I finally finished reading Desert of Death last night which I picked up quite cheaply at a bookstore. I think this has been one of the most enjoyable military books I’ve read so far as the writing style feels a bit more personal and is quite easy to follow compared to some of the other books I’ve read.

The book is a recollection of first-hand events and time spent in the Helmand Province, Afghanistan by Captain Leo Docherty who was deployed there in 2006. At the start of this book, you are introduced to a solider who is full of passion, confidence, is excited to experience the culture and people and is eager to make a difference in Afghanistan with the British campaign. But when you starting getting towards the middle of the book, you begin to see that the actual campaigns purpose is very vague, there is no clear indication when International aid will begin, or how the improvement of life for the local people will happen. The author writes in such a way that you can clearly feel his frustration and see that he is confused as to why they are even there and what the actual purpose of the campaign is when soldiers eventually start getting shot at, severely injured or even killed.

I find books written from a soldier’s accounts show the type of life over in countries such as Afghanistan. There is a specific town structure, where the elders make decisions for the town in meetings called Shura’s. Police are generally corrupt, the rob, assault and sometimes even kill locals. The local people themselves are often quite poor, are forced to work and harvest in poppy fields for opium distribution. Afghanistan is one of, if not the largest source of opium distribution in the world and apparently 46% of it comes from the Helmand Province (2006/2007) where the author was situated.

What made this book interesting was the fact the author actually publicly spoke out about his experiences to the media, which is a big no-no if you are in the military.
To be honest, if I was as frustrated as he was – I probably would of done the same thing. To his surprise, his comments and opinion reached an international audience making headlines everywhere. For example, the Asia Times, but mainly in local news. As he was exiting the Army, his punishment wasn’t as severe as it could of been if he was to remain in his unit.

The epilogue of the book went through a brief rundown of what happened after the author finished his tour. How the fighting in Helmand suddenly became rampant, brief statistics of ‘collateral’ damage inflicted to civilians and the fact nothing really had improved for the people.

Overall, I found this book a more down to earth read and quite enjoyable. If you can find it on the shelf, it is worth a read.

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Well, this is not exactly about the way I am, more so about Eminem and his latest book. Love him or hate him, Eminem has made his mark on Hip Hop and Rap indefinitely. I guess the reason he is so popular is because he reaches out to middle America, and to be honest he does have decent lyrical skills. Also attributing to his success is probably the fact he is one of very few white rappers who have made it in that form of entertainment, as well all know it’s predominantly black males.

The book contains Eminem’s reflections on his own life and things that have happened to him, shares some of his own drawings (I didn’t know he was that skilled with a pencil), handwritten lyrics (I couldn’t read half!), and a fair few photographs. I think it is quite a personal book, it is interesting to read some of his experiences and to see that he is also a normal human being like the rest of us. Well, I knew this but apparently half of America didn’t.

The book is set out nicely. The typography is laid out well in various sizes and formats. It’s either wrapped around an image or completely on a page of it’s own, there is a lot of variation to the way it’s set out. There is nice use of a significantly bigger font for emphasis on certain parts of a paragraph. The images are also laid out well, overall it feels like a diary with notes and images attached by paperclip.

While the book is a relatively short read, it was good none the less. If you’re an Eminem fan, check out the book here →

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“If fate is against me and I’m killed, so be it, but make it quick and painless. If I’m wounded, don’t let me be crippled. But above all don’t let me fuck up the task.”

What a job to have, IEDD (Improvised Explosive Device Disposal) in Iraq. I picked this paperback up on a whim from Big W about two weeks ago and finished reading it last night. To be quite frank, I’ll pretty much read any military based book I can find providing it is a true account. I find I don’t get immersed in fiction.

When I saw this book on the shelf, the title seemed interesting so I walked over and grabbed it for a closer look. Eight Lives Down → is the day to day accounts of Major Chris Hunter →, an ATO (Ammunition Technical Officer) in the British Army who served several months in Iraq.

The book was quite interesting, informative, vivid, funny and upsetting at times. The informative side is written in such a style that the author gives you an indication of how a certain bomb is assembled, but at the same time explains just how dangerous it really is. Some vivid parts include the story of an Iraqi father slitting his own daughters throat as retaliation against soldier’s who beat him up for disciplining her previously.

While the thought is extremely off putting, closer to the end of the book the author recalls an account of a house search where the occupants offered the soldiers Baclava (a rich, sweet pastry). This goes to show how friendly and spirited people can be, that not all Iraqi people are ‘animals’.

I find reading any books written by British soldiers somehow turn out to be quite amusing at times as well, those guys certainly have a sense of humour. Always calling each other tossers, or wankers and generally taking the piss out of each other. One thing that is evident in each book I read is that the teams really become a family, a very tightly knit group and generally remain friends for life – it is like a given. So when reading in the second last chapter, that two members of the authors team were redeployed to an IEDD squad and both had their legs severed in IED attack, you could only feel the authors pain and helplessness.

Overall, I thought it was quite a gripping book and a great read. I tried to limit myself to 2-3 chapters a night but sometimes went overboard I became that immersed. The play on the title was also done well, I thought it would be about 8 members of his team dying, yet it was referring to the author having nine lives like a cat and having already used up eight of those, choosing making the most of his last.

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Last night I finally finished reading a book I got for Christmas entitled Apache: Inside the Cockpit of the World’s Most Deadly Fighting Machine written by an ex-pilot for the British Army Air Corps, Ed Macy.

The start of the book introduces us to the author, a bit of his background and how he worked himself into the parachute regiment. One night, Ed was dealt a blow to his dream career after suffering severe injuries from a bike ride that prevented him from joining SAS. After recovering he is given a chance with the Army Air Corps and decides takes it.

We are then introduced to the Apache itself and details of the awesome machine, some of which I hadn’t read about previously. It was interesting to read how the British improved on the American design, leaving the Americans themselves rather jealous.

Ed then moves onto the selection process and associated details with becoming a AH64 pilot. 6 months of learning how to fly it, 6 months to learn how to fight in it and then another 6 months to be passed as ‘combat ready’. One thing that intrigued me was how Ed detailed some of the physical capabilities the pilots must have. One of these was the ability to use both of your eyes individually.

The book then moves onto the authors time in deployment and eventually onto the Jugroom Fort rescue of a soldier, which definitely was one of the more climatic parts of the book. The rescue led to the author, Ed Macy being awarded the Military Cross – one of the first in the Army Air Corps’ history.

After reading the book, I did a search on YouTube for Apaches and actually came across some real footage of the Jugroom Fort rescue, captured by a gun camera on board one of the Apaches. Seeing this footage certainly helped to visualise what was written about in the book a lot more.

Over all I found it a great read filled with drama, action and a bit of humour as well. I Recommended reading this one.

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