He served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs in the Reagan administration. In Vietnam, he was a member of the Force Recon team that initiated Operation Stingray -- sustained attacks behind enemy lines. He also saw action with the Combined Action Platoons and wrote the counterinsurgency classic, The Village, describing the actions of 14 Marines who lived for 485 days in a Vietnamese village. West is the author of Small Unit Action in Vietnam, The March Up: Taking Baghdad with the US Marines, The Pepperdogs and No True Glory: A Frontline Account of the Battle for Fallujah.

He is the recipient of Marine Corps Heritage Award for nonfiction, the Colby Military History Award and the VFW National Media Award. The Los Angeles Times named him "one of the top ten journalists covering Iraq". He can be reached at bing@westwrite.com. His writing web site is www.westwrite.com.