Death Ground: Today's American Infantry in Battle

As a former Marine I have always carried the opinion (perhaps biased) that the Army was archaic and hopeless in its approach to modern warfare, that it clung too stubbornly to a method of combat more fitting a full-scale European Theatre conflict (ala the Soviet Union).Col. Bolger has certainly enlightened me to the Army's ability to handle modern warfare. Anyone with any understanding of the paradigm shifts which have occurred following the end of the Cold War will understand and appreciate this book. Anyone seeking a better understanding of how the military is prepared to deal with the paradigm shifts which have occurred following the end of the Cold War will understand and appreciate this book.Those who long for the strategy & tactics of the Cold War period and wish the world wouldn't change will have little appreciation for this book. Those who can't see beyond pride in their current units to face reality will have little appreciation for this book.I hope Army hard-liners will take this analysis to heart.I would share a fighting hole with Col.Bolger. That's a statement I make about few people.

Colonel Bolger's book is an urgent read; in it he describes the "death ground" that U.S. policy makers are reluctant to send troops into and this is evaporating our infantry into a future geostrategic policy defeat. His conclusion is chilling---we might have the finest infantrymen of all time but there may not be ENOUGH to decide the issue. He describes the basic types of Infantry--Airborne, Air Assault, Mechanized, Light, Special Operations and marine and with unmatched understanding explains their attributes and why they are so vitally needed. If you are a military professional you need to read these description to better understand the technotactical aspects of war and diminish the silly chest-thumping of one's branch/MOS/service. But when you can mentally count the number of Infantry Battalions available to America--a nation of 270,000,000; a surge of adrenaline shoots through you as you realize that America is increasingly relying on a military that thinks precision guided weaponry from aircraft or sea platforms will decide the issue. As Bolger points out using real world combat examples, against a resilient foe like North Vietnam, this firepower-- even steered by skilled infantry on the ground may not be enough. It certainly wasn't in 1975 when communists over-ran South Vietnam while we had total Air/Sea superiority and were powerless to stop them. The point of his book is we need more and better Infantry modeled on an improved Airborne/Air Assault model with light armored fighting vehicles to control the "death ground" and control the peace. The current U.S. Army transformation underway hopefully will achieve this revolution so we can dominate the "death ground" in the future and not dangerously over-rely on stand-off munitions.Colonel Bolger is one of the courageous military thinkers/doers in uniform today "on point" for America, and this, his latest work builds on his technotactical oddysey begun with his masterpiece, "Dragons at War", through "The Battle for Hunger Hill" and many other books. If you read his books, you will vicariously experience his "learning curve" and have a "coup d-oeil" an awakening when you see the entirety of today's battlefield problem at a glance. All of his books should be required reading by ALL U.S. Army Soldiers of all ranks, and the Army would be wise to encourage this revolution in tactical thinking by rewarding her men with promotion point credits for questions answered correctly derived from the text. Airborne, Colonel Bolger!

Colonel Bolger is a catchy writer who can take you through the infantry units in a zip. If you read it, you want more. Altough I am not an American I have found his writing on the military subjects refreshing and very interesting.

I just read your rules which state that you should not attack another reviewer's opinions but when the review has official status,I think the rule should be Modified. There are people who may be unduly influeced because this was done by an official reviewer- the Kirkus review.I think that the type of person who would like this book who is interested in this subject will realize that this review was biased by a heavy dose of Liberal thought process.The very fact of its publisher- Presidio Press is condemnatory.It is to Army literature what the Naval institute Press is to Navy/Marine Corps Material.I am sure that the military professional will just ignore the reviewer's advice(Kirkus) but I hope that the book will be read by a larger audience.We must not lecture to the choir only especially as the number of influential people (the Congress) continues to have fewer and fewer people who have been to the circus-combat.Also one man's Jingoism is another man's patriotism.Semper Fidelis

I enjoyed reading this book especially about what this senior Army infantry colonel said about the USMC. I thought that the book was a better review of Marine Corps Planning, capabilities and traditions than "The Making of the Corps". The notes at the end of the chapters are as interesting as the text.I hope TR Fehrenbach who is alive and living in Texas doesn't mind the use of his quote "Infantrymen really have no place in polite civil society" .I am remembering this quote from memory as I can't find my copy of "This Kind of War as It is always being borrowed by friends. But I am sure that TRF who is quoted and epigramed with attribution by Bolger in past books would think this is a wonderful book about the Legions that we would need when he wrote his book back in 1963. I found the book showed how the use of maneuver is no longer just nice but necessary as we must make do with less and do more. The book should certainly be added to the USMC Commandant's reading list .Bravo Zulu to Colonel Bolger