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Summary: Not just about the military, it is about leadership!
Review: This book is a wonderful book on the what went on in the mind of one of America's great generals in the Gulf War. It is also a great book on how to lead. The principles learned and recorded in this book are applicable in almost all settings - business or military. A great book to read if you lead people, learn from General Fred Franks!
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Summary: A Must Read For Students of Military History
Review: This book is an excellent read for anyone who is interested in the living, breathing organism that is the U.S. Army. Tom Clancy and Gen. Fred Franks do an excellent job of portraying the team work required for any successful military operation
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Summary: Boring
Review: This book is interesting at points. The chapters regarding General Franks experiences in Viet Nam and his recovery from his wounds are very interesting. However, the book really drags, especially in the middle 250 pages. Unless you are extremely interested in the history of the army's doctrine, I would recommend skipping ahead to the end of the book. (...)
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Summary: An insight into modern warfare
Review: This book is part biography, part history and part modern combat command handbook. General Fred Franks commanded the US VII Corps during Desert Storm and therefore had direct operational responsibility for the success or failure of the ground offensive against Iraq. This book offers what I think is an insightful analysis of modern warfare and the mentality of some of those who wage it.
The book initially charts Franks' career in the army, including his tour in Vietnam where he suffered the loss of a leg. Turning to the Gulf war, we discover Franks' involvement in the planning and organization of the operation. His most difficult task initially involved the movement of VII Corps from Germany to Saudi Arabia and its change in doctrine from a defensive to an offensive role.
Through his own first-person accounts we quickly gain an appreciation of the complexity and difficulty of mounting an operation the scale of Desert Storm in a modern military context. The sheer size of the force involved and the logistics necessary are staggering. The book then presents an hour-by-hour account of the actual battle, which coherently describes Franks' decisions and influence on the outcome. Through all this he comes across as a thoughtful and dedicated professional, as committed to safeguarding the lives of the men under his command as much as achieving his objectives.
Desert Storm was controversial due to the feeling in some quarters that the ground operation was somewhat mishandled, leading to a partial rather than complete destruction of the Iraqi Republican Guard. Since he occupies a key position in this debate, Franks therefore clearly presents his reasons for conducting the offensive the way he did, i.e. to achieve the Coalition's stated aims and objectives without unnecessary casualties to his own forces. Time and again, Franks stresses that although it would have been possible to perhaps to push his command faster and harder, the higher risk of heavier casualties would not have been justified. Victory in a sense was inevitable, therefore in Franks' view it was his responsibility to ensure needless loss of life was averted. In pursuing this argument, Franks is also responding to certain accusations of hesitancy made by General Schwarzkopf in his own autobiography. It is hard to tell if this issue ever had any real substance as, like Schwarzkopf, there is an element of shadow boxing on Franks' part on paper.
As General Franks went on to command the US Army's Training and Doctrine Command after the war, the book therefore could be viewed as a unique insight into the mentality of the modern US Army, as well as a fascinating and enlightening portrait of modern technological warfare. Hence this poses some interesting questions in today's current events context. Has the complexity of modern full scale warfare, and the ethos of minimum casualties as propounded so graphically here, been significantly responsible for the preference for only using small, specialized, mobile forces or air power alone to decide campaigns, as in Kosovo and Afghanistan? What are the implications for a possible US invasion of Iraq? Will the logistics prove to be manageable? Will the casualties be acceptable? Will a reluctance to incur heavier losses inhibit the commanders? Perhaps we should ask General Franks.
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Summary: Fascinating as biography, flawed as history
Review: This book should be rated as one of the top three books dealing with OPERATION DESERT STORM. This is General Frederick Franks' story complete with inspiring leadership vignettes from Vietnam, the amputee ward in the (former) Valley Forge Army Hospital, to the pulverized dirt and sand of Southwest Asia. The cover of the book is somewhat misleading as Tom Clancy's name is in giant bold print larger than that of General Franks. From my reading of this fine reference the credits should be reversed with General Franks'name in the large print. Thankfully most of the book is General Franks' story, and a very detailed one at that, with scattered narrative interruptions by Clancy. Having personally served in the US VIIth Corps with the 1st Armored Division during DESERT STORM, General Franks' recounting of the corps' "bigger picture" and the decision process behind them enlightened me more about the drive into Iraq and Kuwait than I ever experienced at the maneuver Brigade level. I am well satisfied with the hard cover copy of this book and would recommend its purchase in hard or soft cover to any leader, military or business, or DESERT STORM historian.
