From the Tally Shooter Writers' Group:

The sixth edition of this perennial best-seller has finally hit the streets! (OK,it finally hit the "river" since it's only available at Amazon.com right now.)

Very much up-to-date, the revisions to the 1999 edition of the NCO's bible provide Army noncoms with a made-to-order reference for just about any situation they may come across in today's modern army. The author, CSM (Retired) Robert S. Rush, has taken this guide to new heights. There are revised sections in the guide on caring leadership, training, NCO career development and promotions, awards and decorations, and "customs and courtesies." Army policy concerning the new fraternization rules-of-engagement is included and the latest military Web site info pertinent to NCOs is included as appendix.

The benefits of owning this book are enormous. Tuck it in your BDU trouser pocket before you deploy and you will have a modern day reference containing individual treatises on one of the broadest compilations of NCO subject matter ever made available in print.

A must-have guide.

jack kelley is a man who loves vietnam.he is in the army and he also is a weapons dealer.jim aspby is a man who falls in love with a vietnamese hooker and they have a child.both of these men are just trying to live through the war and experiencing everything they can.this has to be one of the best war books,without all the battle scenes and killings.the characters are real and dimensional.its a book about life,death.and the good times.the small amount of action is well written with no exaggeration.its a great book to read and remember.

My brother gave me this book a few months ago and I finally made time to read it - and I'm glad I did.
This book is full of great information about the life of a great soldier. It contains information that leaders in all walks of life - military and civilian - will benefit from. It also gives some great insight on Army life. I spent eight years in the Navy and was fortunate to work for several NCOs and Officers that shared Mr.Bainbridge's view on leadership - they really knew how to treat their men.
I might have enjoyed it even more had it contained more personal information - not very many details are given into home or family life unless it relates to the subjects military life.
Overall, a very down-to-earth account of life that many would do well to emulate in both character and content.

In the first Starfist novel, the 34th FIST went up against a bunch of nomadic, "low-tech" tribes. Next, they trained a puppet-police force to stand against rebels. Then, they spearheaded an invasion against an entire mechanized army. What's left for the fourth book, you ask? Heck, ALIENS!

A remote research outpost on a planet a bit too far gone to be accurately called "remote" suddenly disappears. True to form, the bureacracy (sp?) diddles around before deciding to send a single FIST platoon and the Navy's most embarrassing rejects to investigate. Of course, L platoon, 34th FIST, draws the short straw...probably the best thing the powers-that-be could've done. *g* So, how do you makes heads and tails of a planet covered by swamps and impassable mountains, littered with corpses, full of gigantic lizards (some of which want to melt you), and all the while encumbered with the only human survivors, a rag-tag band of pirates? Just put Charlie Bass in charge!

This novel was non-stop from the beginning! Old comrades, new friends, mysterious pasts, enigmatic genocides, and a diabolically sentient race that's next to impossible to track, mindless in its persuit of the destruction of all things human, and simply ingenious in its tactics all add together to make a truely original read! Not your typical "slimey alien drooling on floor grunts a few gutteral noises then whips out a super-advanced weapon and blows the sun up" cookie-cutter beastie, these are coldly calculating commanders with hordes of mindless minions to do their bidding.

This is a very highly recommended book! I couldn't find anything to tick on it for, except maybe Dan Cragg and David Sherman's continual downplay of the Navy forces...which, as an ex-Navy man myself, I can totally understand. All in all, I can't wait for book five and six to come out!

As previously, Sherman and Cragg, have produced another military sci-fi page turner. This book moves along at a good pace and keeps it going throughout the entire book. The introduction of aliens opens an entire new vista for the StarFist series. If you are familiar with military sci fi and don't know the Starfist series, get with it!

When the book opens the Confederation is facing a new military invasion, only this time it is aliens. What will happen? Who will win? Dean and the 34st FIST or the bad guys. I could tell you but Amazon wouldn't let me, you have to read it to find out.

3/8/03 Having purchased this as a "Used book",I consider it quite a "find"..Its jacket with a picture of Georgia's Fort Stewart (and a very detailed couple of pages regarding the Army's "Fort Stewart"(Pgs 111-112) giveminteresting info as to the fact that the Fort was named after President Theodore Roosevelt's great grandfather(Brigadier General Daniel Stewart,a Revolutionary War hero)...the info is all voluntary info rec'd back to author Dan Cragg who reminds readers that despite the info within its pages ,that is does not include all USA bases everywhere.

This is a great book for military travelers who want to know all about the various military bases in the world. I highly recommend it!

