Operation Desert Storm (Hardback)

Colonel Frank Hancock served as the commander of the 1st Battalion 327 Infantry, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) during Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm. In this book, Operation Desert Storm: How Two Young Intelligence Analysts and an Infantry Battalion Changes the War in Iraq, he provides an excellent examination of one infantry battalion’s experiences preparing for combat, experiencing the reality of battle, and returning home. This book is a must read for anyone who seeks a Soldier’s view of Desert Shield/Desert Storm.

COL Hancock breaks the book down into four main components. He first highlights what he saw as an Army struggling in the aftermath of the Vietnam War after he was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in June 1972. He highlights what he saw as the critical developments within the Army during the 1970s and 1980s. Those developments created the lethal force that fought during Operations Desert Shield/Desert Storm.

Then he focuses on the specific of his unit, the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). He highlights its development post-Vietnam and its capabilities. He focuses on how the division’s helicopter assets allowed its subordinate units to quickly and precisely, insert men and equipment to various parts of the battlefield while ensuring that they had the equipment and the lethality to complete their mission.

In the third section the book the reader finds the special aspect of the book begins. this begins when COL Hancock assumed command of the 1st Battalion 327 Infantry, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) in June 1990. Beginning with Chapter 3, 1st Battalion 327 Infantry, his voice no longer dominates the unit’s experiences. He draws from 33 other Soldiers and one civilian their recollections of events to weave a narrative of the battalion’s experiences. This is the special aspect of this book for COL Hancock’s approach provides a multilayered narrative of Desert Shield/Desert Storm that captures the individual concerns and experiences of Soldiers faced with combat for the first time in a generation.

However, the work is much more than an intimate look at a unit preparing for and entering combat. Hancock provide a leadership study on how he and the Soldiers of the battalion developed into a team and how the trust and confidence they had in each other amplified their ability to meet the challenges of the war.

Why is the book a leadership study? FM 9-4, Air Assault Operations, March 1987, highlights that the most dangerous time of an air assault operation is when the unit approaches and touches down on its landing zone. Hancock provides special notice how his two young intelligence analysts may have changed the course of the war. The intelligence estimates of their higher headquarters indicated that a trench line near the 327th landing zone was unoccupied. They disagree and using their technical skills and trusting that the leadership of the battalion would listen and act allowed them to contest the brigade and divisions evaluations. Ultimately, their efforts caused their higher headquarters to alter their unit’s landing zone on day one of Operation Desert Storm avoiding a well-entrenched and armed Iraqi battalion. They saved a considerable number of Soldiers and may have changes the course of the initial stages of the war.

The final sections of the book examine the unit’s return to Fort Campbell and their reception when arriving home. COL Hancock has special praise for Linda Patterson who adopted the Battalion during the Vietnam War when her brother was killed in action. He then highlights the challenges of again preparing his unit for a rotation at the Joint Readiness Training Center while recognizing that many of his Soldiers and their families had already experienced significant separation How do you maintain the appropriate balance between readiness and family in a volunteer Army?. He then concludes with a concluding chapter summarizing what he saw as the three key lessons he wishes to pass on to others.

LTC (R) Edwin "Mike" Perry - Former Director, U.S. Army Military History Institute and past President of the Army Heritage Center Foundation.

It was very well written and told the story in such a manner that the events are easily followed, the situation and tactics understood, and the personal experiences of the men and the units who contributed so greatly to the Desert Storm’s strategic, operational, and tactical success are fully appreciated.

It was one of the most accurate, insightful recounting of a significant combat event that I have ever read – and one dearly needing to be told for Desert Storm.

It not only told a riveting story that many do not know, but it explains the story in a manner revealing the inner workings of a combat unit and its heroes, their intense desire to take care of their troops while achieving mission success, and the tactics that achieved these goals.

I whole-heartedly recommend this book!!!

Gregory A. Brockman COL US Army (Retired)

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