Posted by
TheLeftIsEvil on Tuesday, September 18, 2007 9:22:40 PM
Robert Kaplan's sequel to his in-depth study of American troops stationed in varied Third World nations,
"Imperial Grunts" has just been published.
"Hog Pilots, Blue Water Grunts" details the lives of Navy and Air Force noncoms in the same clear, detailed, engaging way. I've just begun reading it, and am enjoying it enormously.
His description of the "rendezvous" of a tanker and supply ship with the USS Benfold, a guided-missile destroyer, is worth the price of the book. The precision of the action is emphasized by Kaplan when he points out that few other navies can pull off an "Un-Rep" (an underway replenishment) under full steam. He compared it to a docking in space. And the tale takes only a few pages near the front. I read with gratification of how Marines are training troops in Niger to oppose encroaching Islamofascist terrorists, and how highly (it was obvious) the Nigerans regarded their American trainers in the chapter, "America's African Rifles.".
Next stop: the North Pacific. Believe me, I'll be commenting here again and again on this book.
If, like me, you've never been in the military, you'll learn specifics you could never learn elsewhere. If you've been in the military, Kaplan will introduce you to branches of the service even you knew nothing about. There is simply no other way to learn so much about our world-girdling American armed forces than by accompanying a talented, inquisitive writer on his world-hopping tour of the our military via his books.
Warmly recommended.
If you're a Republican, you will LOVE it. Kaplan clearly loves our noncoms. If you're a moderate Democrat, you'll learn not only what our troops do but WHY they do it. If you're an Evil Leftist Democrat...well, there's no hope for you.
BTW, Hugh Hewitt will be conducting a THREE HOUR interview with Robert Kagan this Thursday. Listen live via
KRLA 870 radio's audio-streaming here:
http://krla870.townhall.com/