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My Share of the Task: A Memoir by [Stanley McChrystal]

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Stanley A. McChrystal

General Stanley McChrystal

My Share of the Task: A Memoir Kindle Edition

by Stanley McChrystal (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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"General McChrystal is a legendary warrior with a fine eye for enduring lessons about leadership, courage, and consequence." —Tom Brokaw

General Stanley McChrystal is widely admired for his hunger to know the truth, his courage to find it, and his humility to listen to those around him. Even as the commanding officer of all U.S. and coalition forces in Afghanistan, he stationed himself forward and frequently went on patrols with his troops to experience their challenges firsthand. In this illuminating New York Times bestseller, McChrystal frankly explores the major episodes and controversies of his career. He describes the many outstanding leaders he served with and the handful of bad leaders he learned not to emulate. And he paints a vivid portrait of how the military establishment turned itself, in one generation, into the adaptive, resilient force that would soon be tested in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the wider War on Terror.

"A compelling account of his impressive career." -The Wall Street Journal '

"This is a brilliant book about leadership wrapped inside a fascinating personal narrative." -Walter Isaacson, author of Steve Jobs

Stanley McChrystal retired in July 2010 as a four-star general in the U.S. Army. His last assignment was as the commander of the International Security Assistance Force and as the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. He is currently a senior fellow at Yale University's Jackson Institute for Global Affairs and cofounder of the McChrystal Group, a leadership consulting firm. He and his wife, Annie, live in Virginia.

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465 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Portfolio
Publication date

January 7, 2013
File size

27156 KB
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Editorial Reviews

Review

“General McChrystal is a legendary warrior with a fine eye for enduring lessons about leadership, courage, and consequence. He took me inside the command bunker, on nighttime raids, and through the fog of war, political and military. My Share of the Task is an important, riveting, and instructive account of the triumphs and trials of America’s two longest wars.”

—TOM BROKAW, author of The Greatest Generation

“Written in the tradition of Ulysses S. Grant, My Share of the Task is a clear, compelling, self-critical, and utterly unpretentious memoir. I know of no better book on the nature of modern military command.”

—JOHN LEWIS GADDIS, author of George F. Kennan: An American Life

“This is a brilliant book about leadership wrapped inside a fascinating personal narrative. By describing his own life, and especially his command in Afghanistan, General McChrystal helps us understand the modern missions of the military. More than that, he provides lessons about leadership and values that are indispensable in our daily lives. It’s a deeply inspiring tale.”

—WALTER ISAACSON, author of Steve Jobs and Benjamin Franklin

“Stanley McChrystal has written the finest military memoir of his generation. Lucid, thoughtful, and steeped in military and strategic history, My Share of the Task is not just the story of one man’s service; it is the story of the development of a new way of war. This book is not just for aficionados of military history or for students of American foreign policy; it’s for anyone who wants to understand the challenges of leadership in America today.”

—WALTER RUSSELL MEAD, author of Special Providence and God and Gold

“A remarkable memoir by one of the most exceptional and thoughtful leaders of his generation.”

—RORY STEWART, author of The Places in Between

About the Author

STANLEY McCHRYSTAL retired in July 2010 as a four-star general in the U.S. Army. His last assignment was as the commander of the International Security Assistance Force and as the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan. He had previously served as the director of the Joint Staff and as the commander of the Joint Special Operations Command. He is currently a senior fellow at Yale University's Jackson Institute for Global Affairs and the co-founder of the McChrystal Group, an advisory services and leadership development firm. He and his wife Annie, live in Virginia. --This text refers to the hardcover edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B007ZHCEN2
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Portfolio (January 7, 2013)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ January 7, 2013
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 27156 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 465 pages
Lending ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled

Best Sellers Rank: #256,414 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #66 in Biographies of the Afghan War
- #72 in Biographies of the Iraq War
- #213 in Afghan War Biographies

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anupamifs

A classic

Reviewed in the United States on March 4, 2016

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I first read about General Stanley McChrystal in the New York Times. I read, awestruck, about a man who could only be described as a warrior-monk. This fearsome General lived like an ascetic. His daily routine included 4 hours of sleep, a 10 mile run (listening to audiobooks – not music), a single meal and a working day that began at 5 am. I remember being very surprised (and feeling let down!) by the controversy created by the Rolling Stone magazine article in 2011 that led to his resigning from supreme command of all NATO &US forces in Afghanistan. The man in the Rolling Stone magazine was a loose cannon. I eagerly awaited his autobiography to decide for myself about the real General McChrystal.