The 34th Fleet Initial Strike Team, Confederation Marine Corps, have been deployed again. This isn't a small unit assignment though, unfortunately things have gone wrong enough on Diamunde that the CMC is going to War. To provide the opening beachhead for the follow-up Army troops, against several armored battalions (read 'Tanks') that intel says aren't in the landing area. If you like the genre, this series is continuing excellently. If you're looking for the "Mobile Infantry" of Starship Troopers, don't look here. These Marines are... Marines with Blasters and better camouflage uniforms. They're still on foot, and still an elite force. If you can still find Book 1 and Book 2, they're worth reading too.

"Steel Gauntlet" (ISBN 0-345-42526-X) is David Sherman and Dan Cragg's third book chronicling the history of the Confederation Marine Corps' 34th Fleet Initial Strike Team (FIST) L Company Third Platoon, among the most deployed units in the Corps. The 34th FIST's mission to Wanderjahr was a success and for thwarting an attempt on the lives of one of Wanderjahr's leaders and the 34th FIST's General, Joe Dean and Rackman Claypoole were promoted to Lance Corporal. Diamunde, a resource-rich planet, has for the fourth time in Confederation history become a trouble spot requiring the use of military force to restore order. This time the Confederation gathers together a force consisting of six of the thirty-six Marine FISTs, the 34th is one the first units to land, two Army Corps, and a large Fleet to end the ambitions of the man who has taken control of Diamunde by force. The major problem that face the Marines, Army, and Navy units is having to relearn how to deal with Main Battle Tanks and other armored fighting vehicles, which have not been seen on the battlefield for 300 years. Before leaving Thorsfinni World to Diamunde, the 34th FIST's commanding officer makes sure that all his troops have been promoted and received all awards due them, including Charlie Bass who is once again promoted to Gunnery Sergeant. This mission will test the skills and bravery of not just the men of L Company Third Platoon, but to all the troops involved on both sides of the conflict. David Sherman and Dan Cragg do a great job in describing the fears and bravery of the infantry having to go against tanks on the battlefield. Further, this book does a good job in blending fact and the probable future of the infantry and of tanks in modern warfare.

Semper Fi! Who else could have written such a compelling book except an ex-marine? The men of 3rd plantoon, Company L, 34th Fist are back and this time there fighting Tanks! Ya gotta love it. This book is filled with so much testosterone that you'll swagger when you walk. If you haven't read the previous two books you'll be able to feel your way through the book, but it's better if you read them in sequence. Nice tech in the book too, although some of it reminds me of tech from a few other books (ie. Rick Shelley's DMC series) But what are you going to do? An infantryman's wish list is probably pretty easy to guess. Buy it Now!

Cragg and Sherman have obviously "been there, done that." Packed with every military cliché and stereotype imaginable, the personal military experience of the authors' clearly rings through in "First to Fight." Unfortunately, so does the conservative military tradition of imagining the future as better so long as things remain essentially the same as they are today.

The pseudo-science and generic high-technology splashed through this book to earn it the classification as "science fiction" do little to mask the writers' avoidance of the more complicated process of imagining how society and conflict may actually change (for better or worse) in years ahead.

A great book for sci-fi fans. Not so terrific for those who distinguish between sci-fi and science fiction.

Sci-fi readers should thoroughly enjoy the fast, crisp combat writing and will snicker at the idea of backwards tribal nomads who attempt a cavalry charge into the guns of modern Marines.

Science fiction enthusiasts will no doubt pick up on the authors' underlying ethno-centric cultural bias and not-so-subtle sexism.

On Cragg and Sherman's future battlefield, tribal nomads emigrated from Earth by starship will sacrifice their lives in ignorant droves, for some reason surprised at the effectiveness of the modern Marine Corps' hi-tech weaponry. And women won't be around to confuse things in the heat of combat.

With the exception of one young Marine's mother (who stoically says goodbye to her son, then conveniently and quietly dies of some ailment or other while he is away) and an interstellar journalist who has for some unknown reason given up her career for a position as the sex-puppet/political advisor of a desert nomad, all other women mentioned in this book are either prostitutes or bar-maids.

As a Marine, I'm hopeful a few young men will read the Starfist books and be inspired to join the Corps. Once they get to me, however, I'll hand them a copy of "Ender's Game" and "Starship Troopers" in hopes of stimulating their ability to imagine and think for themselves, and then I'll break it to them that they'll be serving side-by-side with Marines of the female gender.

