Posted on Nov 28, 2014
What is the best professional military fiction?
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Most anything by Tom Clancy. In there is a rich universe of the military environment, down to small details that are correctly depicted. He did hang around a lot of military and had a security clearance as a civilian.
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Capt Richard I P.
SSgt (Join to see) Yes yes, your PREDICTIONS are very useful to have in the field, just like a general's overall operational plan is very useful to have in the field. The individuals themselves running around with you and your fireteam in enemy territory? A bit less handy.
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SSgt (Join to see)
Capt Richard I P. Trying flying air support in IFR conditions w/o PA or STN Pressure.... lol
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Capt Richard I P.
MSG Nate Davey Killing Rommel was great! Everything LCpl Steven Pressfield writes is great!
http://www.stevenpressfield.com/killing-rommel/
http://www.stevenpressfield.com/killing-rommel/
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True professional military fiction in my world, W. E. B. Griffin:
CLANDESTINE OPERATIONS, is a thrilling look into the deadly espionage of the Cold War and the beginning of a top secret organization called the Central Intelligence Agency.
THE BROTHERHOOD OF WAR is the first of the Griffin series. Its epic nine novels span the period from World War II to Vietnam, capturing all the drama and challenge of Army life.
THE CORPS series covers the fighting men of the U.S. Marine Corps from World War II to Korea.
The MEN AT WAR series follows the secret agents in Colonel William “Wild Bill” Donovan’s Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during World War II.
The World War II series HONOR BOUND follows OSS agents sent to neutral Argentina to secretly undermine German operations there.
THE PRESIDENTIAL AGENT is a cutting-edge insider’s look at intel and politics in the battle of counterterrorism, from the White House to covert ops in foreign lands.
CLANDESTINE OPERATIONS, is a thrilling look into the deadly espionage of the Cold War and the beginning of a top secret organization called the Central Intelligence Agency.
THE BROTHERHOOD OF WAR is the first of the Griffin series. Its epic nine novels span the period from World War II to Vietnam, capturing all the drama and challenge of Army life.
THE CORPS series covers the fighting men of the U.S. Marine Corps from World War II to Korea.
The MEN AT WAR series follows the secret agents in Colonel William “Wild Bill” Donovan’s Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during World War II.
The World War II series HONOR BOUND follows OSS agents sent to neutral Argentina to secretly undermine German operations there.
THE PRESIDENTIAL AGENT is a cutting-edge insider’s look at intel and politics in the battle of counterterrorism, from the White House to covert ops in foreign lands.
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MSgt (Join to see)
1SG (Join to see) I need to get into more of Clancy's books. I've only read a couple. Clear and Present Danger, Patriot Games and Sum of All Fears. But I do enjoy his books. If you enjoy Clancy give Vince Flynn a try. His Mitch Rapp series is pretty good. Right now I'm reading 13 Hours: the Inside Account of What Really Happened in Benghazi. So far a very interesting book by guys from the GRS who where their.
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SGM Mikel Dawson
I really enjoyed Brotherhood of War series. I was riding the trains from Denmark to Germany for Army Reserve, so enjoyed the reading time.
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SGT (Join to see)
W.E.B. Griffin :: THE BROTHERHOOD OF WAR Series
“Griffin has captured the rhythms of army life and speech, its rewards and deprivations... Captivating.”— PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
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If historical fiction counts, I would say "Once An Eagle" is among the best I have read.
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Capt Richard I P.
CPT Aaron Kletzing Historical fiction absolutely counts (Gates of Fire) and a few before you have cited Once an Eagle as a favorite! I'll have to read it.
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Capt Richard I P.
MAJ Chris Ballard I consider this professional development: “The enemy is anybody who's going to get you killed, no matter which side he is on.”
We need to temper our eagerness with awareness. This book is about the insanity that is War.
We need to temper our eagerness with awareness. This book is about the insanity that is War.
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Lt Col (Join to see)
MAJ Chris Ballard - I don't know...it taught me quite a bit about how senior officers think. Probably not to the ridiculous extremes in the book, but I've definitely worked for a Col Cathcart or two in my time. Anything to impress the bosses, very little regard for how it affected the people under them.
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John Ringo's 4-parter, A Hymn Before Battle, Gust Front, Hell's Faire, and When the Devil Dances is excellent. Essentially, aliens have highly advanced technology, but they haven't had to fight in a LONG time. Then a highly aggressive species emerges and begins to decimate them. They come to earth with a proposal: they will share the technology and build weapons, we supply the soldiers. Great books, some of the best use of power armor in fiction in my humble opinion. There's also some other books in the same universe, including Watch on the Rhine, where the Germans use the alien technology to rejuvenate members of the Waffen SS to fight the invaders.
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SSG Ronald Limbaugh
Agree, all of Ringo's works are pretty good, but have to say that for military fiction, his Paladin of Shadows series is darned near great...
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Starship Troopers.
The book, mind you...not the laughable movies derived VERY loosely from the book.
The book, mind you...not the laughable movies derived VERY loosely from the book.
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"The Killer Angels" an ROTC requirement at the University of RI and the basis for the movie, "Gettysburg"
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Capt Lance Gallardo
The Killer Angels was required reading while I was at TBS in fall of 1990, I still have my original copy on my bookshelf. My time there coincided with the release of The Civil War by Ken Burns. Later made into a one really good movie Gettysburg. Followed by one really bad movie, Gods and Generals.
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I'm a huge military history buff so I think very highly of the Richard Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell. The title character is a British soldier in India in 1799 in the first novel called Sharpe's Tiger. He then begins to rise up through the ranks eventually becoming a LTC in Sharpe's Waterloo and then still gong on adventures in retirement in the final book Sharpe's Devil. The author uses historical events and locations and puts his characters into the role of real people. I can appreciate Sharpe because I, too, started as a PVT and am now a MAJ getting ready to retire. They're also really fun reads!
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Capt Richard I P.
MAJ Jeff Coulter They sound like good books. The only thing I ever read that bears on that war (other than the requisite non fiction for schools) was the Defense of Duffer's Drift. Which was also pretty great.
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MAJ Chris Ballard
Love the Sharpe series! They are also great on audiobook, and the BBC series of the '90s featuring Sean Bean who *spoiler alert* doesn't die!
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Capt Richard I P.
SSG Ed Mikus Yeah I can really see how a technical manual can get your blood pumping....
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No Once An Eagle? It was fiction written by a Marine. I would have thought a Marine like yourself would have it on his list. It was long book but a quick read as it was great. I saw the movie, forget but I think it was a made for tv movie.
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Capt Richard I P.
LTC (Join to see) Sounds like your vote is other. Two of the four authors here are Marines, the third is a Naval Officer (who has a healthy respect for Marines) and the fourth a civilian, who still captured some amazing leadership lessons...I'm honestly not sure how.
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SSG Maurice P.
captain porter sir i lied...........back awhile ago i loved a series about the Marine Corps i read 10 of the books and they were ficition i just remembered and im waiting for book 11 and i dont think its going to come to pass...w.e.b griffen
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MAJ (Join to see)
It took me almost a year to finish Once an Eagle, but it has an immense amount of leadership lessons within it. It's one of my all time favorites for professional reading. I give a copy of it to each one of my Cadets when they commission.
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