2008 Woodie Awards
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The Scene
Book offers rare insight to global military operations
Journalist closely observes U.S. forces
By David Tannenbaum on 12/6/07
Today, when the media or the general public talk about U.S. military operations around the world, they only mention the two areas where major combat operations are occurring: Iraq and Afghanistan. Many don't realize that the U.S. military, especially the U.S. Army, is also deployed to 120 nations around the globe, conducting missions ranging from hunting down terrorist groups to providing humanitarian assistance and conducting diplomacy.
In 2003, Robert D. Kaplan set out to embed himself with the military, but in a more extraordinary fashion than is often seen. Instead of sticking with one or two units in an area of major media focus, Kaplan hopped from one unit to another all around the world, watching the U.S. military work in many different ways.
In his first of two books, "Imperial Grunts: On the Ground with the American Military," he begins his journey in Yemen as U.S. Coast Guard specialists train a Yemeni force in interdiction to stop terrorism off their shore. His odyssey brings him from Yemen to Colombia, where he is embedded with U.S. Army Special Forces who train the government to fight the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, a brutal guerrilla group. Kaplan continues to various other places, such as the Philippines and Mongolia.
In Kaplan's second book, "Hog Pilots, Blue Water Grunts," which was released this September, he shifts his focus from the ground forces to those deployed around the Pacific Ocean. After a long interlude talking about the Pacific theater of operations, he embeds himself on a destroyer -a medium-sized ship-and later on a nuclear submarine. He also travels with various fighter squadrons who operate planes ranging from the A-10, which is designed to destroy tanks and help ground forces, to a B-2 squadron, which, at $1.4 billion, is a stealth bomber designed to pummel the enemy's homeland.
In 2003, Robert D. Kaplan set out to embed himself with the military, but in a more extraordinary fashion than is often seen. Instead of sticking with one or two units in an area of major media focus, Kaplan hopped from one unit to another all around the world, watching the U.S. military work in many different ways.
 Hog Pilots, Blue Water Grunts: A- TITLE: "Hog Pilots, Blue Water Grunts: The American Military in the Air, at Sea, and on the Ground" AUTHOR: Robert D. Kaplan LENGTH: 428 pages PUBLISHER: Random House Publishing Group PRICE: Hardcover: $27.95 list price |
In his first of two books, "Imperial Grunts: On the Ground with the American Military," he begins his journey in Yemen as U.S. Coast Guard specialists train a Yemeni force in interdiction to stop terrorism off their shore. His odyssey brings him from Yemen to Colombia, where he is embedded with U.S. Army Special Forces who train the government to fight the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, a brutal guerrilla group. Kaplan continues to various other places, such as the Philippines and Mongolia.
In Kaplan's second book, "Hog Pilots, Blue Water Grunts," which was released this September, he shifts his focus from the ground forces to those deployed around the Pacific Ocean. After a long interlude talking about the Pacific theater of operations, he embeds himself on a destroyer -a medium-sized ship-and later on a nuclear submarine. He also travels with various fighter squadrons who operate planes ranging from the A-10, which is designed to destroy tanks and help ground forces, to a B-2 squadron, which, at $1.4 billion, is a stealth bomber designed to pummel the enemy's homeland.
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