Marine Force Recon (Power Series)

Rating:
Summary: Yeah, it's that good
Review: The Power series has been rather variable in quality, with some excellent books (like the Navy SEALs book) and some wretched ones (tha SAS book comes to mind). This one is first-rate. It takes the time to discuss the context of Force Recon, talking not just about them (although they make up the majority of the book) but what a MEU is, what the difference is between Force Recon and Battalion Recon, etc. Be aware that it is an overview book, so you're not getting 300 pages of info like, say, "Brave Men, Dark Waters" does for the SEALs. Hopefully, someday somebody will write such a book but until then, this is all that you've got and it's pretty darned good.

For someone who wants to know the basics of Force Recon or how Force Recon is different than the Navy SEALs, this is a great choice. There are other good books on Force Recon, such as the excellent "Inside Force Recon: Recon Marines in Vietnam"
by Michael Lanning, but they are more memoirs than overviews so often don't explain the basics that people might be interested in.

Matt

Rating:
Summary: Yeah, it's that good
Review: The Power series has been rather variable in quality, with some excellent books (like the Navy SEALs book) and some wretched ones (tha SAS book comes to mind). This one is first-rate. It takes the time to discuss the context of Force Recon, talking not just about them (although they make up the majority of the book) but what a MEU is, what the difference is between Force Recon and Battalion Recon, etc. Be aware that it is an overview book, so you're not getting 300 pages of info like, say, "Brave Men, Dark Waters" does for the SEALs. Hopefully, someday somebody will write such a book but until then, this is all that you've got and it's pretty darned good.

For someone who wants to know the basics of Force Recon or how Force Recon is different than the Navy SEALs, this is a great choice. There are other good books on Force Recon, such as the excellent "Inside Force Recon: Recon Marines in Vietnam"
by Michael Lanning, but they are more memoirs than overviews so often don't explain the basics that people might be interested in.

Matt

Rating:
Summary: Outstanding
Review: The Power Series is without question the best line of books on America's Special Operations units. In particular, the books Fred Pushies has done for the Power Series line are excellent. This is the first comprehensive book on the Reconasance Marines. Everything from the history of the unit, the training they go through, the weapons and equipment they use, to the missions that they train for. This book combines all the information anyone would want to know, along with great photos, to produce a classic text on one of the United States' most elite military units.

Rating:
Summary: Misleading at best
Review: This book may be titled Marine Force Recon, but it spends very little time talking about what it's like to be a Force Recon Marine. The selection process and training only receive bare-bones detail; the majority of the book is spent discussing the Marine Expeditionary Unit and its variants, as well as the equipment used by the Marines. As such, it reads more like a Cliff's Notes version of Tom Clancy's Marine rather than an in-depth guide to Force Recon.

It would be nice if there was a book written about Force Recon selection and training that was on the same level as Dick Couch's "The Warrior Elite", which focuses on Navy SEALs. Given the fact that most people don't even know that Force Recon exists, however, makes such a book unlikely. Anyone who wants to learn more about this unit has really no other option other than to read Bruce Norton's "Force Recon Diary."