Quote Originally Posted by William F. Owen View Post
What about Paret, Kitson, Samay Ram, Charters, Tugwell and O'Neil to name just a few of the authors on my COIN shelf?
I have a wedding this weekend for one of my old platoon leaders. He's now a company commander in my old unit. Last night, we had the rehearsal dinner and festivities (so minimize my last three posts. It was a late night), and I surveyed the current officers in the squadron. Only half even knew what SWJ was, and none of them read regularly. That's been my experience in the Army.

Collectively, we're not this new generation of armed nation builders that sit around late at night reading about Malaya, Colombia, and the Phillipines. That is a myth. Instead, we'd rather hit the gym and the bar. In between deployments, the last thing that most guys want to talk about is war.

So, my point about Dr. K is that he's the only CURRENT one that has written coherently, and I know that I can only recommend one book for guys to read. After that, they zone out. That's another reason why I'm taking the time to critique this book. So, the guy who actually writes the next "COIN and Me" does it right.

From BW
Some people have a special knack for telling people what they want to hear. Some of us don't. Sadly, when what one needs to do is difficult and requires a great deal of personal change, it is rarely also what one wants to hear.
Sir, one of the beautiful things about SWJ is that the people that come here regularly are seekihg truth and better understanding. You're working to find it now, and that means it will be different from how others think. That's okay, but you have to remember that you have to sell your idea.

Actually, I plan on comparing/contrasting your work with Dr. K's in a bit. It gets into hearts, minds, and soul or rebellion.