≫ Download Victory Point Operations Red Wings and Whalers the Marine Corps' Battle for Freedom in Afghanistan Ed Darack 9780425226193 Books

Victory Point Operations Red Wings and Whalers the Marine Corps' Battle for Freedom in Afghanistan Ed Darack 9780425226193 Books

Download As PDF : Victory Point Operations Red Wings and Whalers the Marine Corps' Battle for Freedom in Afghanistan Ed Darack 9780425226193 Books

Victory Point Operations Red Wings and Whalers the Marine Corps' Battle for Freedom in Afghanistan Ed Darack 9780425226193 Books

I bought this book for both the kindle and the paper back version. I Bought it because I was one of the Marines in 2nd plt Echo 2/3 during the deployment to Afghanistan and I participated in Operation Whalers and remember the tragedy of Red Wings first hand. Reading this book caused so many emotions because of the memories of the events that were taking place. But also because of how much I learned about the situations that were going on. As a brand new 19 year old grunt I was kept out of the loop on a lot of things. from the reasons behind the failed extraction of SEAL Team 10, (which had every single 2/3 grunt pissed that we were sitting there unable to do anything)to Scene behind the mission plannings and execution of some of the hardest things I've ever accomplished in my life.

The only qualm that I have with this book is that Mr. Darak spent the whole Deployment with Fox company and although him being able to talk to grunts from Fox and get after action reports from them, I feel like the events of August 18th 2005 were just overlooked. CPL Cerinceon was the best squad leader I ever had the pleasure of knowing and LCPL George was an absolutely stellar Marine, Nothing could ever explain the shock we all felt that he was to be the one who gave his life that day. However the book did a little half page blurp on the battle of Taleban (the small village in which we were ambushed) and seemed like it was a freak shot that happened to hit George. However it didn't go into detail of How LCPL Gonzalez (who would be killed in Iraq a year later) and LCPL Torres danced around a rock trying to return fire and stay out of fire at the same time. (Torres got hit twice) and the ANA (afghan national army) commandos that died in that fight as well as their Commander being wounded. Also their are a few descrepencies of how the Ambush started. First of all the book says that there were two girls standing in the road, the reality is there were half a dozen children, boys and girls. none over the age of 11 or 12 if I had to make a guess. They were there as a distractoin to us. They were cheering us and smiling, we got distracted by them because we were handing them what little food and water we had left(we were only a short distance from the mouth of the Korengal and we didn't need them any more) we also handed them money and it made us extremely happy to see how well we were being recieved. However it took our attention off of the mountaintops and left us extremely vulnerable to attack. When the rounds started coming in one of the little girls tried to take cover next to the rock cliff we were trapped next to, CPL Cirencione instinctivly placed himself between her and the attackers he felt had the best chance of hitting her. There he stayed until the chos of Combat forced him to check on his Marines. Doc Auguon was the one who ran from the front of the platoon to the rear, down a completetly open road that was being riddled with bullets, to try his hardest to rescue George after helping save 3 ANA soldiers that were severely wounded. There Were many many other actions that this deserved the kind of attention that he gave the rest, I am not one of the Marines mentioned by me or Mr. Darak in the book and I don't care to be, and all of the Marines of 2/3 were faced with elements that we could never had trained for yet carried on regardless, never breaking in spirit. I guess no amount of pages could truly justify the sacrifices that The Military has made so far from home, I just felt that the Marines who suffered in the Korengal deserved a little more credit then what they got. Again my only qualm with this book was the short commings he gave Echo in their struggles for the 2 weeks in the mountiains of the Korengal in the 120+ degree weather culminating in a fight that would end the lives of a brother and mentor.

The entire book was really well done and I really appreciate the knowledge that I gained from a behind the scenes look at the operations however I feel like he cut the story short by not speaking to the Echo Marines who were in a desperate fight for close to an hour at the bottom of a ravine stuck between a river and a cliff while bullets and RPG's poured down on them.

