One Million Steps: A Marine Platoon at War

by Bing West

Battalion 3/5 suffered the highest number of casualties in the war in Afghanistan. This is the story of one platoon in that distinguished battalion.
 
Aware of U.S. plans to withdraw from the country, knowing their efforts were only a footprint in the sand, the fifty Marines of 3rd Platoon fought in Sangin, the most dangerous district in all of Afghanistan. So heavy were the casualties that the Secretary of Defense offered to pull the Marines out. Instead, they pushed forward. Each Marine in 3rd Platoon patrolled two and a half miles a day for six months—a total of one million steps—in search of a ghostlike enemy that struck without warning. Why did the Marines attack and attack, day after day?  
 
Every day brought a new skirmish. Each footfall might trigger an IED. Half the Marines in 3rd Platoon didn’t make it intact to the end of the tour. One Million Steps is the story of the fifty brave men who faced these grim odds and refused to back down. Based on Bing West’s embeds with 3rd Platoon, as well as on their handwritten log, this is a gripping grunt’s-eye view of life on the front lines of America’s longest war. Writing with a combat veteran’s compassion for the fallen, West also offers a damning critique of the higher-ups who expected our warriors to act as nation-builders—and whose failed strategy put American lives at unnecessary risk.
 
Each time a leader was struck down, another rose up to take his place. How does one man instill courage in another? What welded these men together as firmly as steel plates?
 
This remarkable book is the story of warriors caught between a maddening, unrealistic strategy and their unswerving commitment to the fight. Fearsome, inspiring, and poignant in its telling, One Million Steps is sure to become a classic, a unique and enduring testament to the American warrior spirit.
 
Praise for One Million Steps
 
“West shows the reality of modern warfare in a way that is utterly gripping.”—Max Boot, author of Invisible Armies
 
“A gripping, boot-level account of Marines in Afghanistan during the bloody struggle with Taliban fighters.”—Los Angeles Times
 
“One Million Steps transcends combat narrative: It is an epic of contemporary small-unit combat.”—Eliot A. Cohen, author of Supreme Command
 
“A blistering assault on America’s senior military leadership.”—The Wall Street Journal
 
“A heart-pounding portrayal . . . a compelling account of what these men endured.” —The Washington Post
 
“Stunning, sobering, and brilliantly written.”—Newt Gingrich
 
“One of the most intrepid military journalists, Bing West, delivers a heart-wrenching account of one platoon’s fight.”—Bill Bennett, host of Morning in America
 
“Bing West has reconfirmed his standing as one of the most intrepid and insightful observers of America’s wars. . . . One Million Steps reveals the essence of small-unit combat, the very soul of war.”—The Weekly Standard
 
“A searing read, but it is one that all Americans should undertake. We send our sons into battle, and few know what our warriors experience.” —The Washington Times

Genres: Military Fiction, Nonfiction, History, War, Military History, Audiobook, United States

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

Francis J. "Bing" West Jr. (born May 2, 1940) is an American author, Marine combat veteran and former Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs during the Reagan Administration.

West writes about the military, warfighting, and counterinsurgency. In the Vietnam War, he fought in major operations and conducted over a hundred combat patrols in 1966–1968.

(wikipedia)

Reviews

[Brett C · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an honest and brutal account of a Marine Infantry unit in Helmand Providence in Afghanistan. It followed their combat action while on patrols throughout the specific area of Sangin, which is considered the most dangerous district in all Afghanistan. The narrarive showed acts of these brave men demonstrated by the Marine values: Honor, Courage, and Commitment. It was an engaging read the while time and suggested to anyone interested in modern warfare/Afghanistan.

[Christina · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a privilege to have this book written. I'm one of the sisters of Lcpl James Boelk. I'm so grateful to have the story of 3rd platoon put into history. The book talks about David Boelk's (my Dad) phone ringing moments after he read a report about Marines who were killed, I was the one on the other side of the line. I read the book in less than a day. Although I had heard some of the details differently I thought it was a great read considering there are always different perspectives in combat situations. I truly can't express how grateful I am to have an entire book dedicated to the men who were my brother's Marine Corps family. Thank you Bing West for putting your life on the line to make sure their story was recorded and preserved! This will be a book we hand down through generations. Thanks to you our grandchildren won't stubble across something about my brother and forever wonder what his platoon did and who he fought with. "So long as we are not forgotten we do not die" -author unknown. Bing West gave 3rd platoon the gift of immortality.

[Jimmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book following a group of soldiers going out on patrol in Helmand Province in Afghanistan. Their professionalism is always admirable.

The only weakness is when Mr. West drops in negative comments about President Obama and his administration as if there ever was a right way to fight a war in Afghanistan. And not a word about George W. Bush? His job was to go in and kill Bin Laden while he was there. Instead in a massive failure, President Bush let him escape. Nothing else was necessary.

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just one word - Outstanding! One Million Steps: A Marine Platoon at War is one of those rare books succeeding at dropping you on the ground right there with the grunts, in the field feeling the heat of the summer sun - no a/c here, baby - and during the winter the ice cold of the stagnant water in an irrigation trench seeping into your boots; the sweat rolling down your face infused with the stink of stress and mixed with the dust of the fields, dazed from the concussion of an IED wondering whether you've been hit, and making one with the ground as F-18's provide air support danger close - I couldn't put this book down. This is a book about Marine infantry doing what they have been trained to do while examining with a very critical eye the Nation's foreign policy in Afghanistan during the Obama Administration. It's not a pretty picture.

Written by a former Viet Nam combat vet turned author, Bing West has been there, done that and has many filthy, stained, ripped T-shirts - literally - to show for it. He writes from a place of knowing and deep understanding of what it is like to be a grunt - the day-to-day grind, the boredom followed by explosive engagement, observing the locals, hunting for the enemy and always challenged when trying to tell the two apart. Mr. West immerses the reader with 3rd Platoon, Kilo Co, 3/5 Marines as they take on the Taliban in the god forsaken Sangin District, the outback of Helmand Province. As the reader you'll go on the daily patrols from day one and learn with the platoon how to counter Taliban tactics - what works and what doesn't. This was a very different fight from Fallujah of which many of these young Marines were veterans. You'll get to know the individuals within the platoon, their roles and how they perform them. And yes, you'll be there when on an unfortunately regular basis there are causalities - the ugly IED explosions that if survived almost always led to loss of at least one limb. You will gain a true understanding of Marine Corps combined arms and how it is employed, how Marine snipers and engineers were integrated into patrols that increased their effectiveness.

Most of all this is a book about the individuals who make-up the brotherhood of Marines that was and is 3rd Platoon. West's writing is an amazing tribute to these young Marines. The author goes beyond just who they were while serving in Sangin. He records why the joined, the worry and anguish of their families while deployed, their plans for when they return and what really happened with their lives upon return. Mr. West summarizes the characteristics of the platoon at the end of the book utilizing individuals who epitomized each trait, "In summary, 3rd Platoon's cohesion was due to inspiration (Abbate), leadership (Garcia), firepower (Beardsley), aggressiveness (McCulloch), steadiness (Esquibel), and raw spirit (Myers)." Where these individual Marines are identified it is a credit to the unit as a whole that they were all imbued with these warrior traits.

At the close of the book Mr. West takes a critical look at the National policy that put our young Marines in such a hell hole. He compares and contrasts policy between Viet Nam and Afghanistan making the reader really question whether we learn anything from our past decisions and resulting consequences. Most of all I urge future Administrations to read this book and stop using our military in the role of nation builders. The job on nation building belongs to the State Dept and such organizations as the Peace Corps, not the United States Marine Corps who is neither trained nor equipped for such a mission.

[Jeremy Dobbins · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a Marine Corps Infantry Rifleman who fought in Marjah, Afghanistan I could relate all to well with this gripping account. Depressingly honest the author unflinchingly portrays what Afghanistan was like and what it means to the men who fought, killed and died in her poppy fields. The author being a veteran of the Marine Corps infantry himself, and having fought in Vietnam, gives an account on our nations war in Afghanistan that every citizen should read.

