Smartbooks by The Lightning Press - Good or Bad?

CPT Chris Loomis — Sun, 11 Jan 2015 14:46:47 -0500

The Lightning Press publishes Smartbooks on various topics for all military branches.

(DISCLAIMER: I have no affiliation with the publisher.)

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 11 at 2015 9:19 PM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 11 Jan 2015 21:19:26 -0500

CPT Chris Loomis I personally have bought and utilized the battle staff one. It has good information in one place to utilize for "one-stop shopping". I used this in ECCC.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 11 at 2015 9:48 PM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 11 Jan 2015 21:48:02 -0500

True story: I was a the brigade planner in preparation for a CTC rotation when we went to the AAR after one of our planning/operations. The OC asked us why we did something a certain way, and when we replied using doctrinal terms, he asked us for our reference. I bought out my Lightning Press manual, turned to the page, and quoted the definition and from which FM it came from. His comment, "That is not doctrine."
Of course it bugged me, and I thought him a little bit anal, but his point was to be careful about using non-official references, ever if they are cut-and-paste from official publications.
Of course, now, with all the updates being sent out much more frequently, including changes sent out over email, etc, I would rather have the actual reference than a book printed by someone who may or may not have properly copied the references.
I am getting more interested in having electronic copies of the official reference on a smart device, so I can always be sure to have the most up to date.

Response by TSgt Joshua Copeland made Jan 11 at 2015 11:05 PM

TSgt Joshua Copeland — Sun, 11 Jan 2015 23:05:50 -0500

Never even heard of them. I stick with my actual regs.

Response by COL Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 11 at 2015 11:11 PM

COL Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 11 Jan 2015 23:11:24 -0500

Take the time to look through doctrine and read it and print out what you are looking for on half pages and put them together how you want it. The Army has written everything down. There are multiple places to find what you are looking for and you can easily make it into whatever you need. You'll have the most recent version and will be able to build an SOP using the direct reference. I have all of the LP books for planners, but I find myself going to the tablet I have and looking up the latest ADP or ADRP.