Battle CENTCOM

Leaders in Warpresent unique first-person perspectives across the spectrum of American combat operations during the 1991 Persian Gulf War. From division commanders to platoon leaders, the authors deliver an insider's view of tough leadership challenges, tragic failures, and triumphant victories. Leaders in Warcaptures the essence of the post-Cold War US Army: how an all-volunteer army, equipped with new weapons systems and adjusting to new battle doctrine, mounted one of history's most successful military campaigns. Described here are the details of the tremendous logistical challenges, innovations in intelligence, ground combat operations from platoon to division, and a wide range of combat support operations.Leaders in Warfocuses not just on the successes, but on the failures as well, in operations ranging from violent tank battles against the vaunted Iraqi Republican Guard to train-and-fill operations thousands of miles away. Leaders in War illustrates how US Army leaders adapted to the psychological strains of combat, the fog of war, unforeseeable challenges, and the fury of tank warfare during the Persian Gulf War.

During the 1980s, Bacevich argues, a great transition occurred. As the Cold War wound down, the United States initiated a new conflict -- a War for the Greater Middle East -- that continues to the present day. The long twilight struggle with the Soviet Union had involved only occasional and sporadic fighting. But as this new war unfolded, hostilities became persistent. From the Balkans and East Africa to the Persian Gulf and Central Asia, U.S. forces embarked upon a seemingly endless series of campaigns across the Islamic world. Few achieved anything remotely like conclusive success. Instead, actions undertaken with expectations of promoting peace and stability produced just the opposite. As a consequence, phrases like "permanent war" and "open-ended war" have become part of everyday discourse. Bacevich weaves a narrative out of episodes as varied as the Beirut bombing of 1983, the Mogadishu firefight of 1993, the invasion of Iraq in 2003, and the rise of ISIS in the present decade. Understanding what America's costly military exertions have wrought requires seeing these seemingly discrete events as parts of a single war.

A penetrating look inside an armored cavalry regiment -- the technology, the strategies, and the people . . . profiled by Tom Clancy. His first non-fiction book, Submarine, captured the reality of life aboard a nuclear warship. Now, the #1 bestselling author of Clear and Present Danger and Without Remorse portrays today's military as only army personnel can know it. With the same compelling, you-are-there immediacy of his acclaimed fiction, Tom Clancy provides detailed descriptions of tanks, helicopters, artillery, and more -- the brilliant technology behind the U. S. Army. He captures military life -- from the drama of combat to the daily routine -- with total accuracy, and reveals the roles and missions that have in recent years distinguished our fighting forces. Armored Cav includes: Descriptions of the M1A2 Main Battle Tank, the AH-64A Apache Attack Helicopter, and more An interview with General Frederick Franks Strategies behind the Desert Storm account Exclusive photograph, illustrations and diagrams PLUS: From West Point cadet to Desert Storm commander . . . an interview with a combat cavalry officer on the rise.

For centuries, the world has witnessed the development and use of increasingly complex and powerful military systems and technologies. In the process, the "art of war" has truly become the art of combined arms warfare, in which infantry, artillery, air support, intelligence, and other key elements are all coordinated for maximum effect. Includes maps of: Battle of Cambrai, 20-30 November 1917; Second Battle of Armageddon, 19-24 September 1918; Maginot Line and the 1940 Campaign; Khalkin-Gol, 20-31 August 1939; Sidi Barrani, December 1940; Prokhorovka Action, Battle of Kursk, July 1943; Sidi Bou Zid-Kasserine Pass, February 1943; Battle of Ormoc Valley, November-December 1944; Imphal-Kohima, March-April 1944; Operation Lam Son 719, February-March 1971; 7th Israeli Armored Brigade at Abu Agheila, 1956; 1973 War - Sinai; 1973 War - Golan Heights; Soviet Search and Destroy Operation, Xadighar Canyon, 1986; Battle of Goose Green, 1982; Battle of 73 Easting, 1991.

As a new generation of main battle tanks came on line during the 1980s, neither the US nor USSR had the chance to pit them in combat. But once the Cold War between the superpowers waned, Iraq's Saddam Hussein provided that chance with his invasion of Kuwait. Finally the new US M1A1 tank would see how it fared against the vaunted Soviet-built T-72. On the morning of August 2, 1990, Iraqi armored divisions invaded the tiny emirate of Kuwait. The Iraqi Army, after its long war with Iran, had more combat experience than the U.S. Army. Who knew if America's untested forces could be shipped across the world and thence contest the battle-hardened Iraqis on their homeground? The Kuwaitis had collapsed easily enough, but the invasion drew fierce condemnation from the UN, which demanded Saddam's withdrawal. Undeterred by the rhetoric, the Iraqi dictator massed his forces along the Saudi Arabian border and dared the world to stop him. In response, the U.S. led the world community in a coalition of 34 nations in what became known as Operation Desert Storm - a violent air and ground campaign to eject the Iraqis from Kuwait. Leading this charge into Iraq were the men of Eagle Troop in the US Army's 2d Armored Cavalry Regiment. Commanded by then-Captain HR McMaster, Eagle Troop was the lead element of the US VII Corps' advance into Iraq. On February 26, 1991, Eagle Troop encountered the Tawakalna Brigade of Iraq's elite Republican Guard. By any calculation, the 12 American tanks didn't stand a chance. Yet within a mere 23 minutes, the M1A1 tanks of Eagle Troop destroyed more than 50 enemy vehicles and plowed a hole through the Iraqi front. History would call it the Battle of 73 Easting. Based on hours of interviews and archival research by renowned author Mike Guardia, this minute-by-minute account of the U.S. breakthrough reveals an intimate, no-holds-barred account of modern warfare.