1. On Jun 17 2016 Tom Copeland (USCG) read The Very Best Men by Evan Thomas and commented:

    Good character studies from a interesting part of the CIA's history.

  2. On Jun 08 2016 kcholbert (USAF) read American Icon: Alan Mulally and the Fight to Save Ford Motor Company by Bryce G. Hoffman
  3. On Jun 07 2016 Tom Copeland (USCG) read A Look Over My Shoulder: A Life in the Central Intelligence Agency by Richard Helms and commented:

    I really enjoyed the format of this autobiography. When you think about Richard Helms, what are the things you would want to ask him about? Nosenko. Bay of Pigs. Laos. Church Committee. Angleton. Kennedy assassination. And so on. This book has a short chapter about each one, laying out his involvement and the conclusions he drew from it. It's an effective format and of course Helms' take on things is great.

  4. On May 30 2016 Tom Copeland (USCG) read The Circle by Dave Eggers and commented:

    Kind of over the top, and throws the baby out with the bathwater, but still, makes you think. I will say that in the dot coms where I've worked, especially during the fast growth times, my experience has not been of God-like scientists using nano-bots to convert mud into spaceships. Instead, it's been a constant organic struggle to invent and implement major changes while continuing to add new features and keep up with the inbound volume.

  5. On May 28 2016 kcholbert (USAF) read At All Costs by Matt Proietti
  6. On May 28 2016 Tom Copeland (USCG) read Stalin's Secret War: Soviet Counterintelligence against the Nazis, 1941-1945 by Robert W. Stephan and commented:

    Interesting anecdotes - apparently after a heavy snow the Soviets would drop in agents without parachutes so they would not be spotted. If any members of the team were injured on landing, the remaining members were instructed to shoot him. Another good quote - "The USSR's counterintelligence system was inefficient, but it was not ineffective."

  7. On May 26 2016 Tom Copeland (USCG) read Spy: The Inside Story of How the FBI's Robert Hanssen Betrayed America by David Wise and commented:

    What a disaster! Sounds like he competed with Ames to see who could be our Kim Philby.

  8. On May 26 2016 Tom Copeland (USCG) read My Share of the Task: A Memoir by General Stanley McChrystal and commented:

    Just a totally dedicated and hard charging guy with a nearly impossible task in Afghanistan.

  9. On May 22 2016 Tom Copeland (USCG) read The Twilight War: The Secret History of America's Thirty-Year Conflict with Iran by David Crist and commented:

    The stories of the special ops involvement in the tanker war are fascinating. Not an upbeat or hopeful book, but an honest and informative one.

  10. On May 21 2016 colleen (USA) read Lights Out: A Cyberattack, A Nation Unprepared, Surviving the Aftermath by Ted Koppel
  11. On May 19 2016 kcholbert (USAF) read Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years at Lockheed by Ben R. Rich
  12. On May 18 2016 kcholbert (USAF) read It Worked for Me: In Life and Leadership by Colin Powell
  13. On May 18 2016 Tom Copeland (USCG) read Joker One: A Marine Platoon's Story of Courage, Leadership, and Brotherhood by Donovan Campbell and commented:

    Really heavy stuff; you can see Campbell getting burned out over time. By the end of the book the tone was way different than at the beginning. Is it just the pace and stresses of modern urban warfare, or is that generally near the upper end for combat effectiveness?

  14. On May 16 2016 Tom Copeland (USCG) read The Defense Of Duffer's Drift by Ernest Dunlop Swinton and commented:

    I can see why this is on so many lists now! I read the first chapter to my oldest son and he quickly devoured the rest. Thinking of giving it as a gift to a friend who served in that part of the world.

  15. On May 14 2016 kcholbert (USAF) read Ghost Fleet: A Novel of the Next World War by P. W. Singer