-2/3 Echo "hardcore"


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Victory Point Operations Red Wings and Whalers the Marine Corps' Battle for Freedom in Afghanistan Ed Darack 9780425226193 Books Reviews

I was like everyone else, amazed by "Lone Survivor" until I read "Victory Point", at the recommendation of an Operation Red Wings Gold Star Mother. You need to read this book. Reading it for a second time, while waiting for "Extortion 17" to come out.
Be prepared to laugh, cry and pound your fists in frustration. My heart both cheers on our Marines and Army as they surpass whatever stupidity is commanding them and it breaks that they even have to put up with such an incompetent and self-serving command structure. I served 20 years in the command and control field and witnessed those officers and senior enlisted who only worried about their next promotion. While frustrating, as in Victory Point, good officers and NCOs will always find a way around it or ignore them altogether.

I was in the Air Force - this makes me want to hug every Marine I see.
The book is a must read in my opinion if you want to learn more about the history of Afghanistan and how they came to be where they are today and all the different provinces and people of that area. While this book does encompass Operation Red Wings, it does not spend a lot of time dwelling on it. It covers more of the build up with operation before that, during, and after. This book is very detail oriented, to the point where I just had to skip over some of the technical jargon to get to the action of the story. It also details somewhat the history of the Marines, and more so the men involved there, from all branches of the military, and how they all made a difference in the war there. God Bless America and God Bless all our American men and women who fight for our freedom on a daily basis.
“Victory Point” is an excellent book about Marines operating in some of the most extreme geography in their history the Hindu Kush. While most of the Marine Corps operations in Afghanistan were in Helmand province, Marines operated in smaller units as part of Combined Joint Task Force (CJTF) 180 and later CJTF-76 out of Bagram. As Marines have fought in “every clime and place”, the actions depicted in “Victory Point” may well be the highest altitude combat operations in the Corps’ history.

In the beginning of the book, Mr. Darack does an accurate job of detailing, in a concise but comprehensive manner

The history of the Marine Corps’ “small wars” operations and its long culture of working with and reaching out to and gaining the trust of local indigenous populations.

The combined arms approach (air/ground team) of the Marine Corps to war fighting. Not only is this an important part of the Corps’ ethos and methodology, it plays an important role, in fact THE decisive role, in the combat actions depicted in the book.

The history of armed conflict in Afghanistan and the background on the Russian military involvement and the irony of the importance of Nangalam, where Camp Blessing is located, in drawing the Russian military into Afghanistan in the first place.

The history of the Taliban and how they originated and became a powerful force in Afghanistan.

The unique and challenging operating environment and command structure of the Combined Joint Task Force (CJTF) operating out of Bagram. These command relationships and how those relationships changed as units and Commanders cycled in and out of the CJTF became important issues as the action develops particularly in the “Red Wings” portion of the book.

So, before the action even starts, Mr. Darak gives the reader an important history lesson on the units involved, their cultures, methods of operations and the historical backdrop of the operational area.

In the same manner as “We Were Soldiers Once and Young” by Hal Moore, his depictions of the two operations “Red Wings” and “Whalers” provide some great lessons for students of military history and especially those interested in high altitude, steep topographical terrain operations. The choice of radios, helicopters (or not…), appropriate caliber weaponry, supporting arms coordination (mortars, artillery, and air), the importance of maintaining the high ground, risk assessment and most importantly decision-making and how these are different in the two operations are very instructive.

In addition, the Marines’ bias towards “bridging the cultural divide” as the key to winning the overall campaign in Afghanistan and how this draws on the Corps’ small wars tradition is an important part of not only the events in Victory Point but the entire Coalition efforts in Afghanistan.

I flew out of Bagram with a Marine Reserve H-53 squadron one year prior to the events in Victory Point for eight months in support as part of CJTF-180 and then CJTF-76. I also supported some operations out of Camp Blessing during the time the SOF units were turning it over to the Marines. From my perspective, this is a very accurate rendition of the challenges faced by units operating within the unusual command structure of the CJTF. Often the synergy of the units from different services can be very effective and very powerful but when personalities change and units change out, the working relationships can change too.

