The fight for air superiority began the day the Korean War started and only ended with the armistice three years later. Once the shock of the North Koreans' invasion wore off, it did not take long for the United States Air Force, assisted by other United Nations air forces, to destroy the North Korean Air Force. The arrival of the MiG-15 in November 1950, often flown by Soviet pilots, changed things considerably however. For the remainder of the war, bitterly contested air battles were fought almost daily. Yet despite a decided numerical superiority in jet fighters, the Communists were never able to gain air superiority, testament to the skill and training of the UN fighter pilots, primarily those U.S. Air Force airmen flying the magnificent F-86 Sabre.

This anthology presents a collection of 21 articles describing the full range of U.S. Marine Corps operations in Iraq from 2004 to 2008. During this period, the Marines conducted a wide variety of kinetic and non-kinetic operations as they fought to defeat the Iraq insurgency, build stability, and lay the groundwork for democratic governance. The selections in this collection include journalistic accounts, scholarly essays, and Marine Corps summaries of action. Our intent is to provide a general overview to educate Marines and the general public about this critical period in the history of the U.S. Marine Corps, the United States, and Iraq. Many of the conclusions are provisional and are being updated and revised as new information and archival resources become available. The accompanying annotated bibliography provides a detailed overview of where current scholarship on this period currently stands. The editor of this anthology, Nicholas J. Schlosser, earned his doctorate in history from the University of Maryland in 2008 and has worked as a historian with the Marine Corps History Division since 2009. His research examines U.S. Marine Corps operations during Operation Iraqi Freedom, focusing on irregular warfare, counterinsurgency operations, and the al-Anbar Awakening

On June 25, 1950 the North Korean Peoples Army crossed the 38th parallel and invaded South Korea. The United Nations, primarily the United States, came to South Korea's aid. Because America had largely dismantled its Army and Navy after World War II, the Navy needed to quickly take 110 WW-II destroyers out of mothballs, return them to fleet service and staff them with crews. Many young men answered their country's call and joined the Navy -- among them was a young music school student named Archie T. Miller. This book depicts his sailor's story of adventures in the "Tin Can" Navy. Plucked from a comfortable civilian life Miller and his shipmates adapted to the spartan conditions of life at sea in a small hard riding ship. The discipline, responsibility, danger, travel and camaraderie of those four years forever changed their lives. The crew of USS Wren traveled over 50,000 miles completely around the world while taking their ship to Korea. This book describes life in a small ship in smooth and rough seas while operating with Fast Carrier Task Force 77 off the coasts of Korea, dodging and sinking mines, conducting antisubmarine operations and searching for North Korean ships above the 38th parallel in blinding snowstorms. Home from Korea, Wren aided a burning troopship, rode out hurricanes, visited Havana, participated in fleet exercises and trained midshipmen. Wren also blockaded Puerto Barrios while the CIA overthrew the freely elected government of Guatemala. The Wrens lived the slogan "Join the Navy and see the world" -- and still treasure their experiences. They were funny, scary, awe inspiring, sobering and exciting. They still talk about them -- they call them Sea Stories. And this book is those stories.

