Armored Cav (Tom Clancy's Military Reference)

His first nonfiction book, Submarine, captured the reality of life aboard a nuclear warship. Now, the #1 bestselling author of Clear and Present Danger portrays today's military as only army personnel can know it.

With the same compelling, you-are-there immediacy of his acclaimed fiction, Tom Clancy provides detailed descriptions of tanks, helicopters, artillery, and more--the brilliant technology behind the U. S. Army. He captures military life--from the drama of combat to the daily routine--with total accuracy, and reveals the roles and missions that have in recent years distinguished our fighting forces.

Armored Cav includes:

• Descriptions of the M1A2 Main Battle Tank, the AH-64A Apache Attack Helicopter, and more
• An interview with General Frederick Franks
• Strategies behind the Desert Storm account
• Exclusive photograph, illustrations and diagrams

The one new feature (later included in all the later books) is a softball interview with now-retired General Fred Franks, former commander of the VII Corps during Desert Storm and later commander of TRADOC, Training and Doctrine Commmand. Although informative, Armored Cav is more of a love letter to the Army than an unbiased piece of reporting. Still, fans of Clancy and of military hardware should not pass this book (or any of this series)up. Just park high expectations at the roadside and you'll enjoy this for what it is, and not what it could have been.


Average Work   November 13, 2002
 1 out of 3 found this review helpful

If you have read any of the other books in the series then you know what to expect with this one. The book follows the familiar format, it details out the machinery used, the troops, the division make up of the topic in the armed forces, a few interviews and it ends with some fictionalized short stories describing the expected types of encounters this area would face in the future. All in all a basic book on the armored cavalry that gives you all the basics. The Clancy style of writing, lots of facts and plodding movement work well in this type of book given that you buy it to learn about the subject.

Overall it is a good effort and if you have been happy with the other books in the series you will enjoy this one. My only complaints were that there did not seam to be enough photos of the equipment for me. Sure they had all the main items, but I wanted a picture of every truck and tractor covered in the book. I also would have liked to have seen a comparison of the other counties main battle tanks - something he did with his Submarine and Aircraft Carrier books. And one last little complaint - what was with his ending every chapter with some junior high school type rah-rah cheer. We are talking about the military; do we need this type of comic book love-fest mentality?


Lacking   March 10, 2002
 7 out of 9 found this review helpful

I'm all for anything Cav related. But this one could have been done a lot better had Mr. Clancey taken the time to set down and talk one on one with the rank and file Armored Cav troopers. While his technical details of the weapons used in a Cav unit are quite accurate, his explanation of how they are used is at times far fetched. The kicker for me was when at the end of the book Mr. CLancey examined a hostage resuce situation in which an Armored Cav unit is parachuted into a soccer field to snatch the hostages. After 11 years in the U.S. Army, serving in both the 82nd ABN and an Armored Cav unit I'm fairly certain that the Airforce hasn't the capbilities to drop either an M 1 Abrams nor Bradley fighting vechicle from the back of a C-130 nor a C-141. And the ideal of using a soccer field as a drop zone is a workable one but only if your talking about an A team or Seal team using High altitude low opening parachute techniques. I'm glad Mr. Clancey is giving some credit to our armed forces, I just wish that he would do more research on these projects and quit relying on his name to sell books.


Simply great!   December 10, 2001
 3 out of 4 found this review helpful

well, in first place i love clancy's non-fiction book, and this one is great! it makes a full review of a army's cavalry brigade organization and composition, and at the same time a review of all the heavy weaponry used by the US army, the tanks, armored transports, the artilery, well, just abou everything! if u want to learn all about that, just go running to buy this book, u'll love it... i did :)