About face

What Hacker News says

1. iraqmtpizzaAug 2023
   I recommend About Face by Army Colonel Hackworth and Red Storm Rising
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2. AdamM12Nov 2019
   If you like that you should read "About Face" by David Hackworth. I have not read it but I've hear about it via the Jocko Podcast.
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3. poof131Mar 2017
   I’ve read War is a Racket. It’s a great piece and raises issues we all should think about. I also read A Bright Shining Lie, About Face, The Best and The Brightest and other books critical of the military [1, 2, 3]. Like I said in my previous comment, I have many issues with the military, but I’m also concerned when the elite of society no longer feel the need to serve, that makes me think of the Fall and Decline of the Roman Empire [4]. War sucks, but we all need to play our part, either in support or protest, but just pretending like it doesn’t exists and going about our day is the worst of both worlds.

   [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Bright_Shining_Lie [2] https://www.amazon.com/About-Face-Odyssey-American-Warrior/d... [3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Best_and_the_Brightest [4] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_History_of_the_Decline_and...

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4. hgaFeb 2010
   Agreed on "hampered by political leadership", but my studies of the US Army in the period tells me it also was a very large factor in the early to middle part of the mess (About Face by Hackworth would be a good first book to read on this). I could go into many details but this is probably not the forum for that.

   One big leadership one, though, is apropos: the 6 month tour of duty "ticket punch" for officers. For the Army at large (at least for a long time) it was perceived that Vietnam was a side show to the greater Cold War. However it was also perceived that getting "combat experience" was going to be a necessary part of one's "resume" for higher advancement. So officers would come in for a 6 six month tour ... and I probably don't have to detail how badly that worked out.

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5. runevaultSep 2008
   Since Don't Make Me Think already came up, going to add About Face (have 2.0 but heard 3.0 is even better) http://www.amazon.com/About-Face-Essentials-Interaction-Desi...

   and Design of Everyday Things http://www.amazon.com/Design-Everyday-Things-Donald-Norman/d...

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6. wrpMar 2023
   In About Face: The Odyssey of an American Warrior (1989), David Hackworth mentions about being on patrol in the Korean war:

   None of us used repellent (Chinks could smell it as easily as after-shave, soap, tobacco, and toothpaste); we couldn’t slap at them (noises traveled loud and far at night). So we waited and reluctantly contributed our blood.

   and about poor discipline in Vietnam:

   Guys were using soap, toothpaste, and shaving cream before operations. They were smoking and wearing mosquito repellent on patrol.

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