I have been reading about this book for sometime now. I never got around to picking it up. I would read the reviews and decide against it.Well I should have picked this up a long time ago. I finished this book very quickly.The story is great the characters are great it's a very enjoyable story that moves quickly. It is obvious that the authors draw on their military experience. I think it lends the book an additonal layer of authenticity. I found myself concerned with the plight of Srg.Bass and his unit. My only gripe is that the real action was a bit later in the book and it was too quick for me. Don't get me wrong I really enjoyed the portion of the book about their training as well. I'm glad to also report that their are serval more books in the series. If they are as good as this one I will be a happy reader.Don't even think just buy this book!

First off, I'd just like to say that, as a former military manmyself (Navy, not Marines), this book sticks pretty durn close to whatactually goes on (with the exception of the plasma weapons and chamelion suits, that is....) in the military. The comraderie, which the reader is immediately drawn into, the joking and prank-pulling, the immediate shift to serious professionalism when the situation calls for it, yup, Dave Sherman and Dan Cragg have definitely "been there, done that!"

The storyline itself is amazingly addicting. I admit I was a bit leery when buying the first book, but was hooked after the prologue. The characters are complex, but not too much so, and you really begin to find yourself sympathyzing with them as the plot unfolds. You get this intense hatred for "military intelligence" from the start, and that doesn't let up through the three books I've read so far! The authors do a superb job of explaining the relevant parts of history and technological breakthrus leading up to the present situations, cleverly disguised as mission briefs instead of a few paragraphs taken out of the general flow of the tale in order for the author to explain. I liked that. Maintains continuity.

On a down-note, there are a few places where the action seems to jump, such as a patrol heading into a combat situation, then the scene changes, and when we get back to the patrol, they're cleaning their guns and checking for survivors. In most cases, this felt like a cheezy crop-job by the editors in an effort to cut out "needless and redundant violence"...which is one of the better parts of the story! This doesn't happen often, though, so I decided not to lop off the fifth star in the rating.

Overall, an excellent series, well-worth the money and shipping time! The universe in this series is huge and complex, so I can't forsee an end to the series....thankfully! I eagerly await the next installment. END

Why did I buy this book? Again the same arguements. I don't really care for Marines, the cover was stupid, too much hoo-haa. I think these books lace their pages with some kind of narcotic. They're really not that good but I keep going down the series. Who knows, maybe sometimes I just want a cheap stupid read?

I give this book 2 out of 5 stars. Same problems as the first.

The first book of the series (Starfist: First to Fight) was great. This one is, in my opinion, even better. It will keep you guessing all the way to the end. It is a must read for warfare and science fiction lovers. The writers' style is great for keeping you hooked. All in all, it is one of the best books I have ever read.

If you like Mil-SF, you NEED to read this book. If you might ever have to train and lead troops, especially in a military assistance program, you REALLY NEED to read this book. If you ever have had to work a military assistance program, well, Chapter 7 gives you an entertaining look at several good ways to train indiginous forces, all of them good. Personal experience, I've used all of these techniques sucessfully. To me, it was worth the price of the book all by itself. Which is not to say that this is a military textbook with a slight fictional overlay. There's a well-thought out world scenario, extremely realistic 3D characters, a plot with more twists and turns than a mountain road, lots of plausible technology, lots of action - a definite page-turner. As a military professional, I can place a real-life name of a personal acquaintance to just about GI in this book. But the people of Wanderjahr, on both sides of the war, are also rich, detailed, believable characte! ! rs. The situations, given the assumed technology, are also totally believable. About the only "flaw" here, is that these guys always do it right, and the technology never lets them down. You might find that a little hard to swallow, but I went to Joint Endeavour, so yeah, I gotta agree that this is really possible. The first book in this series was good - this one makes me hungry for the next one. IMHO, if you want high-tech, mil-SF, in a believable scenario, with realistic characters, you're a fool if you don't get this one.

This is supposed to be a revisionist book about World War I. Around page 1 the author, Niall Ferguson, announces that he is going to correct 10 major myths about the war. (Or, at least, provide a final refutation of those myths.) Although the book is well written, and the arguments clear, I am not certain that the goal of the author is obtained. First, scholars have recognized some of those myths as myths for decades. These certainly include the first two: The myth that war was inevitable due to economic rivalries, imperialism, secret military alliances, or an arms race; and the myth that Germany started the war because the German government felt strong relative to other European powers.

