I hadn’t thought about fiction, but there are a lot of good books and authors you fellas have mentioned. You’ve all definitely given me plenty to choose from.

Many thanks ~ again ~ for all your wonderful help.

And in fiction besides “Starship Troopers” you must read “The Forever War” by Joe Haldeman. Haldeman was a Vietnam vet who also wrote a pretty decent novel about Vietnam. Webb’s novel was good. And don’t forget James Jones, James Salter, Irwin Shaw, Leon Uris, and Tim O’Brien. And of course, Patrick O’Brian and C. S. Forester. And Hemingway. And Evelyn Waugh. Also Ambrose Bierce’s Civil War stories are unforgettable and most of them can be read on line–check out “Chickamauga.” And Isaac Babel’s “Red Cavalry Stories,” if you’re interested in the communist Cossack way of war, are excellent.

So many good books, so little time…

Going along with the Starship Troopers line of military fiction, I’d recommend The Prince by Jerry Pournelle. Like Mr. Heinlein he has served in the military, and so writes from experience. The Prince is a compilation of four novels written as a series: Falkenberg’s Legion, Prince of Mercenaries, Go Tell the Spartans, and Prince of Sparta.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prince_%28Pournelle%29 details the plot better than I can here. I think the Spartan novels will have some interest as there are certain parallels to Iraq. I’m not sure about these novels being required reading, but he edited an anthology series entitled There Will Be War, and one of those books was required for junior Marine officers.

I’ll have to check out the other branches of service to see what they suggest.

I’ve been slightly frustrated knowing that I wanted to know more, but not sure where to look or who to trust as a good source of information. I kept remembering the 2nd Amendment author who faked all his data about gun ownership being with broken guns and not so very many people having guns after all. He was thoroughly disgraced and debunked — eventually. But I didn’t want to be led down the primrose path on someone’s agenda through my ignorance when I was looking for a good understanding.

I knew I could count on some of you kind folks knowing where I should turn. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. Ya’ll are great!

It’s broken down into collections based on career progression. Starts out with jr. enlisted, and goes up to senior leader. Lots of good stuff in there, arranged from beginner to advanced.
Some can even be downloaded in mp3 format from NKO, if you can get access to it.

I’ve heard of Sun Tzu, of course, but wasn’t sure if it would be for me. I read the Rise and Fall of the Third Reich in high school on my own, but it was a tough slog. (Yeah, I was weird and I’m still a geek.) I’ve read most of Clancy’s stuff, too. I just picked up a Civil War book by James MacPherson at our church’s rummage sale that looked interesting and that started this whole process. Looks like it was a good, though serendipitous, pick since I was on the clean-up crew.

I just finished reading Shooter, an autobiography of a Marine sniper (Jack Coughlin) that was very good and complemented a History Channel show on the Iraq invasion, as well as the tearing down of Saddam’s statue by the Marines big machinery.

I appreciate the help with this. Thanks again everyone!