Airborne: A Guided Tour of an Airborne Task Force

Rating:
Summary: 82nd "Truckborne"
Review: After a few of my friends at the 101st Air Assault Division mentioned that they and the rest of the XVIII Airborne Corps in the Persian Gulf War started to call the 82nd Airborne the "82nd Truckborne", because they were at the rear of the Corps lagging behind in trucks, and saw zero combat. I was already very disppointed in the airborne concept since I heard General Schwarzkopf on a History Channel special describe the 82nd as being nothing more than a bump in the road at the outset of the crisis since they showed up to a gunfight with a slingshot and would have been overun by the Iraquis if they had wanted to do so.

After hearing my veteran friends of the 101st harras the 82nd so much, I was pleased to read this book and at least get a glimmer of hope that we weren't throwing away good money after bad by supporting this unit. Tom Clancy paints a good picture of the unit, it's motivated men and shows that there might be a role for them after all.

The one thing I thought was missing was the huge controversy going on right now with the US Army buying the wheeled LAVs to replace the aging Sheridans. But in Clancy's defense, I think the book was written before this had become a huge issue.

I have a deep respect for any member of the US armed forces, and Tom Clancy does a good job of describing their fighting spirit.

Rating:
Summary: Clancy is kind of Right
Review: I read his book on Marines and then the book on the Airborne. The problem that I have with Clancy is that he must hang out with the Public Relations officer where ever he goes. He gets the best possible answers and explanation for everything. So he is kind of right on just about everything but exactly right on just about nothing. I checked with a buddy from the Marine Corp. He had the exact reaction. Clancy should get down with the troops and find out what is really happening.

I spent 4 years with the 1st Brigade at the 82nd. LGOP to us meant "Lost Group of Paratroopers." This was pre GPS mind you. As for the 82nd taking shots from our Legged bretheran in the 101st. Notice it is they who feel the need to denigrate the real Airborne. In the 82nd we were always too busy to worry about what the legs were doing or what they thought.

Rating:
Summary: A great job for someone who has not lived it.
Review: I worked as a photojournalist in the public affairs office when this book was being researched and written.

The 82nd Airborne Division is a very complex organization and Clancy does a remarkabe job of pinning that complexity down in concrete terms. Though there are errors, I do not fault Clancy for them as this book was edited by the public affairs officer at the time, and he obviously did not catch them (though I probably would have!). I spent five years in the 82nd and it took me that long to learn all the complexities.

Anyone who is interested in what paratroopers do or what it is like to be a paratroopers should read this book. It is not an easy job and after the 30th or 40th time of chuting up and jumping the dead of night I was very tired of it, but I am glad I did it.

And I am also glad this book exists so others can know what it is like.

Rating:
Summary: Clancy is kind of Right
Review: Tom Clancy and John D. Gresham's Airborne: A Guided Tour of an Airborne Task Force is the fifth entry in Berkley's "Guided Tour" series of non-fiction books about U.S. military units. As one might expects, the book zeroes in on the elite paratroopers of the "All-American" 82nd Airborne Division, their "tools of the trade," training, history and roles and missions.

The 82nd Airborne is America's last true paratrooper division; its XVIII Airborne Corps partner, the 101st Air Assault Division ("The Screaming Eagles") traded in its parachutes for helicopters long ago. Along with the 101st, the 82nd Airborne is teamed with the 3rd Mechanized Infantry Division and the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment, giving the XVIII Airborne Corps both a powerful punch and flexibility.

Clancy and Gresham describe practically every weapon, tool, uniform and aircraft employed in modern airborne warfare today in a clear and concise fashion. The authors also discuss the proud history of the 82nd Airborne (and airborne warfare in general) from World War II to Operation Restore Democracy (the 1994 mission to remove the military junta in Haiti) and the various aspects of life for the modern-day paratrooper, particularly the arduous training regimen involved in getting young men and women to jump out of, as Clancy wryly observes, "perfectly good airplanes."

Airborne also includes an interview with the then-incoming commander of the XVIII Airborne Corps, Gen. John B. Keane and a Foreword by retired Gen. Gary Luck, who commanded the corps during the first Persian Gulf War in 1991.

As in all the books of the Guided Tour series, Clancy includes several short vignettes to illustrate what the 82nd Airborne's roles and missions are. Of course, now that we are in a major conflict in Iraq (in which the 82nd and 101st Divisions are engaged) Clancy's choices for settings (Sudan and Belize) seem odd, but they make for good reading and explain how the XVIII Airborne Corps is used in combat situations.

Rating:
Summary: Very Interesting
Review: Tom Clancy has done a far better job on his Airborne tour than his tour of a marine MAGTF which he just took press releases fed to him with the resultant flowery marinespeak used to cover up the fact that only a measley battalion is going afloat at the snail's pace of 6 hours--IF----the meu happens to be offshore. With thousands of miles of oceans, moving at 20 mph the meu will never be there in time, perhaps the intention. In contrast, Clancy shows that the Airborne delivers an entire warfighting Brigade at 500+ mph from the U.S. and within 30 minutes from leaving the aircraft over the drop zone which is "warp speed" to where America needs it. When one reads for information value and not entertainment (what non-fiction is supposed to be) I cannot endorse Clancy's marine, but his Airborne and Armored Cav tour books are priceless. A writer of Clancy's stature should think more critically or have someone else do it if he is busy and not just print what is fed to him.