Ed Darak has done a great service to students of military history and documented a very unique chapter in US Military history and Marine Corps history. This book is also an indictment on the value of a professional embedded journalist during a combat deployment. As I said, the events depicted may well be the highest altitude combat operations in the history of the Marine Corps. This is an excellent read for those interested in military operations in Afghanistan.
I bought this book for both the kindle and the paper back version. I Bought it because I was one of the Marines in 2nd plt Echo 2/3 during the deployment to Afghanistan and I participated in Operation Whalers and remember the tragedy of Red Wings first hand. Reading this book caused so many emotions because of the memories of the events that were taking place. But also because of how much I learned about the situations that were going on. As a brand new 19 year old grunt I was kept out of the loop on a lot of things. from the reasons behind the failed extraction of SEAL Team 10, (which had every single 2/3 grunt pissed that we were sitting there unable to do anything)to Scene behind the mission plannings and execution of some of the hardest things I've ever accomplished in my life.

The only qualm that I have with this book is that Mr. Darak spent the whole Deployment with Fox company and although him being able to talk to grunts from Fox and get after action reports from them, I feel like the events of August 18th 2005 were just overlooked. CPL Cerinceon was the best squad leader I ever had the pleasure of knowing and LCPL George was an absolutely stellar Marine, Nothing could ever explain the shock we all felt that he was to be the one who gave his life that day. However the book did a little half page blurp on the battle of Taleban (the small village in which we were ambushed) and seemed like it was a freak shot that happened to hit George. However it didn't go into detail of How LCPL Gonzalez (who would be killed in Iraq a year later) and LCPL Torres danced around a rock trying to return fire and stay out of fire at the same time. (Torres got hit twice) and the ANA (afghan national army) commandos that died in that fight as well as their Commander being wounded. Also their are a few descrepencies of how the Ambush started. First of all the book says that there were two girls standing in the road, the reality is there were half a dozen children, boys and girls. none over the age of 11 or 12 if I had to make a guess. They were there as a distractoin to us. They were cheering us and smiling, we got distracted by them because we were handing them what little food and water we had left(we were only a short distance from the mouth of the Korengal and we didn't need them any more) we also handed them money and it made us extremely happy to see how well we were being recieved. However it took our attention off of the mountaintops and left us extremely vulnerable to attack. When the rounds started coming in one of the little girls tried to take cover next to the rock cliff we were trapped next to, CPL Cirencione instinctivly placed himself between her and the attackers he felt had the best chance of hitting her. There he stayed until the chos of Combat forced him to check on his Marines. Doc Auguon was the one who ran from the front of the platoon to the rear, down a completetly open road that was being riddled with bullets, to try his hardest to rescue George after helping save 3 ANA soldiers that were severely wounded. There Were many many other actions that this deserved the kind of attention that he gave the rest, I am not one of the Marines mentioned by me or Mr. Darak in the book and I don't care to be, and all of the Marines of 2/3 were faced with elements that we could never had trained for yet carried on regardless, never breaking in spirit. I guess no amount of pages could truly justify the sacrifices that The Military has made so far from home, I just felt that the Marines who suffered in the Korengal deserved a little more credit then what they got. Again my only qualm with this book was the short commings he gave Echo in their struggles for the 2 weeks in the mountiains of the Korengal in the 120+ degree weather culminating in a fight that would end the lives of a brother and mentor.

The entire book was really well done and I really appreciate the knowledge that I gained from a behind the scenes look at the operations however I feel like he cut the story short by not speaking to the Echo Marines who were in a desperate fight for close to an hour at the bottom of a ravine stuck between a river and a cliff while bullets and RPG's poured down on them.

-2/3 Echo "hardcore"