Making War at Fort Hood

Making War at Fort Hood PDF Author: Kenneth T. MacLeish
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 069116570X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 278

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Book Description
An intimate look at war through the lives of soldiers and their families at Fort Hood Making War at Fort Hood offers an illuminating look at war through the daily lives of the people whose job it is to produce it. Kenneth MacLeish conducted a year of intensive fieldwork among soldiers and their families at and around the US Army's Fort Hood in central Texas. He shows how war's reach extends far beyond the battlefield into military communities where violence is as routine, boring, and normal as it is shocking and traumatic. Fort Hood is one of the largest military installations in the world, and many of the 55,000 personnel based there have served multiple tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. MacLeish provides intimate portraits of Fort Hood's soldiers and those closest to them, drawing on numerous in-depth interviews and diverse ethnographic material. He explores the exceptional position that soldiers occupy in relation to violence--not only trained to fight and kill, but placed deliberately in harm's way and offered up to die. The death and destruction of war happen to soldiers on purpose. MacLeish interweaves gripping narrative with critical theory and anthropological analysis to vividly describe this unique condition of vulnerability. Along the way, he sheds new light on the dynamics of military family life, stereotypes of veterans, what it means for civilians to say "thank you" to soldiers, and other questions about the sometimes ordinary, sometimes agonizing labor of making war. Making War at Fort Hood is the first ethnography to examine the everyday lives of the soldiers, families, and communities who personally bear the burden of America's most recent wars.

The Face of Battle

The Face of Battle PDF Author: John Keegan
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1440673993
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 380

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Book Description
John Keegan's groundbreaking portrayal of the common soldier in the heat of battle -- a masterpiece that explores the physical and mental aspects of warfare The Face of Battle is military history from the battlefield: a look at the direct experience of individuals at the "point of maximum danger." Without the myth-making elements of rhetoric and xenophobia, and breaking away from the stylized format of battle descriptions, John Keegan has written what is probably the definitive model for military historians. And in his scrupulous reassessment of three battles representative of three different time periods, he manages to convey what the experience of combat meant for the participants, whether they were facing the arrow cloud at the battle of Agincourt, the musket balls at Waterloo, or the steel rain of the Somme. The Face of Battle is a companion volume to John Keegan's classic study of the individual soldier, The Mask of Command: together they form a masterpiece of military and human history.

Death on Base

Death on Base PDF Author: Anita Belles Porterfield
Publisher: University of North Texas Press
ISBN: 1574415964
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 356

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Book Description
When Army psychiatrist Nidal Hasan walked into the Fort Hood Soldier Readiness Processing Center and opened fire on soldiers within, he perpetrated the worst mass shooting on a United States military base in our country’s history. Death on Base is an in-depth look at the events surrounding the tragic mass murder that took place on November 5, 2009, and an investigation into the causes and influences that factored into the attack. The story begins with Hasan's early life in Virginia, continues with his time at Fort Hood, Texas, covers the events of the shooting, and concludes with his trial. The authors analyze Hasan's connections to radical Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki and Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) and demonstrate how radical Islam fueled Hasan’s hatred of both the American military and the soldiers he treated. Hasan's mass shooting is compared with others, such as George Hennard's shooting rampage at Luby's in Killeen in 1991, Charles Whitman at the University of Texas, and Virginia Tech shooter Seung-Hui Cho. The authors explore the strange paradox that the shooting at Fort Hood was classified as workplace violence rather than a terrorist act. This classification has major implications for the victims of the shooting who have been denied health benefits and compensation.

After War

After War PDF Author: Zoë H. Wool
Publisher: Duke University Press
ISBN: 0822375095
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 251

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Book Description
In After War Zoë H. Wool explores how the American soldiers most severely injured in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars struggle to build some kind of ordinary life while recovering at Walter Reed Army Medical Center from grievous injuries like lost limbs and traumatic brain injury. Between 2007 and 2008, Wool spent time with many of these mostly male soldiers and their families and loved ones in an effort to understand what it's like to be blown up and then pulled toward an ideal and ordinary civilian life in a place where the possibilities of such a life are called into question. Contextualizing these soldiers within a broader political and moral framework, Wool considers the soldier body as a historically, politically, and morally laden national icon of normative masculinity. She shows how injury, disability, and the reality of soldiers' experiences and lives unsettle this icon and disrupt the all-too-common narrative of the heroic wounded veteran as the embodiment of patriotic self-sacrifice. For these soldiers, the uncanny ordinariness of seemingly extraordinary everyday circumstances and practices at Walter Reed create a reality that will never be normal.

American Interiors

American Interiors PDF Author: M. L. Casteel
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781911306177
Category : Automobiles
Languages : en
Pages : 95

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Book Description
The human cost of war / Jörg Colberg -- Drive carefully / Ken MacLeish.

Standing by

Standing by PDF Author: Alison Buckholtz
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 9781585426959
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 322

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Book Description
A Navy wife provides an unexpectedly honest and moving account of her family's experiences during her husband's deployment to the Middle East.

