mention that my husband was a submarine officer and I got this book from the library. The title of the book is misleading in that very little of the book actually is about the submarine force. Mr. Brownfield does take some shots at the submarine force and submariners in general, however, the majority of the book deals with his disillusionment in the military's function in Iraq and the United States government. His perspective will probably resonate with some people but I found his tone of superiority grating. Mr. Brownfield's writing style is very entertaining, but I agree with another reviewer that it is hard to take him seriously when he presents himself as always the smartest and most ethical guy in the room. If you were hoping to read a tell-all about being a submariner, this is not your book. If you were hoping to read about the philosophical struggle of a military officer in wartime, this is not your book either. I would recommend Last Journey: A Father and Son in Wartime by Darrell Griffin Sr., and Darrell "Skip" Griffin Jr. instead.

...that I was in the Submarine force with the author, who certainly shares a different viewpoint than I saw across multiple submarines and Sub School. I am ashamed because I feel that he is abusing the Iraqi war veteran stance to support his viewpoint. I am ashamed because I believe that 99%+ of his peers would not make the same comment, although it sounds like he is trying to represent us all.

Qualifying for submarines, both the nuclear and non-nuclear part of it, was no easy task. And I NEVER heard anyone, officer nor enlisted, suggest that I should work less hard during the process. Does the author take any personal responsibility in being part of his ship's grounding? Or does he just blame it on a process which he was part of from within? Unfortunately, it truly appears that his book stinks of typical money-making devices - namely, that drama is more profitable than truth.

In "My Nuclear Family," Brownfield does change themes from submarines to Iraq, from nuclear energy to light bulbs, from the Navy to the Army, perhaps too effortlessly but I feel the book is really about the author's own dismay and disappointment at the scale of seeming aimlessness around him. In conveying that, I feel he excels.

At-home America expects commander-like devotion, courage, leadership and ingenuity to exist throughout command sub-structure, and so does Brownfield. However, in "My Nuclear Family" we see how officers (and enlisted men) who should be on top of their games, especially at Mr. Brownfield's staff-level, more-often-than-not seem to want to be somewhere else. Mr. Brownfield's gripes, and there is a bit of griping, are illustrated with wisely non-attributable stories.

About energy: The book could not encompass the diverging topics of Iraqi oil for domestic or foreign sale, (which involves U.S. and Iraqi cabinet-level policy-making), along with fixing the Iraqi in-country electrical grid, (an Iraqi infrastructure issue), but Mr. Brownfield's office was clearly tasked to address both issues; an herculean task.

Hopefully, sorting out those energy-sector issues - and other, briefly touched-on topics such as the arts in Iraq - will be subjects of Brownfield's next books, giving the author opportunity to assemble much-needed facts, figures and publicly available documentation.

Just like Brownfield was, I am currently a midshipman at the U.S. Naval Academy. Going into my junior year at the academy I have had the opportunity to experience the real Navy and military for that matter. Over the summer I have had the unique opportunity to serve on both the enlisted and officer side of the field. During my time on ships and submarines I have seen the best of the best and the worst of the worst. Brownfield's depiction of life on board the submarine accurately describes the personalities of young sailors and ignorant, medal chasing officers. The personalities experienced on board the submarine also accurately depicts military officers in the military in general. Many of these people are only concerned with either doing their time and getting out or sucking up to the right people in order to get recognition instead of doing the right thing for the men and women they serve over and serve to protect, this includes the Iraqi people.

Brownfield represents a rare and unique breed of naval officer that should be praised instead of ridiculed. Many who have written reviews have claimed that Brownfield is faking his sense of honor. As a current midshipman where honor and integrity drilled into me every single day, it is not surprising that Brownfield acted the way he did. One of the main purposes described in the mission of the Naval Academy is to "to develop Midshipmen morally, mentally and physically and to imbue them with the highest ideals of duty, honor and loyalty." It is clear that the Naval Academy fulfilled its mission in respect to Brownfield's actions. In addition, if Brownfield were faking his sense of honor he would not have told life in the submarine and in the military how it is, I can vouch for this.

For all those who reviewed, claiming themselves as some sort of "military expert" or "military historian" and not have served a single day in the military, on board a war ship or submarine, have no right to ridicule Brownfield's depiction of sub/military life. See what we have see, experience what we have experienced and you will surely be humbled.

For those seeking to gain REAL insight from a former Naval officer who tells it like it is instead of sugar coating the facts, this is a very eye opening book. For those seeking a motivational story of a man who fought do to the right thing for the people of Iraq despite working for ignorant, medal chasing senior military officers who could have surely ended his career, this is the book for you

My Nuclear Family: A Coming-Of-Age In America's 21st Century Military

Pp 320

Publisher Knopf

Photos

Price $26.95

This is the story of LT Christopher Brownfield, who was trained to operate the nuclear reactors in submarines. The stories can be someone crude, but if you ever served in the military you will understand them. His submarine the USS Hartford ran a ground resulting in two senior officers being relieved of command As a junior officer, . Brownfield did not suffer any consequences of this misfortune.

He wanted to do more for the military and ending up with a tour in Iraq. LT Brownfield worked in the Green Zone in the Energy Department. If you have been to the Green Zone you will realize that the stories he tells about the different departments in the military and the rivalry among them. A lot of the senior officers were worried about their jobs so the tried to make the best power point presentations to impress the generals.

He points out one of the problems in the military was the creation of Microsoft Power Point. All of us at one time have been subjected to a Power Point presentation. Brownfield would work on the slides for an entire day and that would repeat day after day.

He was accused of not being a team player by his boss. Brownfield was just annoyed with the stupidity of some of the people he worked with. His department was responsible for tracking and trying to help the Iraqi Energy Department become viable. He tells of the almost 7 billion dollars a year in lost revenue because the pipeline was being sabotaged. He suggested that they give away the oil to the local population since they were the ones breaking into the pipeline. Eventually the Iraqi Energy Department took his advice resulting in the continued flow of oil and more money in the treasury.

LT Brownfield looked at a light bulb in an Iraqi home and realized it was a 300 watt bulb. The replacement of one 300 watt with a 23 watt compact fluorescent would save a huge amount of energy. He requested a case of CFL bulbs so he could graphically demonstrate that one case of the new bulbs would use less energy than one 300 watt bulb. Another problem was how to get them into Iraqis homes. He came up with a plan to have merchants discontinue selling the 300 watt bulbs and replace them with the new type. The plan worked and his nickname became "LT Light bulb".

I enjoyed reading the book. It brought back some memories of my short visit to Camp Victory in Baghdad, Iraq in 2005. It is different type of book about the Iraq War describing a submariner's view of the war in Iraq.

MAJ (ret) Eric Shuler NJARNG

.

Whilst the author does a great job of keeping interest levels at a high, the stories he tells should set off alarm bells for the American people about the current state of their military, some with regard to the Nuclear Submarine Force, but more so to what is happening in Iraq.

You can sense the authors frustration, firstly with numerous issues aboard the USS Hartford, then in Iraq as he continuously attempts to do something which will actually make a difference, and is cut off at every pass by senior ranking staff who do not want to cause waves, or add more work to their otherwise cushy desk job of making daily powerpoint presentations containing completely irrelevant information to impress the Commanding General.

This book is a highly entertaining, and informative account about the author's experience in the modern US Military, and should be read by anyone interested in finding out more about the disappointing state of it.