[Arthur · Rating 4 out of 5]

A 7 and a half hour unabridged audiobook.

I came to this book just after Sepember 11, 2021. The first time Afghanistan has been essentially Taliban controlled in about 20 years. I'm not taking that news well. It's leading to some soul searching, and wondering "was the cost worth it?"

This book gave me a context that I was not expecting,, but am appreciative of. I now have a deeper understanding of the cowardly leaders we have- not just politicians who set arbitrary rules to apply to wars and military occupations, but to military leaders that do not care about winning wars, so much as advancing their own careers by telling their bosses what they want to hear. Their end goal seemingly being to refine their resume to serve them for their defense industry job they'll switch to once they retire. Any general who hamstrings his troops should be ashamed of themselves. Any general who advocates for or agrees to rules they know won't work should be likewise ashamed.

The author basically made that point years ago, and it rings true, loudly, today. This was a very well written book and I enjoyed it a lot.

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

This Bing West-penned history of one U.S. Marine platoon at war could very well have been titled “Body Count.” Not because the Third Platoon in Kilo Company of the Third Battalion of the Fifth Marine Regiment racked up so many enemy kills within Afghanistan. (At one point in America’s longest war, its commanding general, Stanley McChrystal “directed all units to cease reporting insurgents killed.") In one month of fighting in the Sangin district, the Third Battalion “suffered fifteen dead, forty amputations and over seventy others wounded.” As author West reports, “On average, a battalion in Afghanistan lost one man a month, (the) 3/5 had lost twenty in two months.” The bodies being counted in that “most dangerous district in all of Afghanistan” belonged to American Marines.

Bing West is not your average arm-chair, wannabe soldier-writer. As a college graduate, West served as a combat Marine in the jungles of Vietnam. The former assistant secretary of defense in the Reagan administration went on hundreds of reconnaissance patrols not only in Vietnam but Iraq and Afghanistan. To write this his sixth and last book about American combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, West embedded with the Third Platoon, seeing the carnage close-up.

For any red-white-and-blue American patriot, this is a very frustrating read. Largely because of the rules of engagement our combat troops in Afghanistan were directed to operate under. Can you imagine having to keep your finger off your trigger until PID or Positive Identification was established? That meant Afghan insurgents had to be carrying a weapon or they had to be talking on the radio in the middle of a firefight before they could be fired upon by American troops. Can you imagine trying to fight a war in which lawyers behind the scenes are directing the action? “In every battalion operations center, (an attorney) monitored all calls for artillery or air support, constantly weighing who might face court-martial or be relieved of command for making a wrong call.” America is always forced to apply those ROEs whenever they get involved in an armed conflict when the enemy combatants wear no uniforms and blend in with the civilian population.

West pulls no punches when pointing fingers at who’s to blame for the American debacle in Afghanistan. The author believes “the war didn’t end because Mr. Obama quit. Al Qaeda and the Taliban remained on the battlefield undefeated.” West feels the decision to remove all U.S. military forces from Afghanistan by 2016 “was the act of a politician, not a statesman.” Simply put, West writes, “Our generals tried to do too much and our commander-in-chief settled for too little.”

How can you win a war when your goal is not to “defeat” but to “diminish” your enemy? Just exactly what does that mean? How can you win a war just by “winning the hearts and minds” of those caught in your cross fire? How can you win a war when friendly persuasion is your weapon? How can you win a war when the doctrine of counterinsurgency replaces coaches with referees? How can you win a war when your top commanders insist “our side plays by their rules while the other side makes up its own rules?” But, West does a good job here of proving “a flawed war policy can coexist with a soldier’s determination to fight for his country.” This 224-page war diary asks and answers the questions, who are the men of the Third Platoon? “What spirit sustained them?”