Report of the Fort Hood Independent Review Committee

Report of the Fort Hood Independent Review Committee PDF Author: United States. Fort Hood Independent Review Committee
Publisher: Independently Published
ISBN:
Category : Missing persons
Languages : en
Pages : 148

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Book Description
The U. S. Secretary of the Army appointed the Fort Hood Independent Review Committee(FHIRC or Committee) and directed it to "conduct a comprehensive assessment of the Fort Hoodcommand climate and culture, and its impact, if any, on the safety, welfare and readiness of ourSoldiers and units." In addressing this mandate, the FHIRC determined that during the time periodcovered by the Review, the command climate relative to the Sexual Harassment/Assault Responseand Prevention (SHARP) Program at Fort Hood was ineffective, to the extent that there was apermissive environment for sexual assault and sexual harassment.As set forth in this Report, specific Findings demonstrate that the implementation of theSHARP Program was ineffective. During the review period, no Commanding General or subordinateechelon commander chose to intervene proactively and mitigate known risks of high crime, sexualassault and sexual harassment. The result was a pervasive lack of confidence in the SHARP Programand an unacceptable lack of knowledge of core SHARP components regarding reporting and certainvictim services. Under a structurally weak and under-resourced III Corps SHARP Program, theSexual Assault Review Board (SARB) process was primarily utilized to address administrative and notthe actual substantive aspects of the Program. While a powerful tool by design, the SARB processbecame a missed opportunity to develop and implement proactive strategies to create a respectfulculture and prevent and reduce incidents of sexual assault and sexual harassment. From the III Corpslevel and below, the SHARP Program was chronically under-resourced, due to understaffing, lack oftraining, lack of credentialed SHARP professionals, and lack of funding. Most of all, it lackedcommand emphasis where it was needed the most: the enlisted ranks.A resonant symptom of the SHARP Program's ineffective implementation was significantunderreporting of sexual harassment and sexual assault. Without intervention from the NCOs andofficers entrusted with their health and safety, victims feared the inevitable consequences of reporting: ostracism, shunning and shaming, harsh treatment, and indelible damage to their career. Many haveleft the Army or plan to do so at the earliest opportunity.As part of the command climate, the issues of crime and Criminal Investigation Division(CID) operations were examined. The Committee determined that serious crime issues on and offFort Hood were neither identified nor addressed. There was a conspicuous absence of an effectiverisk management approach to crime incident reduction and Soldier victimization. A militaryinstallation is essentially a large, gated community. The Commander of a military installation possessesa wide variety of options to proactively address and mitigate the spectrum of crime incidents. Despitehaving the capability, very few tools were employed at Fort Hood to do so. Both the Directorate ofEmergency Services (DES) and the CID have a mandate and a role to play in crime reduction.Each contributed very little analysis, feedback and general situational awareness to the command towardfacilitating and enabling such actions. This was another missed opportunity.The deficient climate also extended into the missing Soldier scenarios, where no onerecognized the slippage in accountability procedures and unwillingness or lack of ability of noncommissioned officers (NCOs) to keep track of their subordinates. The absence of any formalprotocols for Soldiers who fail to report resulted in an ad hoc approach by units and Military Police(MP) to effectively address instances of missing Soldiers during the critical first 24 hours, again withadverse consequences.Consistent with the FHIRC Charter, this Report sets forth nine Findings and offers seventyRecommendations.

The Evolution of US Army Tactical Doctrine, 1946-76

The Evolution of US Army Tactical Doctrine, 1946-76 PDF Author: Robert A. Doughty
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Military art and science
Languages : en
Pages : 68

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Book Description


Articles of War

Articles of War PDF Author: Albert S. Castel
Publisher: Stackpole Books
ISBN: 0811753646
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
The American Civil War is filled with fascinating characters. This collection of biographical essays on the “winners and losers” of the Civil War covers some of the most intriguing: Ulysses S. Grant, George B. McClellan, Sam Houston, Albert Sidney Johnston, Nathan Bedford Forrest, and William Clarke Quantrill, to name just a few. In Articles of War you’ll discover: Some Winners Ulysses S. Grant, whose brilliant Vicksburg Campaign was a model of military strategy John A. “Black Jack” Logan, one of the war’s few successful political generals Nathan Bedford Forrest, a natural military genius despite his “Lost Cause” Some Losers George B. McClellan, whose lack of eagerness cost the Union two opportunities to win the war Earl Van Dorn, a victim of sheer bad luck Theophilus H. Holmes, the little-known incompetent, called “granny Holmes” by his own men Some Winners Who Became Losers Albert Sidney Johnston, the Confederacy’s “General Who Might Have Been” Leonidas Polk, whose initial good luck eventually ran out William Clarke Quantrill, a winner in death but a loser in life And Some Losers Who Became Winners Sam Houston, who, had he lived longer, could have been a winner in Texas William Tecumseh Sherman, an exceptional man; a capable, but flawed, commander

Bring the War Home

Bring the War Home PDF Author: Kathleen Belew
Publisher: Harvard University Press
ISBN: 0674237692
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 353

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Book Description
A Guardian Best Book of the Year “A gripping study of white power...Explosive.” —New York Times “Helps explain how we got to today’s alt-right.” —Terry Gross, Fresh Air The white power movement in America wants a revolution. Returning to a country ripped apart by a war they felt they were not allowed to win, a small group of Vietnam veterans and disgruntled civilians who shared their virulent anti-communism and potent sense of betrayal concluded that waging war on their own country was justified. The command structure of their covert movement gave women a prominent place. They operated with discipline, made tragic headlines in Waco, Ruby Ridge, and Oklahoma City, and are resurgent under President Trump. Based on a decade of deep immersion in previously classified FBI files and on extensive interviews, Bring the War Home tells the story of American paramilitarism and the birth of the alt-right. “A much-needed and troubling revelation... The power of Belew’s book comes, in part, from the fact that it reveals a story about white-racist violence that we should all already know.” —The Nation “Fascinating... Shows how hatred of the federal government, fears of communism, and racism all combined in white-power ideology and explains why our responses to the movement have long been woefully inadequate.” —Slate “Superbly comprehensive...supplants all journalistic accounts of America’s resurgent white supremacism.” —Pankaj Mishra, The Guardian