Aleksa's Book Review: Military Advising & Assistance

in military •  6 years ago 


I had often had daydreams of a mercenary adventure life akin to the early 20th century "banana-men" in central America or German bounty hunters in Appalachia. This book explains the mid-to-late 20th century's equivalent of the gentleman merc: the military advisor. Fundamentally, it's to-may-to to-mah-to but it's an interesting field to dig into.

There is absolutely nothing in this book about combat, and I quite prefer it that way: Having read "On Killing", I don't think any book will ever communicate in such an effective way the psychology of men in the battlefield. What this book does speak about is something that most people often overlook in military life, but makes up over 95% of soldiering: Training.

It's quite interesting to see how much people will sink to the level of their training, rather than rising to the occasion. That's why I quite like the idea of the military where men train until they can do extremely complex exercises in their sleep. The book explains how designing a training regiment for a militia (or any other organised group of people) is performed, and I quite like the presentation of this aspect of military life.

The start of the book is just a little theoretical, but immediately lists IRL examples of everything it discusses, primarily focusing on the training of the (south) Korean constabulary and Nicaraguan counter-terrorists. The book lists too many useful insights to mention, and really has me warming up to the idea of gaining some form of military experience.
Definitely a solid read for young men with lots of energy and not much direction.
8/10

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