Hazardous Duty (Paperback)

~ (Author) "The A-10 Warthogs were blistering an Iraqi position on a ridge about two kilometers in front of me-bombing, strafing, rocketing..." (more)
Key Phrases: military industrial congressional complex, rat fuck, downed chopper, Desert Storm, World War, North Koreans (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Nobody can question Hackworth's credentials--he's America's most decorated living soldier, a military reporter forNewsweek, and author of the best-selling About Face. In Hazardous Duty, he travels to danger spots like Bosnia, Haiti, Korea, Somalia and the Persian Gulf to rate U.S. military performance. All too often, he sees it coming up short. "Our military machine is sputtering like a worn-out tank," he writes in the final chapter, where he also offers a practical agenda for reform that is sure to raise the hackles of what he calls the Pentagon's "Perfumed Princes and Propaganda Poets." --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Hackworth (About Face) is the most highly decorated living U.S. soldier. He's also a take-no-prisoners critic of America's contemporary defense establishment. Here, he uses his experiences as a Newsweek correspondent in the Persian Gulf, Somalia, Haiti, Korea and the Balkans to illustrate and denounce a military-industrial-political system that, he charges, gives rank and power to "Perfumed Princes" at the expense of "warrior studs." A chapter detailing Hackworth's controversial investigation of Admiral Jeremy Boorda's alleged misappropriation of combat decorations?a scandal that ended in Boorda's suicide?serves as a case study of what Hackworth sees as the armed forces' continued devotion to appearance rather than performance. Hackworth's attacks on log-rolling and careerism seem like justified responses to the bureaucratization endemic to any complex organization. His repeated indictments of "politics over tactics," however, appears to reflect a fundamental misunderstanding of the customary role of armed force in national policy. Traditionally, as in Clausewitz's famous dictum, war is the continuation of diplomacy and politics?not their focal point. Hackworth's definition of a warrior is narrow; great captains come in many forms besides outspoken, down-home types happiest in the field with their troops. The author isn't shy about voicing his opinions. Of President Clinton's decision to order paratroopers into Haiti under the dangerous light of a full moon, he writes, "[Clinton} was so inexperienced he would have us grab a rattlesnake by the tail because that was where the noise was coming from." In contrast, Hackworth presents himself as one savvy, tough soldier (dressing down an "arrogant" Haitian police captain, "I just tore into his ass backward and forward"). While the author's grit is entertaining (and credible), it also melodramatizes the entire book, undermining the gravity of his more serious points. But this is a feisty, heads-up brief nonetheless, told with spirit by a warrior who now wields a pen instead of a sword. Author tour.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks (September 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380727420
• ISBN-13: 978-0380727421
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #135,167 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-read for soldiers and taxpaying civilians alike!, July 10, 2000

By	"lockednloaded" (Salt Lake City, UT) - See all my reviews

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.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A pointed critique of our defense establishment., January 26, 1999

By	[e-mail] (Atlanta, Georgia USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hazardous Duty: America's Most Decorated Living Soldier Reports from the Front and Tells It the Way It Is (Hardcover)

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).

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book, October 22, 2001

By A Customer

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.