Both inspiring and heartbreaking, Lessons From A Young Soldier's Life is the fascinating true adventure story of Captain Sean Grimes, RN, PA-C, U.S. Army, the first U.S. military Physician Assistant killed in combat. It is great reading for men and women and teenagers will enjoy it, too. March 4, 2005 starts out as just another day Sean has to survive being shot at and bombed by the enemy before he can go home on leave to New York City. The highlight of his leave will be taking his girlfriend to Times Square and asking her to marry him. Before flying to New York City Sean first has to survive another day being a Physician Assistant for U.S. soldiers and Marines in the violent Anbar Province of Iraq. Sean brought to the battlefield medical skills and experience equal to that of an emergency room doctor back in the U.S. The troops knew that having "Doc Grimes" on patrol with them meant they had a better chance of surviving when they were shot or bombed. After many twists and turns, the ending of the story hinges on a fateful decision Sean made when his unit first deployed to Iraq: the decision to leave the relative safety of his base camp to go out on combat patrols and night raids with the soldiers of the Scout Platoon. Sean doesn't have to put himself in harms way on these patrols but he does because of his desire to better care for "his" soldiers when they are wounded. Sean overcame growing up in a troubled household before moving on to experience adventures around the globe. He was a soldier who, even after finding the woman of his dreams, volunteered to go to the war in Iraq to serve his country and, more importantly, serve the soldiers and Marines in his area of operations. Sean is a virtual poster child for the opportunities the U.S. military offers to members interested in medicine. Right out of high school he decides to put off college for a year and enlists in the Army Reserve and is trained as a Medic at Ft. Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas. Sean then receives an ROTC scholarship at Michigan State University and becomes a Registered Nurse and an Army officer. His first assignment as an officer is in Germany as an Army Nurse at the large U.S. Army Medical Center in Landstuhl, Germany. While stationed there he is deployed to U.N. peacekeeping duty in Kosovo where he accompanies infantry patrols into the war torn civilian towns. It is on these patrols that Sean discovers his true career calling- going into harm's way with soldiers to provide world class medical care. To be able to go into direct combat with U.S. troops Sean has to make the difficult career decision to leave nursing and apply for a coveted spot in the world renown U.S. Department of Defense Physician Assistant program held at Ft. Sam Houston. He is accepted to the program and graduates 2nd in his class. This soldier's story of bravery and sacrifice is one that can represent the story of thousands of American military men and women who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The nineteenth daughter of a local village leader in rural Afghanistan, Fawzia Koofi was left to die in the sun after birth by her mother. But she survived, and perseverance in the face of extreme hardship has defined her life ever since. Despite the abuse of her family, the exploitative Russian and Taliban regimes, the murders of her father, brother, and husband, and numerous attempts on her life, she rose to become the first Afghani woman Parliament speaker. Here, she shares her amazing story, punctuated by a series of poignant letters she wrote to her two daughters before each political trip - letters describing the future and freedoms she dreamed of for them and for all the women of Afghanistan. Her story movingly captures the political and cultural moment in Afghanistan, a country caught between the hope of progress and the bitter truth of history.

In August 1990, Iraqi military forces invaded the neighboring nation of Kuwait. The invasion was part of an expansionist foreign policy that President Saddam Hussein established a decade earlier when he invaded post-revolution Iran. The Iraqi invasion of Iran failed, degenerating into a decade long war of attrition, but Kuwait was an easier target. Kuwait had financed the Iraq-Iran War for Iraq, but refused to forgive the debt, and Iraq accused Kuwait of stealing oil from the Rumalia Oil Field. Much smaller than Iran in terms of population and geography, Kuwait had focused its foreign and defense policies on negotiation and compromise rather than military force; inevitably, the large Iraqi Army quickly overwhelmed the small Kuwaiti armed forces. Inside Kuwait, Iraqi troops began wholesale pillaging as security forces moved to remove all those loyal to the Kuwaiti royal family. Iraq declared that Kuwait was now a province, thus eliminating its debt and adding extensive oil fields to its own. Saddam stationed conscript infantry divisions in Kuwait and began building extensive defenses along the Kuwaiti-Saudi border. While Saddam calculated the military balance between Iraq and Kuwait correctly, he underestimated the willingness of the world community, especially the United States and Great Britain, to intervene on Kuwait's behalf. His invasion set the stage for a military confrontation that was larger in scope than any similar circumstance since the Cold War. Under President George H.W. Bush, the United States assembled a global coalition of concerned nations, first to defend Saudi Arabia against further Iraqi aggression, and then to eject the Iraqi military from Kuwait. Early in this "Gulf War" American military commanders designated the operation to protect Saudi Arabia "Desert Shield," and the successive operation to free Kuwait "Desert Storm." These military operations were massive undertakings, and they highlighted the paradigm shift from superpowers in precarious equilibrium during the Cold War to American global hegemony in the 1990s.

