Yes, another winner of a book by one of America’s elite. I guess by now the readers of Feral Jundi are noticing a trend with my book selections. I look for books written by those that have been there and done that, and are considered to be the best warriors in the world. The members of the Unit are an elite crew, and when these guys talk, I pay attention.
Also, the amount of these books coming out lately just amazes me, and everyone in the industry should try to take the time to read their stories and listen to their ideas. The have a hard fought operational wisdom and common sense clarity that is very unique, and reading this stuff is pure brain candy for the security professional–almost Boydian (my new word for authors and their ideas that inspire me). So let’s get on with my review.
This book was named after the 3 M principle that Pete Blaber was introduced to early on in his military career. It is a simple concept where the Mission comes first, your Men come second, and Me comes last in the order of priorities. These principles have guided Pete through his entire career as a professional soldier and in his civilian life, and this is a major theme of the book.
The format of the book is great. For each chapter he discusses a leadership lesson learned, and tries to tie that in with the 3 M’s and what it takes to accomplish the mission. So definitely do not skim this thing, because you will miss stuff.
In this book, you will get a glimpse of Pete and his crew going on training treks through the mountains of Montana, to the various combat missions in this war and wars past. He also talks about the various discussions he had with such individuals like Johnny Walker Lindh (American Taliban) and Ali Mohamed, and then ties in those interviews with the lessons we can learn from these individuals and how they were able to get so close to Usama Bin Laden(UBL).