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Summary: Leadership in Print
Review: This book should be rated as one of the top three books dealing with OPERATION DESERT STORM. This is General Frederick Franks' story complete with inspiring leadership vignettes from Vietnam, the amputee ward in the (former) Valley Forge Army Hospital, to the pulverized dirt and sand of Southwest Asia. The cover of the book is somewhat misleading as Tom Clancy's name is in giant bold print larger than that of General Franks. From my reading of this fine reference the credits should be reversed with General Franks'name in the large print. Thankfully most of the book is General Franks' story, and a very detailed one at that, with scattered narrative interruptions by Clancy. Having personally served in the US VIIth Corps with the 1st Armored Division during DESERT STORM, General Franks' recounting of the corps' "bigger picture" and the decision process behind them enlightened me more about the drive into Iraq and Kuwait than I ever experienced at the maneuver Brigade level. I am well satisfied with the hard cover copy of this book and would recommend its purchase in hard or soft cover to any leader, military or business, or DESERT STORM historian.
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Summary: Desert Storm as Viewed From a Corps Commander
Review: This is a book that is written with great care;both authors love the military service and are clearly proud of their relationship with the US Army(one formal and one informal).It is quite informative with substantial detail regarding the US Army in general and the movements of VII Corps during the four days of Desert Storm.The book is most interesting on a human level,as General Franks explains his reasoning in a number of decisions and relates the emotional impact of a variety of events.General Franks comes across as a dedicated professional who is worthy of the responsibility he had during Desert Storm.
This book would be a challenge for anyone who has no past knowledge or experience with the US military.It has too much detail.Thus at times it can be more informative than entertaining.Apparently there are three more books to be written by Clancy in conjunction with other participants of Desert Storm.These books should not exceed 300 pages each,and,unless they are being written for military historians,the writers need to focus on human elements with a more generalized presentation of the events.The details should be saved for only the most readable and exciting circumstances.
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Summary: A Superficial Account that Sheds Little Light
Review: This is a fair account of the US VII Corps attack in Desert Storm. The book begins with a lot of garbage recollections about Vietnam and Franks career. The maps throughout are very poor, which is odd in an operational account. Then Clancy et al go through the whole resurrection of the US Army in the '70s and '80s. The description of the Desert Storm battles are interesting but confusing. Several items are apparent: (1) Franks is out to exonerate himself and criticize Schwarzkopf; (2) Franks is a very rigid, doctrinaire commander and (3) Franks is unwilling to offer a professional evaluation of his campaign or it's relationship to the greater whole. Franks does point out severe communication problems, terrain problems and the Iraqi Republican Guards fighting better than most accounts. Yet Franks never explains the crucial (and controversial) issue of why it took his units so long to advance and his references to boundary problems with XVIII Corps sound like weak excuses. This book did raise one question in my mind: why were we so interested in fighting the war so quickly? What difference did it make if we won in 4 days or 8 days? The vital question of who decided to end the war remains open; Franks blames Shwarzkopf's poor battle-tracking at CENTCOM. Only the last 100 pages are worth reading.
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Summary: A book for historians and researchers
Review: This is quite simply the worst book I have ever finished. I must admit, that in places, I skimmed over the text. If you have ever been forced to listen to someone recount their golf round shot by excruciating shot, you know what it is like to read this book. It is virtually impossible to follow the troop movements without intense concentration or constant referral to the few maps included. Dry as dust.
Like me, many Clancy fans will be suckered into purchasing this book on his name alone. This will be a mistake. I found no Clancy here. This book is an obvious response by General Franks (who I am sure is a fine man and an excellent soldier) to criticism levelled by General Schwartzkopf in his book on the Gulf War.
If you are researching Desert Storm, this book may be helpful; otherwise, avoid this book at all costs!
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Summary: A book that belongs only in a Army Tactical Command library.
Review: This tome should be credited to General Fred Franks with commentary by Tom Clancy. I found it difficult to distinguish who wrote what. And a credit it is to Fred Franks for a brilliant career of personal perserverance and an outstanding performance of service to his country. But to an average reader of history, the book would have benifitted form a glossary of military abbreviations. Frankly, I got lost and eventually gave up trying to keep up. It was written by a military man for the military. As the subtitle states "A Study in Command". I'll think twice before spending money on a book with Mr. Clancy's name in the future.
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