Defense Technology International - March 2008 - (Page 48)

REVIEW BOOK REVIEWED BY PAUL McLEARY ONE SOLDIER’S WAR BY ARKADY BABCHENKO Grove/Atlantic Inc., 2008 432 pp., $25.00 The literature of insurgency has exploded in recent years, from memoirs by “ground pounders” to articles by theorists, to books by military historians analyzing insurgencies past. And while gallons of ink have been spilled over insurgencies in the Middle East and Asia, little of note has found its way into the discussion about Russia’s war in Chechnya. This is odd, considering that the checkered Russian experience ﬁghting an urban Islamist foe would seem to provide some lessons, pro or con, for the American experience in Iraq. Arkady Babchenko’s memoir, One Soldier’s War, about his experiences as an infantryman during two tours in Chechnya, may explain why the Russian experience hasn’t been widely cited. In his account, the Russian army is a barely functioning force, hardly able to feed, clothe or equip its troops. Babchenko chronicles some details of the war—soldiers stealing ammunition and selling it to Chechens for money to bribe officers not to beat them; chronic shortages of food and clothing; a drunken officer and NCO corps that allow their billets to exist in chaos; and unmotivated troops who believe they have no stake in the outcome of the war, other than to survive it. In between these horrors, Babchenko writes about conditions all soldiers in the field relate to: exhaustion, fear, discomfort, death, and the brotherhood these instill among the men doing the ﬁghting, despite the privation visited upon them by their military. The ﬁghting—brutal, up-close and bloody—is presented as merely another horror in a long tour, and the terror visited by the shadowy Chechen terrorists turns Babchenko’s comrades into Russia’s “lost generation.” Counterinsurgency tactics seldom rear their head in the book, and the Russian military Babchenko chronicles never seems to realize that the fight they are engaged in calls for new rules. Upon completion, one can’t help but be amazed that the Russian military managed even the Pyrrhic victory it finally achieved. � ADVERTISERS IN THIS ISSUE A.E. Petsche Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38B AVIATION WEEK AviationWeek.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .41 AVIATION WEEK Conferences & Exhibitions Aircraft Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 UPCOMING: IN PRINT - APRIL ISSUE Stryker Report from Iraq, Directed Energy Programs, Vertical Lift Techologies MRO Military . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3rd Cover Program Risks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Ceradyne Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 DTI, Defense Technology International . . . . . . 48 Elbit Systems Ltd. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 FLIR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 General Atomics Aeronautical Systems . . . . 38A IAI, Israel Aerospace Industries, Ltd. . . . . . . 14A International Truck & Engine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 L-3 Advanced Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 Marine South 2008 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Meggitt Defense Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 NEXTER Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Oto Melara . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 Plasan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 RAFAEL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14B Raytheon Co. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4th Cover Sagem Défense Sécurité . . . . . . . . . . . . 2nd Cover TAG, Technology Advancement Group, Inc. . . . .26 Thales . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 World Aerospace Database . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49  EVENT QUAD-A, April 6-9 MRO Military, April 15 ONLINE New Exclusive Videos! Raytheon AESA radar, F-15 Strike Eagle and more! Click on the Video tab on the AviationWeek.com Homepage Turn to the ARES blog for daily defense technology updates: Visit: www.aviationweek.com/aw/community Check out the Ezine of this issue, along with the full DTI issue, on the DTI homepage www.aviationweek.com/dti 48        � 1360654830 CMYK    http://www.aviationweek.com/dti http://AviationWeek.com http://AviationWeek.com http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/community http://www.aviationweek.com/dti http://www.aviationweek.com/dti

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Defense Technology International - March 2008

Defense Technology International - March 2008 Contents Sweden Cancels SEP; Israel Launches Imaging Satellite; Geotextiles Secure Ammo Dump U.S. Navy Taps Neural Architecture Software to Assure Job Satisfaction Shrapnel-Like Pieces of Reactive Materials Increase Explosive Force of Bombs Technology is Rapidly Closing the Gap Between Sensors and Shooters Italian Army Program Aims to Develop a Fully Networked Land Force Political and Military Uncertainties Plague U.S. Defense Budget Democrats Put Pentagon on Notice Over Spending and Policy at DTAR Conference Russian Combat Vehicle Protects Tank Formations from Anti-Armor Weapons European Battlelabs Use Simulation to Verify Technologies and Stretch Defense Funds Malaysia Accelerates Fleet Modernization to meet Long-Term Goals U.S. Navy Says Composite Raiding Boat May Reduce Injuries From Wave Shocks Seeing Isn’t Believing When it Comes to Deciphering Funds for Secret Projects Advances in Sensors and Propulsion Make Torpedoes Ever More Lethal FAA is in No Rush to Approve Rules that Let UAVs Fly in Civil Airspace USS Truman Carrier Strike Group Patrols a Rough Neighborhood 24/7 U.S. says Sino-Russian Space Disarmament Plan is Riddled with Pitfalls Hyperspeed Projectile; “Sound Cloak” Hides Subs; Improving Nuclear Forensics Dutch Air Commodore Theo ten Haaf Analyzes the Impact of Rotary-Wing Operations One Soldier’s War is a Behind-the-Headlines Look at Russia’s Campaigns in Chechnya Black Budgets are Huge and Growing, and Often Conceal Amazing Failures

Defense Technology International - March 2008

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