Aside from small detail errors the biggest downside of Clancy's Airborne is that he "chickened out" when it came to the issue of Airborne light tanks, which he mentioned in his first book, Armored Cav. In that book he explained how the combat-proven M551 Sheridan was being replaced by the also parachute-air-droppable M8 Armored Gun System with a 105mm shoot-on-the-move cannon and he even wrote a futuristic war scenario in Uganda where it was air-delivered to save the day. But when you read Airborne you hear nothing of the men who actually jumped alongside heavy-dropped M551 Sheridan light tanks into combat in Panama (3/73d Armor Battalion) or the on-going effort to get a light AFV replacement for the 82d Airborne Division. A writer of his magnitude should not knuckle under to the prevailing political pressures, which at that time were anti-Airborne and anti-light AFVs. Today, with U.S. Army Chief of Staff General Shinseki's "transformation" seeking a baseline light AFV it would have been good advance thinking to have a section on M8 AGS light tanks and the M113A3/4 APC as both are being considered for this role.

Airborne!

Rating:
Summary: Airborne tour a must read, far better than marine
Review: Tom Clancy has done a far better job on his Airborne tour than his tour of a marine MAGTF which he just took press releases fed to him with the resultant flowery marinespeak used to cover up the fact that only a measley battalion is going afloat at the snail's pace of 6 hours--IF----the meu happens to be offshore. With thousands of miles of oceans, moving at 20 mph the meu will never be there in time, perhaps the intention. In contrast, Clancy shows that the Airborne delivers an entire warfighting Brigade at 500+ mph from the U.S. and within 30 minutes from leaving the aircraft over the drop zone which is "warp speed" to where America needs it. When one reads for information value and not entertainment (what non-fiction is supposed to be) I cannot endorse Clancy's marine, but his Airborne and Armored Cav tour books are priceless. A writer of Clancy's stature should think more critically or have someone else do it if he is busy and not just print what is fed to him.

Aside from small detail errors the biggest downside of Clancy's Airborne is that he "chickened out" when it came to the issue of Airborne light tanks, which he mentioned in his first book, Armored Cav. In that book he explained how the combat-proven M551 Sheridan was being replaced by the also parachute-air-droppable M8 Armored Gun System with a 105mm shoot-on-the-move cannon and he even wrote a futuristic war scenario in Uganda where it was air-delivered to save the day. But when you read Airborne you hear nothing of the men who actually jumped alongside heavy-dropped M551 Sheridan light tanks into combat in Panama (3/73d Armor Battalion) or the on-going effort to get a light AFV replacement for the 82d Airborne Division. A writer of his magnitude should not knuckle under to the prevailing political pressures, which at that time were anti-Airborne and anti-light AFVs. Today, with U.S. Army Chief of Staff General Shinseki's "transformation" seeking a baseline light AFV it would have been good advance thinking to have a section on M8 AGS light tanks and the M113A3/4 APC as both are being considered for this role.

Airborne!

Rating:
Summary: Nice try but lacking
Review: Tom Clancy must be the world's number one fan of the USA Military.

And vice versa.

"Airborne" is another in the series of mutual admiration society books written by Tom beginning with Submarine, and progressing on through Fighter Wing, Marine, Armoured Cav and others.

Each one is an in depth look at the men, equipment, training, tactics and history of a segment of the US Armed Services. Tom doesn't give a dry list of statistics, a few cutaway diagrams and photos, no this is hands-on stuff, straight from the people who use the weapons, supplemented by Tom's observations on a guided tour of the facilities and attendance at a training exercise.

I'd give this a top rating, but for the graphics, which aren't up to the standard of earlier books. Many of the photographs, for instance, are literaly the size of a postage stamp.

But that's a minor niggle, and there are some excellent photos, and diagrams.

What comes across very strongly is the awesom esprit de corps of the Airborne. Far more than any other units, Airborne soldiers fight alone without the direct support of other arms, excepting maybe the airforce. But if an airborne force goes into action on the far side of the world, where friendly runways are few and far between, then they are very much on their own until reinforcements win through.

The unique tactics of the airborne units are highlighted. The "LGOP" mentality, where Little Groups Of Parachutists form up and fight through to the objective. The way that subunits are divided up amongst aircraft so that if one aircraft doesn't make it, it doesn't take out an entire platoon or company.

There's more, a lot more, and I particularly liked the historical chapters. Right at the end of the book is a glossary, almost de rigeur for the acronym-laden world of the military, and most valuable of all for those wanting yet more, a very comprehensive bibliography.

This is a book that belongs on the shelf of any military buff, alongside Tom Clancy's other works. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: My companion
Review: You know, every now and then, something occurs that really gets the mind thinking. These generaly raise questions that range from little "Huh, I wonder why..." to the massive "Why, in the name of all that is good and pure don't we..." Well, this is one of those books. And I know you probably don't want to have to sit and read a super-long essey of a review, so I'll cut to the chase: Why, in the name of all that is good and pure, hasn't one of our presidents picked Tom Clancy as their National Security Advisor>