Vanguard Of Valor : Small Unit Actions In Afghanistan Vol. I [Illustrated Edition] PDF Download

Author: Donald P. Wright
Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing
ISBN: 1782894950
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
Includes 35 illustrations. Since 2001, the US Army in Afghanistan has been conducting complex operations in a difficult, often dangerous environment. Living in isolated outposts and working under austere conditions, US Soldiers have carried out missions that require in equal parts a warrior’s courage and a diplomat’s restraint. In the larger discussions of the Afghanistan campaign, the experiences of these Soldiers-especially the young sergeants and lieutenants that lead small units-often go undocumented. But, as we all know, success in Afghanistan ultimately depends on these small units and their leaders, making their stories all the more important. In 2010, as the scale and tempo of Coalition operations in Afghanistan increased, so did the need for historical accounts of small-unit actions. As commander of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), I commissioned the Combat Studies Institute to research and write the cases collected in this volume and in those that will follow. By capturing key insights from both lethal and non-lethal operations, I hoped these accounts would be of immediate utility to sergeants and lieutenants at the center of future operations. The eight actions described in these pages take the reader through a wide range of platoon-level operations, from an intense firefight near Kandahar to an intricate civic action project in Kunar Province. Drawing from dozens of Soldier interviews, these accounts vividly depict the actions themselves and offer critical insights of greatest benefit to the small-unit leaders of today and tomorrow. The US Army always has prided itself as an institution of constant learning, strongly committed to drawing lessons from its past. This volume from the CSI is an excellent example of that long and honorable tradition. I hope that you will find the actions related in Vanguard of Valor to be both instructive and compelling. I am sure that you will find them to be inspirational. Gen. Petraeus

Author: Donald P. Wright
Publisher: Pickle Partners Publishing
ISBN: 1782894969
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 262

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Book Description
Illustrated with 22 photos, maps and plans. Beginning in 2009, the U.S. and many of its NATO-ISAF partners dramatically raised their levels of effort in Afghanistan. The “Afghan Surge,” as it came to be known, was most evident in the number of additional US and allied troops that arrived in Afghanistan in 2009 and 2010. Their mission was clear: To reverse the Taliban’s momentum and deny it the ability to overthrow the government, and to strengthen the capacity of Afghanistan’s security forces and government so that they could assume lead responsibility for their nation’s future. For US Army units, the ways of creating stability and furthering the reach of the Afghan Government took several forms. First and foremost, US Soldiers executed complex and difficult offensive operations to seize territory that had often been held by insurgents for years. Additionally, US Soldiers formed close partnerships with Afghan Army and Police units to accelerate the growth of the Afghan security forces’ capabilities. At the heart of all of these efforts were the men and women who served in front line units during what has become longest war in our Nation’s history. In my time as the senior US commander in Afghanistan and as US Ambassador to that country, I recognized that the success of the campaign depended greatly on the skill, valor, and grit of our Army Soldiers. The present volume, Vanguard of Valor II, offers six accounts of US Soldiers at the tip of the spear during the Afghan campaign. The Combat Studies Institute’s Vanguard of Valor series is intended to document small unit actions in Afghanistan. These books play an equally important role by offering insights to Soldiers who may find themselves in the years ahead under similar conditions, whether in Afghanistan or in some other troubled land where they have been deployed to conduct the dangerous business of defending the national interest in a theater of war.-Karl W. Eikenberry

Author: Combat Studies Institute Press
Publisher: www.Militarybookshop.CompanyUK
ISBN: 9781780397191
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 220

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Book Description
From the foreword by Genral (ret.) David Petraeus: "In 2010, as the scale and tempo of Coalition operations in Afghanistan increased, so did the need for historical accounts of small-unit actions. As commander of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), I commissioned the Combat Studies Institute to research and write the cases collected in this volume and in those that will follow. By capturing key insights from both lethal and non-lethal operations, I hoped these accounts would be of immediate utility to sergeants and lieutenants at the center of future operations. The eight actions described in these pages take the reader through a wide range of platoon-level operations, from an intense firefight near Kandahar to an intricate civic action project in Kunar Province. Drawing from dozens of Soldier interviews, these accounts vividly depict the actions themselves and offer critical insights of greatest benefit to the small-unit actions leaders of today and tomorrow. The US Army always has prided itself as an institution of constant learning, strongly committed to drawing lessons from its past. This volume from the Combat Studies Institute is an excellent example of that long and honorable tradition. I hope that you will find the actions n Vanguard of Valor to be both instructive and compelling. I am sure that you will find them to be inspirational."

Author: U. S. Army
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781521154588
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 86

