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Hog Pilots, Blue Water Grunts: The American Military in the Air, at Sea & on the Ground
In this extraordinary book, Robert D. Kaplan lets readers experience up close the American military worldwide in the air, at sea, and on the ground: flying in a B-2 bomber, living on a nuclear submarine, and traveling with a Stryker brigade on missions around the world. Provided unprecedented access, Kaplan moves from destroyers off the coast of Indonesia to submarines in ...more
Hardcover, 448 pages
Published
September 4th 2007
by Random House
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If it is possible to romanticize the United States military, this book does it. Robert D. Kaplan, in the crash journalism style of writing I enjoy, embeds himself with various crews of the four military divisions. He spends time on rifle ranges with the U.S. Marines, experiencing the organized chaos of underway refuelings aboard the USS Benfold, fighting claustrophobia on a nuclear submarine, and base-hopping with the A-10 Warthog pilots of the Air Force.
I expected this book to be a ...more
I expected this book to be a ...more
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Robert D. Kaplan turns away from the more incendiary front line of the war on terror in this follow-up to Imperial Grunts. He spent over two years embedded with a diverse group of soldiers, and his admiration for their work comes through on every page. That same high esteem opens up the major vein of criticism, as some reviewers fault Kaplan for veering "dangerously close to cheerleading" (Washington Post). Well-researched and sympathetically drawn, these portraits of the modern milita
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Compared to his earlier book, The Imperial Grunts, this one is not as good but it enhanced my view of the US Military much more than the "Imperial Grunts" since that book was mostly written about the ground forces deployed around the world. This one is about the naval, air forces and ground forces altogether but its emphasis is more on Air Force and Navy. It's a very informative book on the status of the US military and its future. Robert D. Kaplan is an able author with tons of knowle...more
This is an excellent insight into the life of an American military member executing his/ her duties in an operational theater. Dr. Kaplan weaves the individual experiences into the historical and political context of the mission resulting in enlightening an entertaining descriptions of our military at work. Of particular interest to me were the activities where our folks are quietly successful, outside of the limelight, implementing U.S. foreign policy while creating stability and furthering p...more
Excellent overview of modern military strategy.
Not so good as biography of modern American soldiers.
The author does an excellent job of demonstrating the nature/need of modern US defense policy. From the need to utilize SF forces to help maintain the capbilities of weakened states (Niger, Chad, states in Polynesia); to the increased need of the Navy (subs for intel collections in litoral regions, ability to project power); to the need of being able to forward deploy to allied...more
Not so good as biography of modern American soldiers.
The author does an excellent job of demonstrating the nature/need of modern US defense policy. From the need to utilize SF forces to help maintain the capbilities of weakened states (Niger, Chad, states in Polynesia); to the increased need of the Navy (subs for intel collections in litoral regions, ability to project power); to the need of being able to forward deploy to allied...more
I gave it only 3 stars because the structure of the book is a bit disjointed at times. On the whole, however, it goes a long way toward dispelling the naive argument that the U.S. is nothing more than an overly aggressive, bullying hegemon. It details, for example, the leading role played by the U.S. Navy in assisting the victims of the tsuanmi which struck Indonesia, Thailand, and Sri Lanka in 2005. Kaplan describes how "nearly a hundred Navy and Marine helicopters [conducted] a ship-to-sh...more
This is the sequel to Imperial Grunts and rounds out the tour of the cutting edges of the American military begun in that earlier book. Kaplan researches his work exhaustively both in the writings of others and in person, and he seems to have logged enough travel to take him around the world a dozen times in the several-year course of writing these two books.
I appreciated the fact that he avoided oversimplifying or showing unbalanced views of the many issues. Kaplan makes no bones ...more
I appreciated the fact that he avoided oversimplifying or showing unbalanced views of the many issues. Kaplan makes no bones ...more
There's more to this book than meets the eye. It starts off innocently (and perhaps a little boringly) as a picaresque recounting of the author's many and continuous embeddings with various of our armed services installations around the world. He discusses the functions of these installations in some depth; his travels involve visits with each of the armed services (Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force), including combat environments, training of other countries' militaries, humanitarian aid, an...more
interesting and upclose look at America's modern military
excellent in that the author presents the military through its members, history and the geopolitical frames of reference throughout the world
the book points out how extensive the military is stationed throughout the world which makes me wonder how right President Eisenhower was when He said the military-industrial complex was such a danger to our democracy.
excellent in that the author presents the military through its members, history and the geopolitical frames of reference throughout the world
the book points out how extensive the military is stationed throughout the world which makes me wonder how right President Eisenhower was when He said the military-industrial complex was such a danger to our democracy.
Three stars is a provisional rating; I have to think about this book a bit more, then hopefully not be too lazy to write a review...
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Good but not as good as Imperial Grunts. If you're in a hurry, read the last chapter - "The Morbid Tyranny Out of Antiquity" and the Afterword - "The Non Warrior Democracy."
The last chapter is all about North Korea. Good summary of the history and sobering look at what might be the future sooner than later.
The afterword is a good look at our nation, patriotism, faith, universal values, Rumsfeld, Powell, status quo, and the age in which we live.
The last chapter is all about North Korea. Good summary of the history and sobering look at what might be the future sooner than later.
The afterword is a good look at our nation, patriotism, faith, universal values, Rumsfeld, Powell, status quo, and the age in which we live.
Kaplan looks at two primary areas of the US military - the hi-tech conventional forces of the Air Force and Navy and the light fighters who are carrying out low-level training, civil affairs and institution building operations in Asia, Africa and south America. If you want an idea of who is really making ground-level US foreign policy in some of the critical areas of the world and who will continue to do so into the future, this is the book to read.
Part II in Kaplan's 3-part series on the American military on the group lacks a lot of the truly original and incisive observations of a lot of his earlier work, and his focus on the literary craft seems to have waned. However, he is still among the best sources for info on the current state of the US military, including it's unpublicized missions in remote corners of the globe.
The diversity of operations and populations in this book is amazing. The U.S. military is involved in countless ways around the world. My favorite part is the "Wart Hogs".
Excellent book on people, life, traditions, and operations of the US Military.
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Robert David Kaplan is an American journalist, currently a National Correspondent for the Atlantic Monthly. His writings have also been featured in The Washington Post, The New York Times, The New Republic, The National Interest, Foreign Affairs and The Wall Street Journal, among other newspapers and publications, and his more controversial essays about the nature of U.S. power have spurred debate...more
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