Imagine working all day in 100-degree plus temperatures under constant life-threatening circumstances, sometimes relying only on the negligible amount of hydration from a cactus you’ve dug up. This is the life of a U.S. Army soldier in places like Iraq, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, which is why the U.S. Army Desert Operations Handbook is a vital reference for survival in one of the harshest environments in the world. This official guide covers how to plan and conduct operations, how the environment affects personnel and equipment, and most importantly, how to survive and receive supplies in the desert. The obvious problems with extreme temperatures are water location and mobility. However, from handling and caring for firearms to operating and fueling a tank, the entire game changes in the dry, sandy desert conditions. The skills in this guide are taken from lessons learned in real combat situations. Success in desert operations requires the ability to adapt with constant terrain and temperature changes, which are often drastic within the same twenty-four–hour period. All the while, the soldier must be able to move within a unit without being visible to unfriendly groups. This combat-tested manual is sure to arm anyone with the skills necessary to survive in the desert.

In the summer of 2017, the newly arrived president of Marine Corps University, Brigadier General William J. Bowers, ordered a lecture series, "The Legacy of Belleau Wood: 100 Years of Making Marines and Winning Battles." The series would include four lectures, and it was to be supported by an anthology produced by History Division, providing readings to the students on the topics each lecture would cover. The intent was to produce an anthology of lasting worth to Marines, broadly depicting keystone moments in the history of the Corps during the century following the Battle of Belleau Wood. This volume presents a collection of 36 extracts, articles, letters, orders, interviews, and biographies. The work is intended to serve as a general overview and provisional reference to inform both Marines and the general public of the broad outlines of notable trends and controversies in Marine Corps history--Provided by publisher.

Excerpt from Terrain Appreciation The study and evaluation of terrain with a view to its use for military operations is one of the most important things leaders of all units must know. History is replete with examples of success in battle due to the careful study and use of terrain, and is just as, replete with accounts of battles lost because commanders failed to appreciate the terrain. More often than not troop formations, positions to be defended, and locations of weapons are dictated by the ground and these solutions must be read from the ground. It must be remembered that in evaluating terrain, as in everything else dealing with military operations, there are no rules but there are established principles which, when applied intelligently to a given situation, will bring forth a sound solution. Knowledge and application of these principles alone are not sufficient but they must be so thoroughly under stood that they may be intelligently violated if necessary. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

"Most of this reference publication was written by Major E. H. Ellis in 1921 when he perceived the coming war with Japan and made this effort to describe where the conflict might be fought and the manner in which it would be carried out."--Page iii