This book is an intimate account of an ordinary individual's extraordinary life journey that transcends both cultural and social boundaries. Th e author was born and lived in Korea during his formative years, and has been living in the United States for the following 47 years. Th is individual's unique story of his environment is informative and his approach to his life time challenges highlights every passage of the book. Th e book is thoughtprovoking as well as enlightening...a rare gem in its subject, style, and exposition. This book enlightens and entertains its readers at the same time eff ortlessly.

Contains the definitive history of the extensive but little known U.S. Army amphibious operations during the Korean War, 1950-1953. Provides insights to modern planners crafting future joint or combined operations in that part of the world.Originally published in 2008. Illustrated.

On Point is a study of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM (OIF) as soon after the fact as feasible. The Army leadership chartered this effort in a message to the major commands on 30 April 2003. In his guidance, Army Chief of Staff General Eric K. Shinseki directed "a quick, thorough review that looks at the US Army's performance, assesses the role it played in the joint and coalition team, and captures the strategic, operational, and tactical lessons that should be disseminated and applied in future fights." For those of us in the Operation IRAQI FREEDOM Study Group (OIF-SG), this translated into three separate products. A "quick look" lessons-learned briefing produced in July, less than 30 days after returning from the theater. On Point-this work-is the second product and was largely completed by mid-August 2003. Finally, the most significant product is the archive of 119,000 documents, some 2,300 interviews and 69,000 photos archived with the support and assistance of the Combined Arms Research Library at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. We had straightforward guidance and a short time horizon. Simply put, On Point tells the Army's story in the only context possible-a combined-arms ground force operating in a joint environment. There is no other way for the Army to tell its story-the Army cannot get to a theater of war, let alone fight, in any context but that of a joint operation. Accordingly, the OIF-SG relied heavily on the cooperation and support of units in the field and from our colleagues on the other services' collection teams. We also drew on the more deliberate efforts of the Center of Military History and unit historians. We encountered only helpful attitudes, with the exception of one or two Iraqi combatants who fired on or threw grenades at members of the team. The joint lessons learned team from the Joint Forces Command (JFCOM) assigned a liaison offi cer to the OIF-SG who proved helpful in working with our joint counterparts. The Combined Forces Land Component Command (CFLCC ) historian, the V Corps historian, the Army Materiel Command historian, and various branch historians all were abundantly helpful. Like the soldiers bound for the theater, we trained at two different replacement centers, and most of us deployed via military or Civilian Reserve Air Fleet aircraft. Once in theater, we traveled freely throughout area of operations. Members of the team visited Europe, Turkey, and nearly a dozen sites in the US, ranging from Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, to Fort Bliss, Texas. To do this in the time allowed, we depended on others for help. We found eager and enthusiastic support at every stop. Interpreting history is difficult; interpreting ongoing events is even more difficult. On Point is not the seminal history of the OIF or even of the Army in OIF. We understand the risks of a rapidly produced history and believe they are worth taking to glean initial insights, or what General Frederick M. Franks, Jr. described after DESERT STORM as "glimmerings" of change.

The U.S. used its armored ground forces with devastating effect in DESERT STORM - the last major land campaign of the 20th century. Tuskers is the story of 4-64 armor battalion, a U.S. tank battalion at the tip of the devastating assault on the Iraqi army. The Tuskers were part of the 24th Infantry Division, the first mechanized division to deploy to Saudi Arabia as part of the DESERT SHIELD defense. After months of preparing in the desert, they led the sweeping left flank attack into the Euphrates River Valley - an attack that went farther and faster than any ground attack in the history of warfare. The Tuskers attacked through the Iraqi 26th Commando Brigade and into the Republican Guards logistics area astride Highway 8 near An Nasiriyah. After severing the Iraqi army's escape route to Baghdad, they continued east on Highway 8 to the the outskirts of Basra. In the final battle of the war, the Tuskers destroyed much of the Iraqi Republican Guards Nebuchadnezzar division as it attempted to escape across the Euphrates River. "Tuskers" is a narrative that describes the unit's deployment, preparation for combat, and their overwhelming success in combat. It focuses primarily at the battalion and company level, detailing not only the actions taking place, but also the thoughts of the men behind the guns as they face combat for the first time.

