Customer Reviews

Tip of the Spear: U.S. Marine Light Armor in the Gulf War

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

 

 

It is seldom that students of war get a coherent, literate account of the life of a non-commissioned officer in a combat zone. This is just such an account, and, as such, it is required reading for anyone who is interested in small-unit leadership. As the 2nd Platoon Commander in the author's company during the Gulf War, I can testify to the overall accuracy of his account. I have only minor criticisms. First, the author is too kind to some of the leaders of our battalion, men who deserve to be excoriated for their role in the friendly-fire deaths of eleven of our Marines. Second, in several areas of the book he writes with a naive simplicity about the political realities that led to the war. These are minor complaints, however, and they do not detract at all from the important heart of the book. The author admirably captures the difficulties of operating in the desert and the anxieties of a combat leader for the life of his troops. It is full of lessons that any military leader needs to learn, chief among them to train to the limits of endurance and to trust your troops. More than anything, though, the book is a testament to the skill, daring, and courage of the backbone of the Marine Corps: the Marine NCO. Tip of the Spear is much more than a moving and entertaining memoir of the Gulf War. It is a textbook for small-unit leaders. Read it.

I was in the author's unit as well. He depicts the events so realistically it brought back many memories once thought forgotten. I enjoyed the book and think it should be a 'must read' for all those interested in the Gulf War as well as any who served 'over there' specifically in 1st LAI Bn. Check my member page for information in seeing my seb site, lots of LAI Bn photo's.

As a member of Charlie Company, it is my opinion that the author was overly critical of Charlie Company. And I did notice one major discrepancy with the participants and their roles in one specific event. However, having said that, it was also a refreshing reminder of names and places I thought I would never forget, but had. I also think it's encouraging to see an NCO take the initiative of publishing something like this, and am curious as to how this reflects on his current enlistment. I really give the book a 4 but felt obligated to defend Charlie.

I was a M1A1 tank platoon leader with the Army over in Desert Storm, but I picked up a copy of this book to see how the Marines did things over there. This book was a very good book and I was surprised at some of the similarities the Marines had with the Army. The author did a great job, in my opinion, in showing how a company size element operated during wartime. My only complaint is I wish he had included more diagrams depicting various company actions, especially around OP 4 and OP 6. That part kind of got confusing at times trying to figure out where each company in the 1st LAI was located. Overall this is a great book and small unit leaders in the Army would benefit from this book, even though it is about the Marines.

The Marines have Light Armored Vehicles (LAV) with 25mm automatic cannon. 8x8 wheel drive, it's a big armored car that carries 3 crew and 6 "dismounts" stuffed in the back. Very interesting reading for anyone who wants to know more about life in an Armor Unit, Marines, Gulf 1.

Armored cars (13 tons) are better than, say a Hummer, but lack the protection of a Bradley (33 tons), and of course, an M-1 tank (70 tons). So you have to modify your tactics, select your battles carefully, which makes this interesting to read. How does light armor operate - they're not infantry, but not tanks.

4 stars - The story telling is solid, gives good insight of being a Marine and LAV Commander. Good, but not great. Also, the maps aren't that good. 8 pages of photos which give you a decent idea of surviving in the desert, what life on a LAV is like. I enjoyed the book, it's a good read, a good library book. It did what I wanted, which is to show the differences and similarities of tanking vs. Infantry, which is what Light Armor does.

Been to combat or not. Unless you belong to an LAI unit, I'd say this book is very insightful. This gives you a great inside perspective of the inner workings of LAI units. One that I for one did not previously have. I enjoyed reading this book and getting to understand another piece of the big puzzle. It almost seems that not a whole lot in the Marine Corps has changed since the Kuwait liberation. In 2003 my Jarheads and I went through some of the same problems, emotions, and obsticles from our 2 months of training in Kuwait to breaching the Iraqi border and the dark side to Baghdad.

It was written by a service member who experiences a combat environment for the first time. If you have experienced a combat related environment then you will not get much from the book. If you have not, then pick a different book. Also, things have changed drastically since Desert Storm. The troops are experiencing much more in the current conflict.