Dragon Days: Time for "Unconventional" Tactics

Don't be put off by the cover. After a brief look at Communist and Islamist aggression in Southeast Asia, this book covers--in unexpected detail--what every small U.S. unit should know about working alone in that region. For all junior infantrymen, that means more Unconventional Warfare (UW) (hiding and surprise) skill, plus some policing ability. After briefly covering ways to further investigate the enemy's modus operandi, one gets to the real meat of this study. That's in a well-illustrated journey through: (1) Finding an Enemy Weakness; (2) Obscure Approach; (3)Disguising the Attack; (4) Precluding a Counterstroke; (5) Rural Escape and Evasion; (6) Enhancing Rural Terrain; (7) Urban Escape and Evasion; and (8) Enhancing Urban Terrain. Because of Asia's “bottom-up” cultures, all warfare there depends more on the “little (frontline) picture.” This book presents more of that small-unit perspective than any government publication. In fact, it may still constitute America's only UW tactical-technique manual.