Synopses & Reviews
Review
Sunday, June 29,2008 New York Times article "Occupation Plan for Iraq Faulted in Army History " by Michael R. Gordon
Excerpt:
"The story of the American occupation of Iraq has been the subject of numerous books, studies and memoirs. But now the Army has waded into the highly charged debate with its own nearly 700-page account: "On Point II: Transistion to the New Campaign."
The unclassified study, the second volume in a continuing history of the Iraq conflict, is as notworthy for who prepared it as for what it says. In essence, the study is an attempt by the Army to tell the story of one of the most contentious periods in its history to military experts --and to itself."
Review
Sunday, June 29, 2008 Washington Post article, "Army's History of Iraq After Hussein Faults Pentagon" by Josh White
Excerpt:
"The study, "On Point II: Transition to the New Campaign, " is an unclassified and unhindered look at U.S. Army operations in Iraq from May 2003 to January 2005. That critical era of the war has drawn widespread criticism because of a failure to anticipate the the rise of an Iraqi insurgency and because policymakers provided too few U.S. troops and no stratetgy to maintain order after Iraq's decades-old regime was overthrown.
Donald P. Wright and Col. Timothy R. Reese, who authored the report along with the Army's Contemporary Operations Study Team, conclude that U.S. commanders and civillian leaders were too focused on only the military victory and lacked a realistic vision of what Iraq would look like following that triumph."
Synopsis
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On Point II is a comprehensive study of the US Army in Operation IRAQI FREEDOM (OIF) from May 2003 to January 2005. Based on primary sources including hundreds of interviews with participants, the study examines how after May 2003 American Soldiers made the transition to a new type of campaign that featured information operations, intelligence, reconstruction, and governance rather than conventional combat. On Point II documents the US Army’s execution of Full Spectrum Operations in the early stages of this conflict.
About the Author
About the authors: Dr. Donald P. Wright holds a Ph.D. in History from Tulane University and has served as a historian in the Combat Studies Institute since 2003. Wright has also served as an officer in both the active and reserve components of the US Army. Colonel Timothy R. Reese is an Armor officer and Army historian. He was commissioned in 1981 from the U.S. Military Academy and has held a variety of command and staff positions in the United States, Germany, Kosovo, and Afghanistan. Colonel Reese holds a Masters of History from the University of Michigan and a Masters of National Security Studies from the US Army War College. He has been the director of the Combat Studies Institute since 2005.
Table of Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTSForewordAcknowledgmentsIntroductionPrologue
PartI. Setting the StageChapter 1. Overview of Operation IRAQI FREEDOM: May 2003 to January 2005Chapter 2. The US Army’s Historical Legacy of Military Operations Other Than War and theChapter 3. The Rise of the Iraqi Insurgency and the US Army’s Response
Part II. Transition to a New CampaignChapter 4. Leading the New Campaign: Transitions in Command and Control in OperationChapter 5. Intelligence and High-Value Target OperationsChapter 6. Detainee OperationsChapter 7. Fighting the Battle of Ideas in IraqChapter 8. Combined Arms Operations in Iraq
Part III. Toward the Objective: Building a New IraqChapter 9. The US Army and the Reconstruction of IraqChapter 10. A Country United, Stable, and Free: US Army Governance Operations in IraqChapter 11. Training the Iraqi Security Forces
Part IV. Sustaining the CampaignChapter 12. Logistics and Combat Service Support OperationsChapter 13. Taking Care of Soldiers
Part V. ConclusionChapter 14. ImplicationsEpilogueAppendicesGlossaryBibliographyIndex