by Pete Blaber
Introduction. The
Mission, The Men, and Me: Lessons from a Former Delta Force Commander was
published in 2008 by retired Army Lieutenant Colonel Pete Blaber, and captures
some of the former Delta Force Commander’s notable life experiences and
learning moments from throughout his career, especially surrounding his time
commanding Task Force 11 during Operation Anaconda and the Battle of Takur Ghar. This relatively short book is packed with
valuable lessons that any leader can use to refine their skill set.
Analysis. Blaber follows a chronological order of
telling his life story by introducing the reader to his formative childhood
years, during which time he enjoyed finding things that his very strict parents
would hide from his siblings. He writes
about leading his peer group into various shenanigans, ranging from “car
bombing” passing cars with snowballs and hurling tomatoes at a bus. Later, the author describes his developing
interest in the US Military’s shortcomings in developing effective tactics, and
offers alternatives that he believes would be more effective. Finally, he survives the grueling Delta Force
initiation training, securing a coveted place within the ranks of the elite
special operations community. The
preponderance of the book, which follows his acceptance into Delta Force, consists
of his lessons learned in leadership and effective application of leadership
principles, even when not supported by his higher echelons of command.
Evaluation. It was both relieving and disheartening to
learn that personnel within other branches of the US Military, and even the
Special Operations community, experience the same frustrations with
non-supportive, strictly rigid, unwaveringly hierarchical, and centrally
planning command echelons that I have observed at times in the supporting
fields of the Marine Corps. From reading
about General MacArthur’s poor management of the Korean War in Pattrick K.
O’Donnell’s book Give Me Tomorrow to Leo
Tolstoy’s account of the Battle of Smolensk in War and Peace, I can certainly conclude that Blaber is correct in
his assessment that centralized planning, not trusting the guy on the ground to
call the right shots, will almost always result in jeopardizing mission success
and, in the case of US military operations, potentially cost the lives of
American warfighters.
Conclusion. This book is well written, delivers valuable
leadership lessons, and presents the information in an intriguing way. All in
all, I highly recommend this book to every US military leader.