[Jacob Hammill · Rating 1 out of 5]

The author's perspectives and vehement criticisms against the strategies taken during the war which dominate this book are delusional. He routinely blames COIN doctrine, Obama, and General Petraeus (who's strategies, when implemented, saw objective gains and created a surplus of examples of political progress in their respective affected regions) for the significant loss of men while at the same time praising the position of Marine leadership that aimed to "finish every fight standing in the enemies ground". A strategy which translates as: marching across minefields, harassing enemy positions, losing multiple men, pulling back, and then repeating the same process ad infinitum. Taking no permanent ground. Achieving no significant gains. David Galula, the man who literally wrote the book on counterinsurgency, predicted the failures of strategies like this which treat insurgents as contemporaries almost a century before for the exact reasons Bing West were so adamant it would work.

West doesn't seem to be the kind of man to ask "why" when he's faced with a complex problem. He ignores famous and true maxims such as "know thy enemy"; he's content to believe that the Taliban are completely evil people that do evil things because they're archetypal evil villains that hate the good that is America. He happily ignores two centuries of political background and historical movements that shaped them and the region for his beliefs. He ignores the axiomatic principles of somebody like Clausewitz when he wrote: "war is not merely a political act but a real political instrument, a continuation of political intercourse-", believing that the men of america who bravely volunteer their lives are only capable of killing and destroying, despite militaries of the past being multitasked for various other purposes than battle against contemporaries (he cites it's been this way forever since the Romans, however, even the Gracchus brothers of Rome famously used Roman Legionaries to nation build the roman empire; building the famous roman roads and infrastructure that they're so well remembered for today).
Mega Butts fr fr.

[T. Fowler · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very good book that throws a clear light on the type of combat that a platoon of US Marines faced in Helmand Province from October 2010 to March 2011. Bing West, who fought with the Marines in Vietnam, shows that he is still, and always will be, a dedicated Marine as he describes the brutal daily combat that Kilo Company endured. That dedication certainly biases his praise for these men but, having been a Marine, that allows him to be accepted by these men and he then has the ability to describe the daily combat of each squad in a way that no other author probably could.

It is significant that the brutal daily combat of this tour resulted in the battalion (3/5 Marines)having the highest number of casualties of the war in Afghanistan. Because he was embedded with the platoon at times and also had access to diaries kept the men, Bing has useful insights on the extraordinary courage and determination that they showed facing daily firefights and IEDs. At the same time, Bing has little sympathy with the generals who directed the war and their COIN strategy, leaving an air of hopelessness for the future of Afghanistan, and providing no insight if this war could have ever been successful.

The book provides an interesting contrast regarding combat in Afghanistan if compared to Jake Tapper's book, The Outpost, which describes the struggle in mountainous Eastern Afghanistan as opposed to the flat opium fields of Helmand. Both books should be read by anyone seeking to understand this conflict.

[Mustang USMC · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mr. West has presented us with an exceptional book; it is one I would recommend to every single American who still loves their country (noting that many no longer do). What leaps at you from almost every page is the cost of making poor choices in national leadership at the voting booth.

It is hard to imagine a president nonchalant about the situation on the ground in Afghanistan. It is difficult to imagine that a Secretary of Defense is clueless about an appropriate strategy inside a war zone. It numbs the mind to learn that while our troops are dying, our three, and four-star officers focus on implementing a progressive theory to save the Taliban from himself.

Throughout this period of political malfeasance, the Marines of 3/5 distinguished themselves, as individuals and brought great credit upon the finest fighting force in the world today. Third platoon survived; they excelled in defeating a determined enemy —not because of Defense leadership, but in spite of it. I believe that this book is mandatory reading among those of us who still love America because it teaches us that there are consequences to the decisions we make at the voting booth.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting depiction of a American Marine unit in Afghanistan, fighting against a tough foe. Sad, in that so many died or lost limbs to a relentless UED campaign, but you have to admire the tenacity, determination, and grit of the Marines; I'm glad neither of my sons had to fight in this war. I think it is more difficult to write about this style of warfighting than the older traditional battle type. I always seem to note that there were a large number of Spanish-sounding names in our ranks, which makes me angrier when I think of the disrespect shown by the President toward Americans of Mexican heritage. I liked that West had a little something to say about the families and backgrounds of the men who gave their lives. I don't think most Americans are aware of the large numbers of wounded warriors who continue on with their lives and the sacrifice of an all-volunteer service.