"In the Wake of the Surge" is a gripping first-person narrative that tells the story of the Kurds, the Arabs, and the Americans in Iraq during one of the most violent and wrenching periods in that country's history. Award-winning foreign correspondent Michael J. Totten visited Iraq seven times between 2005 and 2009, first as a "unilateral" freelance journalist without a gun in the Kurdish autonomous region, and then as an embedded reporter with the U.S. Army and Marine Corps in Baghdad, Sadr City, Ramadi, and Fallujah.

He was there at the beginning, in the middle, and at the end of General David Petraeus' "surge" of combat troops to Iraq and saw first-hand how young men from places like Florida and Texas pacified a relentless insurgency-an insurgency that most people, during the darkest days of the war, assumed would be victorious.

"In the Wake of the Surge" is a bracing story of war in a tormented country by a writer who has spent enough time in the Middle East to know there are few happy endings, but who nevertheless was a witness when Iraqis and Americans drove each other to the brink of the abyss before managing, against all odds and at the very last second, to pull back and save themselves from utter catastrophe.

Praise for Michael J. Totten

"I think of only a certain number of people as having risen to the intellectual and journalistic challenges of the last few years, and Michael J. Totten is one of them." - Paul Berman, author of "Terror and Liberalism"

"Michael J. Totten...practices journalism in the tradition of Orwell: morally imaginative, partisan in the best sense of the word, and delivered in crackling, rapid-fire prose befitting the violent realities it depicts. An unabashed classical liberal, Totten brings his political commitments and emotional intelligence to bear on the dramatic events he witnesses. As a result, he ends up far more clearsighted than the many analysts who claim 'objectivity' but share neither his love of the region and its inhabitants nor his concern for its future." - Sohrab Ahmari, "Commentary"

"Michael J. Totten is a one of a rare breed. Moving from front to front, he brings experience and context and the willingness to go where few men dare." - Michael Yon, author of "Moment of Truth in Iraq"

"Michael J. Totten, to my mind, is one of the world's most acute observers of Middle East politics. He is also an absolutely fearless reporter, both physically-he has explored the darkest corners of Middle East extremism-and morally." - Jeffrey Goldberg, author of "Prisoners: A Story of Friendship and Terror"

Praise for "The Road to Fatima Gate"

"A terrific book about a terrifying and beautiful part of the world." - Benjamin Kerstein, "Jewish Ideas Daily" columnist

"It is extremely rare to read such an accurate account of anything to which one was oneself a witness." - Christopher Hitchens, author of "God is Not Great"

"A thriller in which a daredevil reporter puts himself in harm's way in search of the inside story of some of the most dangerous outfits in the world." - Amir Taheri, "Asharq al-Awsat"

"Outstanding...it grabbed me so quickly that I ended up lost in it." - Claire Berlinski, "Ricochet"

"Raw, direct, and powerful...This work is vitally important." -Ken Stern, former CEO of National Public Radio
Benjamin Tupper takes us inside the intricacies of the war, opening up a unique and multifaceted view of Afghan culture and warfare, and illuminates the challenges of the war, vividly bringing to life both the mundane and the extraordinary and the search for a way forward.