Having read it twice, I have no hesitation in describing it as the outstanding military autobiography of our time. It is the ultimate insider account from a man who commanded Special Forces in Iraq and Afghanistan before becoming Commander-in-Chief in Afghanistan. The story of Task Force 714 (TF 714), aka Joint Special Operations Command, in Iraq and Afghanistan at the cutting edge of what is now being called the War on Terror, is a military classic. The account of supreme command in Afghanistan demolishes the Rolling Stones narrative of a delinquent general. This is a very thoughtful man, seared by the violence amidst which he has lived his whole professional life, and fully aware that a killing machine, no matter how effective, cannot win a war of this nature by itself.

Conventional militaries value structure, hierarchy and discipline. That was what counted in the field of battle. That was how Wellington’s redcoats stood firm against Napoleon’s repeated charges at Waterloo in 1815. The great feats of arms of the 20th century grafted an industrial scale logistical and destructive capability to these fundamentals. The Red Army relied on this combination to vanquish the Germans at Stalingrad in 1942, as did the Allies when they stormed ashore at Normandy on June 6, 1944. Conventional military engagements since then have been short and sharp. The side that demonstrated greater ability and flexibility in wielding the massive weapon that is a modern army, was victorious. This underlay the staggering Israeli triumph in the Six-Day War in 1967 and the Indian Army’s dazzling victory in 1971. That age of conventional war is, however, over. Overwhelming conventional victories in the Gulf Wars, for example, have not ended hostilities. They have led to prolonged asymmetric warfare being fought by a new kind of soldier and military.

This book is the first authoritative account of the creation of a new kind of military machine that has been created by asymmetric battle. It reveals an organization that resembles a private sector start-up. A “flat” organization without much hierarchy, the equivalent of open-floor offices; the empowerment ofemployees; and reliance on technology. It is a machine that has been custom-built to fight todays enemy – a terrorist who does not wear an uniform, relies on Improvised Explosive Devices to fight a Low-Intensity Conflict and uses social media to communicate and as a weapon.

General McChrystal partially lifts the veil on this machine. He describes how he was able to launch what has been called counter-terror operations on an “industrial scale”. He talks about some of the instruments and methods of this battle – the collection of human intelligence through ever growing numbers of arrests and interrogations (prison administration in Iraq/Afghanistan is a central focus of the book); the collection of technical intelligence through intercepts and drones; the fusing together of CIA and military intelligence capabilities that allowed technical and human intelligence to be matched and exploited on an unprecedented scale; and the mind-numbing speed of reaction made possible by use of technology that substantially reduces what Clausewitz called the “fog of war”.

The man that emerges from the book is also extraordinary. The military is an unforgiving profession. The cost of failure is the forfeiture of life or freedom. Its unforgiving nature makes it a highly competitive trade. Generals’ sit atop probably the steepest professional pyramids and the qualities that help them scale these heights are a source of endless fascination. General McChrystal is obviously a soldier’s solider and the first part of the book deals with his rise through the ranks of the US Army Rangers and airborne corps. He learns to soldier, to parachute, and to lead men and women and he obviously does it extremely well. Along the way, he finds time to obtain a Masters degree, a fellowship at the Council of Foreign Relations, AND rewrite the unarmed combat curriculum of the Special Forces. He also seems to posses a characteristic of many famous Generals – the absence of physical fear.

It is hard not to compare him to an entrepreneur - contemptuous of the spit-and-polish that many of us associate with the armed forces. He is forever open to new ideas and focused on delivering results. General McChrystal does not glorify violence. What he glorifies is the cultivation of the fortitude and the ability that makes some people withstand suffering better than others. There is no exultation in the taking of a life, even that of violent terrorists. There is sorrow that it has been lost. The understanding of the psyche of the radical Islamists opposing him is acute. His sympathy for the civilians, the actual victims of this war, is obvious. The description of how a suicide bomber is recruited, primed and finally discharged is a masterpiece.

The book is however, ultimately, curiously unsettling. That the superbly trained and highly motivated elite forces led by commanders of McChrystal’s caliber did not triumph leads us to question the strategy and tactics of the war on terror.

34 people found this helpful

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Soup Sandwich

This is just another ra-ra "I love me" book written by a bureaucrat general so typical ...

Reviewed in the United States on May 19, 2018

Verified Purchase

I was forced to buy this book because it appeared on a school reading list. This is just another ra-ra "I love me" book written by a bureaucrat general so typical of our current day politicians masquerading as Soldiers. Don't waste your time. He also lists all his suck up chroney officers who are cast from the same mold. There is not one original thought in this whole book. He probably got a top block in every OER he ever was given, I am sure.