[Mark Fallon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who's the best person to embed with a platoon of Marine grunts? A Marine grunt - Bing West. Vietnam veteran and combat journalist.

West narrates the story of 3rd Platoon of Battalion 3/5 as they patrol the area around Sangin, the most dangerous district in Afghanistan. Each day brings injuries, lost limbs and death. Yet still, 3rd Platoon goes out on their daily patrol, intent on engaging and defeating the Taliban.

As much as the book honors the Marines, it's an indictment on the political and senior military leadership. Both Bush and Obama failed to understand what it would take to achieve even a semblance of victory in Afghanistan, and the generals didn't fare too well either.

[Dennis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book telling the misery of the Afghanistan war and also telling how Obama and his generals got so many young men killed by not knowing what they were doing and not knowing how things actually were on the battlefield

[Jose · Rating 2 out of 5]

West’s vendetta against President Obama grew tiresome. If he kept his focus on telling the stories of Battalion 3/5 , rather than interjecting his own tired perspective, he would have had something worthwhile to read.

[Ajit Manandhar]

good

[Ami Boughter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would give 2 1/2 stars if I could. The story of 3/5 Battalion is one worth telling, but the author's insistence on interjecting his perspective made this book an unpleasant read.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great book. Bing West paints a vivid picture of the stresses and environment the Marines faced. West, a former Marine Infantry Officer in Vietnam embeds with the Marines as they patrol through the staggering humidity, in the frigid cold, through cannels and in IED laden terrain. West tells the story of 3/5 as only a Marine Combat Veteran can. West illustrates the tenacity shown by the Marines, day after day, step after step in the face of the unrelenting threat of IEDs and the Taliban.

West also speaks to the disparity between strategy at the top, the white house (from victory to the downgrading to 'withdrawal and showing resolve' as a measure of victory), the Generals' Petreaus and McChrystal, (Nation building, winning hearts and minds of a populace who had no loyalty and were duplicitous and a "5%" focus on actually defeating the enemy) and The SecDef (defeating the enemy by combat) who appointed two Commanders that seemingly had contradictory views to his own on the strategy to win the war in Afghanistan. And none of whom actually understood the Marines. Nobody seemed to be on the same sheet of music at the top, and for the most part their views were largely at odds with the pragmatic reality the Marines on the ground faced where 100% of their effort was focused on defeating the enemy in order stay alive and avenge their brothers who were injured or killed.

West does a great job of humanizing and endearing the Marines of 3/5. You find yourself turning the pages with some trepidation hoping that every Marine makes it back from each patrol unscathed. Highly recommended for students of combat, the Marines, or anyone that wants to learn a little bit more about the Marine mentality.

[Randall · Rating 5 out of 5]

I took a long time to finish this book because I referred to other battles mentioned by West to gain perspective on Sangin. We are of course all moving through history although we rarely perceive it directly. Major events can sharpen the focus - everyone remembers where they were on 9/11 - and yet every day we are living in remarkable times. 3/5 lived in and make history and yet were unaware of it and cut off from the rest of the world. On one hand they were ordinary, living and making war like so many Marines before them, and yet doing so in a new and unique way. Being such a pissant insignificant place, one might think that history will forget Sangin and the extraordinary men who fought and died there, although because of Bing West perhaps not. How fitting that one old grunt would memorialize these new grunts. Thank you for your service to our country, men of 3/5.

[Craig Fiebig · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book deserves to be read, especially by those confused over the 'War without tears' platitudes of the COIN religion.

[Sleepy Boy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal human history of one platoon's fight in Afghanistan.

[Lloyd Hinkle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good stories of the Marines in Afghanistan. But it leaves you wondering why are we still there. The troops seem to be victims of the Generals and our politicians

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a gritty reveal of truth

Loved the book. Direct and unflinching. No apologies for how things really were, they were brutal and such is war.

