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Hogs in the Shadows: Combat Stories from Marine Snipers in Iraq | 
 enlarge | Author: Milo S. Afong
Publisher: Berkley Hardcover
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $6.54
You Save: $18.41 (74%)
New (8) Used (8) from $5.21
Avg. Customer Rating:  20 reviews
Sales Rank: 9312
Format: Bargain Price
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 272
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9 x 6.4 x 1.1
Dewey Decimal Number: 956.7044342
ASIN: B001BSN4S0
Publication Date: December 4, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
"In the heat of battle, they have one mission-and they accomplish it one bullet at a time."
In Operation Iraqi Freedom, there is a special breed of marine for whom the prey is the enemy-and every day is hunting season. This marine is a HOG-a Hunter of Gunman.
These are the gripping, gut-wrenching true stories of those marines in Iraq whose sole purpose on the battlefield is to take out the enemy-one combatant at a time. Every time a HOG puts his eye to the glass, it means death for whoever is unlucky enough to end up in his crosshairs. No warning shots. No disabling wounds. No regrets. That's what a HOG does.
Here, former Scout/Sniper Team Leader Milo S. Afong reveals what it takes to be a Hunter of Gunmen. He describes the intensive training that turns expert infantrymen into one-shot life-takers, building Marine Scout/Sniper teams and how they operate in the field-and under fire-and how HOGs get the job done under any conditions.
From sniping from a rooftop in Baghdad, to unknowingly being surrounded in a palm grove in the city of Hit, these stories will transport you right into the heat of the desert war, where one squeeze of the trigger can make all the difference."
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| Customer Reviews: Read 15 more reviews...
 Good Insight, Hard To Read November 22, 2008
I am an OIF/OEF vet.
GOOD- I like the book because it doesn't dwell too long on training, but does give you an outline of what Marines have to do to become snipers. You get a feeling for the culture, rights of passage and respect for warrior tradition the Marine Corps has. I served in the Army and I wish it had more of that, instead of just putting the word "warrior" in everything and handing out berets to everyone. The book then goes right into the stories, which are pretty good.
BAD- The book's writing reminds me of a grade school level "How To Make A Peanut Butter Sandwich" paper. That's the only bad thing about it, but it is hard to read.
 Save Your Money November 12, 2008
The book's subject matter is interesting, but it is poorly written. Endless cliches and fragmented sentences compete with brutally dull descriptions to goad the reader into closing the book before it is finished.
A ghost writer would have helped, and the editor was apparently taken out with a headshot before the draft was submitted. Of the dozen or so Iraq War books I have, this one is the most likely to be used to level my washing machine.
WOODEN MEN & IRON SHIPS September 14, 2008
This book is a collection of sniper war stories of the Iraq War.
The stories are well-written and interesting, but not awesome enough to keep you from mowing the yard or washing the car. The book wont keep you up past your bedtime.
These guys are not the warriors of Old. It's good they have marvelous toys and gadgets to do the work, but the humans come across as servants of the toys. Its the old wooden men & iron ships problem.
 realistic and visceral August 24, 2008
I'm halfway thru this book and feel compelled to write a review.This is
the best book i,ve read on Iraq and i've read a lot.The combat descriptions are visceral brutal and graphic.I would recommend this book to anybody who wants a grunts eye view of the horrific urban warfare in Iraq.Highly recommended.
Each tale uniquely different August 4, 2008
For the first thing, in order to qualify as a Hunter of Gunmen(HOG),there are very rigid requirements.Only a select few make it to the level of the Marine snipers whose stories are told in this book. Even with the heavy doses of "overtraining" these snipers receive,situations arise that necessitate improvisation and just plain"Guts".I thought this would be a "how they do it" book,but each story was dramatically different,from"friendly fire"casualties to all out urban street fighting where "fistfighting" skills would be better than marksmanship.Could you imagine being in the sights of a "friendly" HOG?The main motivation of the HOG mentioned throughout the book is to protect American troops and if there are notches on any gunbarrels,it's more to signify another young American who has a better chance of making it home.I was also a little taken aback to find some of these snipers are forced to impro due to a lack of immediate support.
Too often the media presents the image of a hightech war with only sophisticated electronics and "called in" airstrikes.Little do people realize that the age old sniping game is just as critical,if not more.These soldiers are really putting their lives on the line for us.I was hoping there would be a tale in the book about a woman sniper but there wasn't.These teams are truly "colorblind",with Latinos,Thai's,blacks,(you name it).None want to die for their country though they accept the risks unquestioningly.They are very good however at "making some other poor sucker die for his Country".
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