david.doolin

A fairly light read, and considerably better than I thought it would be. Having lived through the 80s-90s when Jack Welch was Public Enemy #1 in the popular press, it was refreshing to read Jack's side of the story, and get some real insight into stack ranking. Let me rephrase that I got insight into stack ranking. I have no idea if anyone has. I should also add that my father worked for GE for a number of years in motors, which was eventually sold to Regal Beloit. He did well enough at both companies.

I would not then nor now want to work for Jack Welch. Neither would I have then or now join GE or a similar company (eh... Netflix). Not how I want to my life, but I appreciate the aggression and passion with which these businesses operate.

I read this on Kindle, and would one day like to own the print version for the maps and photos. While these monographs vary in perspective, this one read a bit more matter of fact than some of the others. Perhaps a bit optimistic, but little of the bitterness that occasionally pops up in others of the series.

I have the PDF file, can't beat the price as it's freely downloadable.

This is an almanac or compendium providing a very high level overview of USAF operations during the Vietnam War. It's well designed, providing statistics by year and photographs of most of the aircraft operating in theater. Along with the photographs, a brief description of the aircraft's role during the conflict is provided. Having read numerous accounts of the war, seeing photos of the aircraft involved is very helpul.

First half outlines the thinking and structure pursued by GVN and FWA for nation building in the hinterland. Second half details successes and failures. Per previous monographs in this series, fingers are occasionally pointed, but the author's restraint is admirable. Stats for VC terror are listed. FWA military involvement put into context of DRV's military escalation resulting from at least partial GVN successes with the various hamlet and village programs instituted by the Diem administration. Reread.

Upshot: Apparently, Kennedy was a Francophobe, and probably influenced by France's foreign policy failures and WWII record. De Gaulle was arrogant, proud, and apparently bent on France being a super power player. Not a situation where de Gaulle's lessons late learned would make much impression on a youthful administration riding a wave of successes.

Understanding the how the USA militarily came to be involved in Vietnam almost requires understanding the strategic importance of Laos. Both the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations believed that losing Laos would result in losing Vietnam as well, and they were correct. “Before The Quagmire” describes in detail how Laos was lost to Western influence. Readers familiar with the dawn and prosecution of The Cold War may sympathize with the diplomats involved, particularly J. Graham Parsons whose career was tarnished by his service in Laos. There were no good choices, only bad choices and worse choices, and every choice leavened with the potential of hot war erupting with either China, or Russia, or both, and the potential nuclear consequences.

Readers familiar with characters involved in The Secret War will be delighted with the short but highly complimentary reference to Bill Lair.

Another of the long list of books which I've read over the years and haven't gotten around to adding here.

There is an argument that this book is required reading for software architects. The author lays out a design methodology which was later extended in a follow-on book, and picked up by the software architecture community.