[Chuck · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my boys is currently in the 3/5. He joined the Marines after that unit left Kuwait. Eugene Sledge “Hammer” is a legend in their unit. He served in WW2 and wrote With The Old Breed. When he enrolled at Auburn in 1946, a woman asked “Sledgehammer” if he’d learned anything useful in the Marine Corps. His reply:

“Lady, there was a killing war. The Marine Corps taught me how to kill Japs and try to survive. Now, if that don't fit into any academic course, I'm sorry. But some of us had to do the killing—and most of my buddies got killed or wounded.”

This part of war hasn’t changed. Marines volunteer to fight countries/enemies who want to attack and destroy our country. I’m not a warmonger. I prefer diplomacy. I prefer some give and take to the death and devastation of war. When we face zealots and murderers like Osama bin Laden, who want nothing less than the death or subjection of all cultures contrary to their own, we have a volunteer military who kill and defeat our enemies often at the cost of their life or health.

Bing West doesn’t like politicians much. He fought in Vietnam. I don’t blame him. Our soldiers accomplished some goals in Afghanistan and won battles. We wore down the Taliban despite their refuge and support in Pakistan. Unfortunately, in my opinion, we lacked two things necessary to broader success. First, we went to Afghanistan to destroy Al Queda and create a democracy. Did we hurt Al Queda badly and eventually kill bin Laden? Sure. Eliminate them? No. Is Afghanistan really a democracy? No. Every President who’s been CinC of Afghanistan has failed to make the commitment necessary to achieve these goals. Secondly, I think it’s HR McMaster who wrote that fighting insurgencies in places like Afghanistan or Vietnam can work if there is a “there” there. The military has to be supporting and connected to indigenous support who want our help. We didn’t have a “there” in Afghanistan.

The war needed to be fought. We did win victories, knock Al Queda and the Taliban out of power, and hurt them badly. We gave Afghanistan a chance to have a government that isn’t a cruel theocracy. Did we effect permanent change? There’s a good chance the Taliban will be back.

[Al · Rating 3 out of 5]

Embedded with 3rd platoon in January, 2011 during its drive to clear out the Taliban from Sangin, a poppy-farming community in southern Afghanistan war correspondent and Marine veteran Bing West offers his account of the mission, during which the platoon suffered a greater than 50 percent casualty rate. Though the objective of the mission—winning over the Sangin tribes of farmers, installing a turbine at the Kajaki Dam and instilling a “nation-building” ethos through the U.S. military’s counterinsurgency policy—was not achieved, West demonstrates the tenacity and cohesion that kept this band of brothers together and driven despite the conditions. The author gives a pretty good overview of the Western attempt after 9/11 to expunge Al-Qaida, while the U.S. remained ostensibly to build a democratic nation. Yet the Taliban crept back in to secure the wealth of the poppy fields, routinely attacking the British garrison around the district market and ringing it with IEDs. When the Marines went in with President Barack Obama’s call for a surge, the mission was to “drive the enemy out of Helmand by walking every foot of farmland”—6,000 steps per day. Despite the confusion about the goal, downgrading “defeat” of the Taliban to “diminish,” and attempting to win hearts and minds rather than killing their way to victory, the U.S Marines took over from the British and kept their sights on defeating the enemy. The battle-hardened Marines lived in caves and were frequently blown apart by IEDs, leaving shock and anger and a fresh will to move forward.

Was it really worth it in the end? You be the judge.

[Cedric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book, fast read. Difficult content, but should be ready by anyone that wants to understand what some Marines went through in the Sangin district of Helmand province. Written by a Vietnam combat vet who went on many patrols with K company of the 3/5. He tells their story, drawing parallels with his own experience on patrol in Vietnam. Sangin is an area of fertile poppy farmland approximately 15 kilometers by 4 kilometers where most of the farmers make $200 per year.

In under two years that area produced over 50 Marines KIA, and over 500 amputees, that's more than half a battalion. According to the book, the larger mission was to take and secure the area from the Taliban so that a new generator could be installed in a nearby damn - that mission was abandoned but the Marines remained to draw out and eliminate the enemy.

