H. Thomas Hayden was formerly the President and CEO of First Communications Company (FCC), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, a joint venture between Raytheon and a Saudi Company involved in Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence (C4I) Systems for the Ministry of Defense and Aviation, Saudi Arabian National Guard and Ministry of Interior. Before retiring from the US Marine Corps, assignments included Commanding Officer (CO), Headquarters and Service Bn, 1st Force Service Support Group, which deployed to the Gulf War, CO Brigade Service Support Group – 9, which deployed to Somalia and CO MAU Service Support Group – 33, which deployed to The Philippines and Korea. He was Branch Head, Headquarters Marine Corps, Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict (SO/LIC), and Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for SO/LIC with assignments to Central America. He has participated in combat operations or contingency operations in the Republic of Vietnam, Central America, Gulf War, Somalia, and Columbia. Tom has a MBA, MA in International Relations, and a PhD candidate in Business Management. He is the author of two books and is currently writing a third: SHADOW WAR: Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict; WARFIGHTING: Maneuver Warfare in the US Marine Corps. He has published over 40 articles and has been awarded the Navy League’s Alfred Thayer Mahan award for literary achievement.
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Professional Military Education (PME) is the military term that covers all the reading (books, magazines and now the world wide web) and video watching that most find time to squeeze into their busy schedules.
To learn from experience is great, but to learn from others’ experiences is better. When you can find something that not only educates but also entertains, it can be a most fortunate experience. For what it’s worth, I thought I would list my top three books, videos and a magazine article for those looking for summer PME.
Starting with my top three books to recommend -- one from the past, one for the future and one for the present:
1. Gates of Fire: An epic novel of the Battle of Thermopylae, by Steven Pressfield, Doubleday, is now at the top of my all time reading list. It is generally a story about the Greeks under King Leonidas with 300 Spartans and their Thespaian allies who died at Thermopylae (much to the last man), delaying the Persian invasion of Greece under King Xerxes. However, it much more a story of the training and the education of young Greek hoplites as they prepare to earn a place in the Spartan army. It is the age-old story of how young men are taught how to prepare for battle, physically, mentally and professionally. The philosophy of warfare, as it was taught to the Spartans, is priceless.
2. Starship Troopers, by Robert A Heinlein, Ace Books (paperback), is reported to be the bases for the U.S. Army’s concept for their Land Warrior program. The book may be called science fiction today, but it presents much of the technology that is on the drawing boards or in Advanced Concept Technology Demonstrations (ACTDs). One of the most interesting concepts that I found in the book is that you do not have to automatically inherit citizenship by birth, but must earn it through some form of national public service. The quickest way to earn citizenship is in the military. It is also the toughest.
3. Guerrilla Strategies: A Historical Anthology from the Long March to Afghanistan, by Gerard Chaliand, University of California Press, is a good primer for anyone wanting to learn something about guerrilla warfare. It is a collection of essays and synopsis of books, by famous writers in the world of guerrilla warfare, counter-guerrilla warfare and counterinsurgency. The authors range from Frank Kitson to Che Guevara. Chaliand has his book broken into two parts: Part One is "Storied" and Part Two is "Analyses." The stories are about Algeria, Kenya, Cuba, Vietnam and many more. The analyses are about Malaya, Greece, Vietnam and general thoughts of "revolutionary warfare," insurgency and guerrilla warfare. (For a listing of my top eleven books on counterinsurgency see my archive column: "Classics for Iraq and Afghanistan," Dec 5, 2003.)
My three top videos for the summer are must-viewing for those who are warriors, who aspire to be warriors, or who want to learn more about warriors and/or the black arts.
1. Black Hawk Down, with Josh Hartnett and Ewan McGregor, is based on a novel by Mark Bowden, and is the story of the poorly planned but tenaciously and heroically executed battle by US Army Rangers and Special Forces in a raid to capture a number of lieutenants of a Somali warlord, in 1993. This film is as close up to real urban combat as it gets. The film "Enemy at the Gates" and its story of the battle of Stalingrad came close, but did not put the viewer in the urban battle field as much as Black Hawk Down. For those who have "been there - done that," from Hue City to Somalia and now Iraq, this is how it feels, sounds and even smells. You can smell the battle.
2. Tears of the Sun, with Bruce Willis is a good story of special operations in a jungle environment. It is not only the story of a Noncombatant Evacuation Operations (NEO) but it is a good story of a running gunfight in the jungle. The equipment, and the tactics, techniques and procedures are close enough to the real thing. The satellite imaging is a little off, but close enough to the real thing if you had a stationary satellite in that area or a UAV overhead. The photography of the F/A-18s and their ordnance (catapult has clean birds, then miraculously in flight they have napalm bomb, but some how they shoot missiles) will be a big disappointment to the military aficionados. Then there’s the question of leaving men in the field. Still worth the price of video rental.
3. Spy Games, with Robert Redford and Brad Pitt, is for all those who ever wondered what the CIA field officers do for a living in the world of black ops. It is very much a good depiction of a Case Officer and one of his agents and their trials and tribulations in working in Lebanon back in the bad guy days of the early to mid 1980s. The field craft training is excellent and the story line could be true in so many countries around the world. The last vignette is a little hard to believe but stranger things have happened.
There are many outstanding professional magazines that I never have time to read every article (Marine Corps Gazette, Naval Proceedings, Parameters, Military Review, Airpower, etc.). However, I recommend an article by Robert Kaplan, "Five Days in Fallujah," The Atlantic, July/Aug 2004. Must reading to learn about combat in Fallujah. It is also a story of how a civilian journalist came to understand what it means to be a United States Marine.
