The Highway Review
Jan. 27th, 2012 10:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bluegargantuaHi,
I may have mentioned that I think the LAV-25 is one of the sexier pieces of military vehicle out there. So I was pretty happy to pick up The Highway War by Maj. Seth Folsom. Major Folsom is a Marine and recounts his experiences as a Captain in command of a Light Armored Recon company during the invasion of Iraq. The LAR companies were made up of LAV-25s and scout teams and their job was to provide recon and security services for the Marines.
The book was interesting but not as good as I'd hoped. The invasion of Iraq was a pretty lop-sided affair. There were fights and ambushes and enemy contacts, but the Iraqi army pretty much collapsed in the face of the Coalition advance. Maj. Folsom's company, in particular, had bigger problems with sand, bugs and logistics than they did with enemy forces. So for most of the book they're driving from one place to another and there are only a few moments of actual combat.
To be fair, I'm happy that there were almost zero casualties and the men thought it was pretty boring. But Maj. Folsom left the company and returned to the states shortly after the invasion was finished. He wasn't there for the long occupation that followed and his company certainly started taking hits then. You mostly read this kind of stuff to see how people come through in bad circumstances, but I think Delta Company's most interesting and important stories happened after the author left.
So the book was just ok.
later
Tom
I may have mentioned that I think the LAV-25 is one of the sexier pieces of military vehicle out there. So I was pretty happy to pick up The Highway War by Maj. Seth Folsom. Major Folsom is a Marine and recounts his experiences as a Captain in command of a Light Armored Recon company during the invasion of Iraq. The LAR companies were made up of LAV-25s and scout teams and their job was to provide recon and security services for the Marines.
The book was interesting but not as good as I'd hoped. The invasion of Iraq was a pretty lop-sided affair. There were fights and ambushes and enemy contacts, but the Iraqi army pretty much collapsed in the face of the Coalition advance. Maj. Folsom's company, in particular, had bigger problems with sand, bugs and logistics than they did with enemy forces. So for most of the book they're driving from one place to another and there are only a few moments of actual combat.
To be fair, I'm happy that there were almost zero casualties and the men thought it was pretty boring. But Maj. Folsom left the company and returned to the states shortly after the invasion was finished. He wasn't there for the long occupation that followed and his company certainly started taking hits then. You mostly read this kind of stuff to see how people come through in bad circumstances, but I think Delta Company's most interesting and important stories happened after the author left.
So the book was just ok.
later
Tom