10 people found this helpful

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Edwin Handley

The most amazing perspective on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan

Reviewed in the United States on March 13, 2019

Verified Purchase

This is a stellar read! A must read for students of modern warfare or those interested in current events. McChrystal's writing style is very smooth and fluid. He Is easy to read and at the same time very informative and cerebral. "My Share of the Task" is an personal account of McChrystal's life through his upbringing and education at Westpoint to the end of his career. He provides perspective on the America's conflicts from the perspective of a military commander. He describes and documents the wars of Iraq and Afghanistan in a way that is unique and untold. His narrative on the hunt and bombing of Al-Zarqawi's compound reads like a Tom Clancy spy novel.

I am thrilled to see other books by General Stanley McChrystal on the market and I look forward to future books being published by this author.

Thank you,
Ed Handley +

6 people found this helpful

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Shynloco

Memoirs of General Stanley McChrystal

Reviewed in the United States on April 30, 2016

Verified Purchase

Excellent book outlining the trials and tribulations of a genuinely distinguished field commander. It also reveals some of the problems and limitations created by being "micro managed" by the idiots at the Pentagon and biggest idiot of all, our President. Ultimately the book shows how our military is loosing dedicated soldiers within the command staff because of the political and personal ignorance of civilian personnel wanting to leave their "legacy" as creators of peace and more knowing than those within the military. Proved to me that no politician should hold public office unless they've served in the military and more likely in a combat leadership capacity. America is a better place and country because of General Stanley McChrystal and the men and women of JSOC.

One person found this helpful

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Martin Berry

Disappointing

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 28, 2022

Verified Purchase

While serving, I had such high hopes that an officer of this calibre would bring a flash of brilliance to a war bogged down in doctrine and un-necessary rules - in fact having achieved much specialist success in Iraq, he was like all the rest. I don't agree with the circumstances of his sacking, but the courageous restraint doctrine and his adherence to debunked counter-insurgency theory just underlined the hubris that senior officers bring to these theatres of unwinnable wars. They think one man can make all the difference, when actually a step-change in National doctrine is required in order to win at all costs. So, a highly decorated and successful general became a failure overnight - and he moved on to let the next highly-motivated failure take his place. What is clear is that he passionately believed in his role and its potential for success - despite every experience from his past telling him it wouldn't.

The satirical film of his experience, War Machine, was far closer to the truth of his situation than his own writings. In short, a good man who just couldn't make the difference.

Veritas

A Leadership Masterpiece

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 13, 2013

Verified Purchase

This book should be a must read for all leaders in whatever field of endeavour they find themselves. I found Gen McChrystal's early career as interesting as the more recent events he outlines.

The formation of the man as a leader, learning from the examples of good and poor leaders he encountered on his journey. I thought his explanantion of how the older supply sergeant gave him some really sage advice to be most instructive to a young officer. Similarly how he encountered his new commanding officer at Ft Stewart who taught him adherence to personal and professional standards. Great lessons.

It was good to read that he also set high personal and professional standards for special forces soldiers on dress and personal grooming challenging the shaggy unkempt "im off to my war fighting" dress code comment. And how detainees were to be properly treated. Absolutely right. Its an affective domain thing.

The articulation of the processes he went through in fighting and learning in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are instructive in any field. Humility, adherence to standards, listening to your good people (The Intel sergeant chasing Zarqawi...... he knew and McChrystal backed him; even aginst his own judgment, a sergeant's assessment against the general.......and the sergeant was right) ability to think, move and communicate across geographical boundaries. Fabulous lessons.

Overall, an unmissable read.

The world owes a great debt to people like Stanley McChrystal. I am saying thank you for what you did.

5 people found this helpful

Fiona James

If you're interested in leadership, read this!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 29, 2014

Verified Purchase

I don't usually have any interest in military memoirs as I'm not really into that type of history. However I saw a TED talk, given by General McChrystal, on the topic of leadership. It was most inspiring and, when I heard that his memoirs are regarded as a handbook on leadership, I decided to give it a read. I'm glad I did. It's an excellent book and a fascinating, detailed insight, not only into McChrystal's leadership, but also into recent events in Iraq and Afghanistan.

4 people found this helpful

Amazon Customer

Good but expected more

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 28, 2017

Verified Purchase

Good read in to different aspects of war but I expected more. Mainly about the politics of war. Over priced

Mr N McAllister

well written biography and one I enjoyed and would recommend

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 19, 2014

Verified Purchase

a very good autobiography by a top general. His life story is worth reading and quite inspiring. An ordinary military brat who followed his family into the US military machine and came out on top. A well written biography and one I enjoyed and would recommend
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