What now, lieutenant? General Richard ‘Butch’ neal, USMC (Ret)
1, build up of US and Australian forces in theatre.
2, The Tet offensive and post Tet recovery.
3, Post Tet and withdrawal of US and allied forces.
This book starts in the build up phase and covers pre deployment training at airborne school and deployment to Vietnam as a lieutenant in the 4th infantry.
Going into a combat zone as a green lieutenant there were many leadership lessons to be learnt even before embarking, there are decisions to be made that will set the course of the up coming tour. Sometimes the lack of experience is exposed, hence the question, what now, lieutenant ? Of course there are mistakes made and hard lessons but the author presents them as a lesson in leadership and give you the rationale behind these lessons.
It’s a good read and being set early in the conflict it’s a much more relaxed read as the war was yet to reach its high tide point the Tet offensive. If you’re interested in a leadership position it’s a good work to study as it shows the delicate balance between keeping the faith of the men below you and also maintaining discipline in the face of adversity.
I would recommend pairing this book with one written latter, either during or after the Tet offensive as these tend to be more chaotic as a multitude of events happened in a very short space of time and you’ll get more of a sense of the development of the conflict and how it turns into an unwinable war.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Have fun stay safe 👍🏼
Comments
Post a Comment