Second, while his attack on some other myths are analytically convincing, Mr. Ferguson fails to provide convincing non-analytical explanations for why his numbers come out the way they do. For example, he argues that contrary to the standard myth, the German army was tactically and operationally superior to the armies of Britain, France and the United States clear through to the end of the war in 1918. His evidence essentially is that - ignoring surrender - the average German soldier killed or wounded more than 1 enemy soldier before he himself was killed or wounded. I believe the authors numbers, but I really didn't learn why they turned out the way they did. Yes, the German's developed better tactics for both attack and defense in trench warfare than their enemies, but why? Certainly their enemies tried hard to come up with good answers to those same problems, but failed. Again, why? Class structure is one reason on the part of the British is one reason cited, but I suspect that there must be more to it than that.

Third, at least the one myth I completely believe Mr. Ferguson demolished, is sort of a "so what?" While not one of his ten big myths, the author proves through quotes from letters, memoirs, and from other sources, that many soldiers from both sides who tried to surrender were killed (read "murdered") after surrendering. This really should not come as a surprise to anyone familiar with the military history of this century. There are many documented cases of how dangerous surrender could be during World War II and the Anglo-Boer war. (Try Paul Fussells' Doing Battle, or one of Stephen Ambrose's books about World War II for example, or any first-person account of the World War II eastern front. Or, just talk to a Vietnam era veteran who was in the infantry.)

Actually, there is a 11th myth that Dr. Ferguson attacks in "The Pity of War" that has received the most attention from other historians and reviewers. That "myth" is that Great Britain had to participate in the war to prevent Germany from dominating continental Europe, and thereby destroying its role as a great power. Ferguson argues that the original war aims of Germany in the west were relatively benign, and that after quickly defeating a France unaided by Great Britain, the Germans would have imposed heavy monetary reparations of France, and then restored independence to both Belgium and France. At worst, Germany would have forced both countries, along with much of central Europe into an economic union, not much different and not much more dangerous to Britain than the German-centered European Union that exists today.

In defense of this 11th myth, Ferguson points out that German plans for serious annexations of territory, such as all of Belgium and the Northwest of France, were not formulated until the war was a couple of months old. There are problems with this argument. The most obvious to me, is that although France would have lost the war without the aid of Great Britain, the logistic problems encountered by the German army during the opening phase of the war meant it would have taken France several months to lose. Those several months would have given the Germans plenty of time to decide that they deserved both territorial and political rewards for their war against France. So, even a short war won by Germany would have left them as the type of people you don't want as neighbors. Especially if you are the center of an empire based on sea power, and your new neighbors are going to control ports just on the other side of the English Channel.

This book is not a history of World War I but rather a series of essays on certain aspects of the conflict. Ferguson likes to deal in counterfactuals and here he takes issue with much of the conventional wisdom surrounding the war. For example, he argues that Germany was not a militaristic nation, contrary to almost universal belief. He also attempts to refute the common perception that the nations of Europe went to war enthusiastically. These chapters were somewhat persuasive. The chapters dealing with prisoner taking and the cost of killing enemy soldiers were quite interesting and were issues I'd not seen discussed in other histories. The essays on war finance and postwar economics were rather rambling and unfocused, however.

The most controversial conclusion was that the world would have been better off if Germany had won the war. He argues that a German-dominated Europe would be similar to the EU of today and no more threatening. Thus, the defining catastrophic event of the 20th century was Britain's decision to enter the war, thus thwarting the German victory. Therefore, the great Nemesis of modern civilization was not Hitler or Lenin but Sir Edward Gray!

On this point he was less than persuasive. I would have liked to read more details about the German war aims and less about John Maynard Keynes.

In 'The Pity of War' Niall Ferguson attempts to correct the traditional view that militaristic Germany dragged the rest of Europe into the First World War. The power of Ferguson's argumentation is the scope of the material he uses. Deftly he switches from pre-war children's books that speculate about a German invasion in Britain to an overview of the military strength of the different European nations at the eve of the war. Whatever aspect of the war he discusses, he is always authoritative. (At times even too much so. Ferguson's speciality is financial and economical analysis. In the chapter on the aftermath of the Versailles treaty, Ferguson arrogantly pretends to know how Germany could have prevented the hyperinflation of the 1920's. Niall Ferguson as the backseat driver to history.). The book is so full of nuance and so well-researched that I was shocked when I arrived at the final chapter 'What if?' Ferguson describes what would have happened, had Britain not sent its expeditionary force to aid the french. According to Ferguson, Germany would then have been satisfied with creating a European customs union (the EU avant la lettre), Britain would have continued to rule the waves and Adolf Hitler would never have risen to power. This ill-founded speculation may have helped to get the author media attention, but it certainly is a blemish on an otherwise very powerful book. Forget the final five pages and concentrate upon the rest.