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Book Description
With this third installment of the Vanguard of Valor series, the Combat Studies Institute transitions from the anthology format of the previous two volumes to one that focuses on the actions of a single unit and operation. HAMMER DOWN is the story of a tactical operation conducted by the Soldiers of 2d Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, of the 3d Brigade Combat Team of the 25th Infantry Division, in partnership with units of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF). Known as Task Force Cacti, this unit's experience in the Watapur Valley of Nuristan Province in June 2011 well illustrates the challenges of combat in the mountains of Regional Command-East, where the terrain was a constant and at times a more formidable enemy than the Taliban, HiG, or al Qaeda fighters. Coalition forces executed Operation HAMMER DOWN in an area immediately to the east of the Waygal River valley. Among the enemy fighters who squared off against TF Cacti, some undoubtedly were men who had fought the Coalition in the adjacent Pech and Korengal valleys since 2005, including men who participated in the coordinated attack on Combat Outpost Kahler at Wanat three years earlier. Just as likely, TF Cacti included veterans of previous deployments to Nuristan, who were well acquainted with the unique challenges involved in attempting to pacify this region. It is important for the reader to remember these connections and understand the role that past experience played in determining the actions of both sides during the fighting in and around the village of Gambir. By June 2011, both sides understood the other's capabilities quite well. Tactical surprise was difficult for either side to achieve, which meant that every engagement was essentially a meeting engagement. In such an environment, logistical preparation, integration of enablers, and above all small-unit leadership must provide the margin for victory.Chapter 1: Introduction * Chapter 2: US Operations in the Watapur Valley, 2002-2011 * Chapter 3: Planning and Opening Moves * Chapter 4: The Battle for the Strongpoints, 26-30 June * Chapter 5: ConclusionOn the afternoon of 25 June 2011, the Soldiers of Bravo Company, 2d Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, 3d Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, also known as Task Force (TF) Cacti, entered an area of Afghanistan known as the "Gambir Jungle" as part of Operation HAMMER DOWN. The men of Bravo Company were far from the first Coalition force to try to clear the Watapur Valley. Situated at the northern end of the valley in Kunar Province and nicknamed after the imposing trees that cover the mountainside upon which the village of Gambir rests, the "Jungle" had been a focal point of several prior Coalition operations. Previous American units had attempted to forge ties with Gambir's elders with only limited success. The previous November, a US Special Forces (SF) unit had forcibly cleared the village but conditions in the valley deteriorated yet again.

Author: Donald P., Donald Wright, Ph. D.
Publisher: CreateSpace
ISBN: 9781494407155
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 218

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Book Description
For the US Army to succeed in the 21st Century, Soldiers of all ranks must understand and use Mission Command. Mission Command empowers leaders at all levels, allowing them to synchronize all warfighting functions and information systems to seize, retain, and exploit the initiative against a range of adversaries. This collection of historical vignettes seeks to sharpen our understanding of Mission Command philosophy and practice by providing examples from the past in which Mission Command principles played a decisive role. Some vignettes show junior officers following their commander's intent and exercising disciplined initiative in very chaotic combat operations. Others recount how field grade officers built cohesive teams that relied on mutual trust to achieve key operational objectives. Each historical account is complemented by an annotated explanation of how the six Mission Command principles shaped the action. For this reason, the collection is ideal for leader development in the Army school system as well as for unit and individual professional development. Mission Command places great responsibility on our Soldiers.

Author: Donald P. Wright
Publisher: www.Militarybookshop.CompanyUK
ISBN: 9781907521157
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 412

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Book Description
Based on hundreds of oral interviews and unclassified documents, this study offers a comprehensive chronological narrative of the first four years of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Author: Army Center of Military History
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781944961404
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 436

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Book Description
American Military History provides the United States Army-in particular, its young officers, NCOs, and cadets-with a comprehensive but brief account of its past. The Center of Military History first published this work in 1956 as a textbook for senior ROTC courses. Since then it has gone through a number of updates and revisions, but the primary intent has remained the same. Support for military history education has always been a principal mission of the Center, and this new edition of an invaluable history furthers that purpose. The history of an active organization tends to expand rapidly as the organization grows larger and more complex. The period since the Vietnam War, at which point the most recent edition ended, has been a significant one for the Army, a busy period of expanding roles and missions and of fundamental organizational changes. In particular, the explosion of missions and deployments since 11 September 2001 has necessitated the creation of additional, open-ended chapters in the story of the U.S. Army in action. This first volume covers the Army's history from its birth in 1775 to the eve of World War I. By 1917, the United States was already a world power. The Army had sent large expeditionary forces beyond the American hemisphere, and at the beginning of the new century Secretary of War Elihu Root had proposed changes and reforms that within a generation would shape the Army of the future. But world war-global war-was still to come. The second volume of this new edition will take up that story and extend it into the twenty-first century and the early years of the war on terrorism and includes an analysis of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq up to January 2009.

Author: Jon T. Hoffman
Publisher: Department of the Army
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 218

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Book Description
From the Foreword: This volume focuses on that second and longer campaign. But rather than a narrative of the overall course of the conflict, it provides a soldier's-eye view of the war by focusing on detailed accounts of selected engagements. Each illustrates the everyday challenges that America's soldiers faced in a difficult struggle against an inventive and often elusive enemy. Weapons, doctrine, and procedures developed to fight a conventional campaign against a similar opposing force had to be adapted to fit a different type of conflict. The U.S. Army's combat and support forces brought both resourcefulness and resilience to this task while continuing to demonstrate the same courage shown by previous generations fighting the nation's battles. These stories not only symbolize the tip of the spear formed by units in contact, but they also represent the contributions of all American men and women who have served their country in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Taken together, these accounts will provide our deploying leaders and soldiers a better understanding of the environment that they will encounter and prepare them for the work that must be done.

Author: Rod Andrew (Jr.)
Publisher: Government Printing Office
ISBN:
Category : Government publications
Languages : en
Pages : 54

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Author: John McGrath
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781075859144
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 140

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Book Description
Making history useful to the reader - this is one of the missions of the Combat Studies Institute. We strive to produce works that recount historical events to inform decision makers and to enable experiential learning. This collection of events put together by John McGrath, which occurred in Iraq during the 2003-2005 timeframe, addresses that mission.