For U.S. and UN soldiers fighting the Korean War, the spring of 1951 was brutal. The troops faced a tough and determined foe under challenging conditions. The Chinese Spring Offensive of 1951 exemplified the hardships of the war, as the UN forces struggled with the Chinese troops over Line Kansas, a phase line north of the 38th parallel, in a conflict that led to the war's final stalemate. Passing the Test: Combat in Korea, April-June 1951 explores the UN responses to the offensive in detail, looking closely at combat from the perspectives of platoons, squads, and the men themselves. Editors William T. Bowers and John T. Greenwood emphasize the tactical operations on the front lines and examine U.S. and UN strategy, as well as the operations of the Communist Chinese and North Korean forces. They employ a variety of sources, including interviews conducted by U.S. Army historians within hours or days of combat, unit journals, and after action reports, to deliver a comprehensive narrative of the offensive and its battles. Passing the Test highlights the experiences of individual soldiers, providing unique insights into the chaos, perseverance, and heroism of war. The interviews offer a firsthand account that is untainted by nostalgia and later literature, illuminating the events that unfolded on the battlefields of Korea.

The Guardian Class explores two seemingly separate subjects-war profits and humanitarian relief-to highlight the inexplicably absurd realities of Washington. Inspired by a small group of infantry medics, the story revolves around their effort to evacuate children from Iraq and Afghanistan for medical care. Skirting government restrictions, the soldiers challenge the most powerful CEOs in America to match their efforts. In so doing, they bypass befuddled authorities in an adventure that is inspiring and hilariously inappropriate.

In 1951, James Michener went to Korea to report on a little-known aspect of America's stalemated war: Navy aviators. His research-inspired, bestselling novel became perhaps the most widely read book ever written about aerial combat. Using Michener's notes, author David Sears tracked down the actual pilots to tell their riveting true stories. The result, Such Men As These , brims with action-packed accounts of combat, from the icy, windswept decks of aircraft carriers to the treacherous skies over Korea, while providing unforgettable portraits of the pilots whose skill and sacrifice made epic history.

A decade on from the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, Australians are embroiled in one of the nation's longest military conflict-the war in Afghanistan. An Unwinnable War charts the motives, ambitions and negotiations that carried Australia into Afghanistan: from the then Prime Minister John Howard's presence in Washington DC on September 11, 2001 to the 'transition' plan to hand security to Afghan forces - all played out in the wake of increasing casualties. Based on interviews with key political and military figures in Australia and abroad, An Unwinnable War lays bare the tensions between political and military decision-making, the nature and potency of the US alliance and the influence of individual personalities in charting Australia's course in what was once dubbed the 'good war'.

Hard Lessons reviews the Iraq reconstruction experience from mid-2002 through the fall of 2008. Like SIGIR's previous lessons learned reports, this study is not an audit. Rather, it arises from our congressional mandate to provide "advice and recommendations on policies to promote economy, efficiency, and effectiveness" in programs created for Iraq's relief and reconstruction. The report presents a chronological history of the reconstruction program, threading together a number of themes including: the enormous challenges that security problems posed for rebuilding efforts the dramatic and frequently reactive course-changes in reconstruction strategy the turbulence engendered by continual personnel turnover at every level the waste caused by inadequate contracting and program management practices the poor integration of interagency efforts caused by weak unity of command and inconsistent unity of effort. The text of this report-through vignette, interview, and factual detail-explicates these themes by, in turn, laying out the blinkered and disjointed prewar planning for postwar Iraq; the CPA's large and ultimately too ambitious expansion of the reconstruction program; the security-driven reprogrammings required by the exploding insurgency; the strongly resourced response of the surge; and the rise of Iraq's role in its own reconstruction. Hard Lessons answers some important questions about the U.S. relief and reconstruction program in Iraq: Did the program meet the goals it set for itself? Was the program grossly burdened by waste and fraud? Why did reconstruction efforts so often fail to meet their mark? The research for Hard Lessons comprised interviews with hundreds of individuals and the review of thousands of documents. SIGIR reached out to virtually every major player in the Iraq reconstruction experience and almost all agreed to be interviewed or provide useful responses. Among others, Secretaries Powell, Rumsfeld, Gates, and Rice; USAID Administrator Natsios and Deputy Administrator Kunder; Deputy Secretaries Wolfowitz, England, Armitage and Negroponte; Under Secretary Feith; Ambassadors Bremer, Khalilzad, Crocker, Jeffrey, Satterfield, Speckhard, Taylor, and Saloom; and Generals Garner, Abizaid, McKiernan, Strock, Eaton, Sanchez, Casey, Petraeus, Odierno, Chiarelli, Dempsey, and McCoy were all interviewed by SIGIR or gave helpful information or advice. We also interviewed Iraqi leaders, including former Prime Ministers Allawi and Ja'afari, Deputy Prime Ministers Chalabi and Salih, Ambassador Sumaida'ie, Judge Radhi, and Minister Baban. Equally important to the study, SIGIR staff interviewed hundreds of military members, government officials, and civilian contractors who carried out the "brick and mortar" work of Iraq's relief and reconstruction. The report also draws on the body of SIGIR audits, inspections, and investigations, as well as reports from other investigative bodies.