Favorite quotes: "Our basic mistake was handing over freedom as a gift and doing the fighting for others. Our intention was good; our wisdom was bad". "No nation should ever go to war without the will to defeat the enemy."

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

First, the title: One Million Steps refers to the approximate number of steps a Marine infantryman will take while on patrol for six months in Afghanistan.

Secondly, the Marine platoon in the title was part of the 3rd Battalion, Fifth Regiment. This battalion suffered the highest number of casualties in the war in Afghanistan, and this platoon had some of the worst casualties of that battalion. Why? Because they so aggressively pursued the Taliban and affiliated Afghani fighters in the Sangin zone which was laced with murderous and debilitating IED mines.

Lastly, I was left flabbergasted/disgusted/mad at the stupidity of civilian (read Bush 43, Obama, DoD Secretary Gates, and others) and some (read McChrystal, Petraeus, most notably, but there were others) military leaders who thought they could build a nation in the US's image, in spite of a vastly different culture and heritage, and in spite of corruption and unwilling Afghani leaders and populace.

I recommend this book. Read it and get mad.

[Medusa · Rating 3 out of 5]

5 stars for the brave men of 3/5. But the book gets 2.75 for its at times whiny, hand wringing, politicized tone. The author is a life long warrior and I respect that. But the too-often empty braggadocio and unfulfilled, chest thumping threats of revenge against those who injure and kill Marines can’t cover the fact that in Vietnam as in Afghanistan, large force combat units are bludgeons and produce bludgeon results. Yet counter insurgency, if it can succeed, *requires* exactly the hearts and minds persuasion that this author derides. An even more bitter pill to swallow : we probably can’t win every counter insurgency war. In fact we’ve already lost two of our largest. This isn’t a knock on our troops or their small unit leaders. It is a knock on institutional and strategic hubris and arrogance, the empty lies and hollowed out, self contradictory operational policies delivered by bureaucrats - bureaucrats very much including, to borrow Douglas Kinnard’s phrase, military “war managers” like the author as well as the civilian leadership.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5

A no nonsense look at the life of Marines from 3/5 in Afganistan. Much of the book reads like a battle report of someone observing the obstacles facing the members of the Darkhorse Battalion in Afghanistan and so it lacks the poetry and overly philosophical background noise of many of these types of books. If you want to have some idea of what these brave individuals faced every single day in a combat zone, then this is the book for you. Toward the end of the book the author, a marine veteran of Vietnam (who was with the troops during some of the story), tries to make sense of all the reader has witnessed in the day to day account of 3/5. Anyone who has an opinion about the use of the United States military around the globe should enlighten themselves by reading this book as it makes you think deeply about the cost and the reward of sending troops into combat.

[Nate Steffes · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best historical accounts of the war in Afghanistan. Every current statesmen and military officer should read this book to better understand how our foreign policy and lack of a coherent strategy unnecessarily cost the United States’ treasure and lives.

Every Military Officer who has been drilled with COIN should heed Mr. West’s valued criticism as he highlights and pokes holes within this historically flawed and failed strategy.

Mr. West, just as he did in the village, uses a specific battle within this war to highlight the heroism, discipline, and sacrifice of Marines and Sailors in a failed war.

As a veteran of this conflict, it is by far one of the most accurate depictions of this conflict and is a must for every historian as they try to better understand this period in history.

[Nate Worthington · Rating 5 out of 5]

One Million Steps follows the 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment (aka 3/5) to Afghanistan. The title pays homage to the amount of steps a marine will take on a tour while on patrol as well as the often unfortunate reality that a marine never knew when his next step would be his last due to IEDs.

The author is a former grunt himself who served in Vietnam and he does a great job drawing strategic, political and social comparisons to both Vietnam and the War in Afghanistan. This book is raw, graphic, humbling and eye opening to what marines had to endure; from IEDs, to Taliban ambushes, dealing with locals, farmers and Taliban dressed as farmers. This book has real interviews with real marines who now live with a very different reality.

Thankful for our men and women who serve our country.

FINAL RATING: Borrow It