G-DAY, Rendezvous with Eagles is a 20th Anniversary reflection on Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm as seen through the eyes of 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) Forward Observer, Stephen Wiehe. G-Day details the critical missions and movements of the First Battalion of the historic 502nd Infantry Regiment during the Gulf War as well as the soldier's day-to-day activities. G-DAY, Rendezvous with Eagles has been declared by the Don F. Pratt Museum, Fort Campbell, Kentucky as the best first person narrative of the Gulf War and has been included in their collection.

"Chitose Road is novel about a strange cast of Americans stationed on the Island of Hokkaido in the early 1950s involving espionage, romance, and crowded living conditions, as they learned how to interact with the Japanese culture during and after the Korean War."

America's unofficial nightmare during the Iraq War was the infamous Triangle of Death, sometimes referred to by Iraqis as the Graveyard of the Americans. While serving in the Triangle, Chaplain Jeff Bryan ministered to a 1,200-man infantry task force, often while patrolling streets, fields, and villages as his unit cleared them in close-quarters combat.

During the most violent and controversial phase of the war, Chaplain Bryan brought God to the American warrior. He witnessed life, death, and faith at every level, including a worst-case scenario in which several troops in his unit were ambushed and captured. Memoirs from Babylon is a dramatic account of humanity at its best and worst, a gut-wrenching experience of fear and faith under fire. Chaplain Bryan's story is a unique combination of life, leadership, military history, and God-centered hope in the midst of America's nightmare.

Dr. Williams identifies the roots of organized crime in post-Ba'athist Iraq in an authoritarian and corrupt state dominated by Saddam Hussein and subject to international sanctions. He also explains the rise of organized crime after the U.S. invasion in terms of two distinct waves: the first wave followed the collapse of the state and was accompanied by the breakdown of social control mechanisms and the development of anomie; the second wave was driven by anarchy, insecurity, political ambition, and the imperatives of resource generation for militias, insurgents, and other groups. This monograph looks in detail at major criminal activities, including the theft, diversion, and smuggling of oil, the kidnapping of both Iraqis and foreigners, extortion, car theft, and the theft and smuggling of antiquities. The author also considers the critical role played by corruption in facilitating and strengthening organized crime. He shows how al-Qaeda in Iraq, Jaish-al-Mahdi, and the Sunni tribes used criminal activities to fund their campaigns of political violence. Dr. Williams also identifies necessary responses to organized crime and corruption in Iraq, including efforts to reduce criminal opportunities, change incentive structures, and more directly target criminal organizations and activities.

A soldier's tale of Iraq.
This autobiographical tale covers one woman's journey through the first wave of Operation Enduring Freedom. Deployed from February 2003 through May 2004 with the 248TH Engineer Company (Combat) (Heavy) out of Norwich, Connecticut, First Lieutenant Works recants some of the most powerful memories of her deployment and military service. Heartfelt and brutally honest, the vignettes and images this author conjures offer the reader a unique look into the combat experiences of our modern troops.

First published in 2005. Contains papers from a symposium in commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of the Korean War. Focuses on contributions made by the armed forces of the United States and its allies to the air warfare during the Korean War.