Bing West
Encyclopedia
Francis J. "Bing" West is an author
and former Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs
during the Reagan Administration
. His 2004 book The March Up: Taking Baghdad with the First Marine Division, written with United States Marine Corps
General Ray L. Smith
, was awarded the Marine Corps Heritage Prize for non-fiction
, as well as the Colby Award
.
West writes about the military, warfighting, and counterinsurgency. In the Vietnam War
, he fought on major operations and conducted over a hundred combat patrols in 1966-68. For the United States Marine Corps, he wrote the training manual Small Unit Action in Vietnam, describing how to fight in close combat. As an analyst at the RAND
Corporation, he wrote a half dozen detailed monographs about fighting against an insurgency. Later, as Assistant Secretary of Defense, he dealt with the insurgencies in El Salvador. From 2003 through 2008, he made 16 extended trips to Iraq, going on patrols and writing three books and numerous articles about the war. Since then, he has made six trips to Afghanistan
. He is writing a book about that insurgency, based on patrolling with battalions in the south and the north.
communities of Dorchester, Boston, Milton
and Scituate
. He is a graduate of Georgetown University
(BA) and Princeton University
(MA), where he was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow. He was an infantry
officer in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War. He served with a Combined Action Platoon that fought for 485 days in a remote village. He was also a member of the Marine Force Reconnaissance team that initiated "Operation Stingray": small unit attacks behind enemy lines. He authored a study at the RAND Corporation entitled "The Strike Teams: Tactical Performance and Strategic Potential". This paper was the featured event at the 1970 DoD Counterinsurgency Research and Development Symposium. The RAND Military Systems Simulations Group implemented a classified model of West's concept. This doctrinal innovation was directly opposed by MACV (Military Assistance Command Vietnam) that favored the Army's concept of Air-Mobility "Fire and Thunder Operations". By way of rebuttal, West wrote The Village, chronicling the daily lives of 15 Marines who protected the people by living among them in their hamlets. The book became a classic of practical counterinsurgency and has been on the Commandant’s Required Reading list for 36 years.
West served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs in the Reagan
administration, and chaired the United States Security Commissions with El Salvador, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Pakistan, South Korea, and Japan. He is currently president of the GAMA Corporation, which designs wargame
s and combat decision-making simulations.
West is the author of seven books. His collaboration with retired Marine Major General Ray "E-Tool" Smith
, The March Up, was awarded the Marine Corps Heritage prize for non-fiction, as well as the Colby Award
for military history. (Smith, a legendary fighter, had received numerous awards for valor.) West also authored a foreword for Boredom by Day, Death by Night: An Iraq War Journal by Marine Sergeant Seth Conner. The Veterans of Foreign Wars
presented West with its National Media Award in 2005, after he wrote the book No True Glory: A Frontline Account of the Battle for Fallujah. His book The Strongest Tribe, is a history of the Iraq War that was a New York Times Bestseller and was ranked by Foreign Affairs Magazine as #7 among the top foreign policy books of 2009.
In The Strongest Tribe and in a subsequent article in Military Review about counterinsurgency lessons, West argued that the current doctrine of nation-building and winning hearts and minds by economic development was based on Western liberal theory rather than the realities of battle. West has grave reservations about extolling the effects of "non-kinetic COIN" (counterinsurgency). He believes that the warriors, not the people, defeat warriors, and that America's mistake in both Iraq and Afghanistan was to concede all authority to appoint and to remove for cause military and police officers. He believes insurgencies proceed from the bottom up, and must be dealt with at the local level. To that extent, each American battalion operates as a separate franchise. Variations among units are extraordinary because the high command has lacked a set of practical guiding principles.
Among other awards, West is the recipient of the Department of Defense Distinguished Public Service Medal, the Department of the Navy Distinguished Civilian Service Medal, and Tunisia
's Medaille de Liberté. A member of the Council on Foreign Relations
, the Middle East Institute
, and the Infantry Order of St. Crispin, he appears frequently on C-SPAN and The News Hour.
His articles appear in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Atlantic, The National Review, and The Washington Post. He lives with his wife, Elizabeth, in Newport, Rhode Island
.
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
and former Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs
Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs
In America, the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs or ASD is the principal advisor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and the Secretary of Defense on international security strategy and policy on issues of DoD interest related to the governments and defense...
during the Reagan Administration
Reagan Administration
The United States presidency of Ronald Reagan, also known as the Reagan administration, was a Republican administration headed by Ronald Reagan from January 20, 1981, to January 20, 1989....
. His 2004 book The March Up: Taking Baghdad with the First Marine Division, written with United States Marine Corps
United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for providing power projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to deliver combined-arms task forces rapidly. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
General Ray L. Smith
Ray L. Smith
Ray L. Smith is a retired United States Marine Corps major general. Smith is a highly decorated Marine who has commanded infantry units at all levels. His awards received for service in combat during the Vietnam War include the Navy Cross, two Silver Stars, the Bronze Star, and three Purple...
, was awarded the Marine Corps Heritage Prize for non-fiction
Non-fiction
Non-fiction is the form of any narrative, account, or other communicative work whose assertions and descriptions are understood to be fact...
, as well as the Colby Award
Colby Award
The William E. Colby Award was established in 1999 by the William E. Colby Military Writers' Symposium at Norwich University in Vermont in order to recognize "a first work of fiction or non-fiction that has made a major contribution to the understanding of intelligence operations, military history,...
.
West writes about the military, warfighting, and counterinsurgency. In the Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
, he fought on major operations and conducted over a hundred combat patrols in 1966-68. For the United States Marine Corps, he wrote the training manual Small Unit Action in Vietnam, describing how to fight in close combat. As an analyst at the RAND
RAND
RAND Corporation is a nonprofit global policy think tank first formed to offer research and analysis to the United States armed forces by Douglas Aircraft Company. It is currently financed by the U.S. government and private endowment, corporations including the healthcare industry, universities...
Corporation, he wrote a half dozen detailed monographs about fighting against an insurgency. Later, as Assistant Secretary of Defense, he dealt with the insurgencies in El Salvador. From 2003 through 2008, he made 16 extended trips to Iraq, going on patrols and writing three books and numerous articles about the war. Since then, he has made six trips to Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
. He is writing a book about that insurgency, based on patrolling with battalions in the south and the north.
Biography
West is from the MassachusettsMassachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
communities of Dorchester, Boston, Milton
Milton, Massachusetts
Milton is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States and part of the Greater Boston area. The population was 27,003 at the 2010 census. Milton is the birthplace of former U.S. President George H. W. Bush and architect Buckminster Fuller. Milton also has the highest percentage of...
and Scituate
Scituate, Massachusetts
Scituate is a seacoast town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States, on the South Shore, midway between Boston and Plymouth. The population was 18,133 at the 2010 census....
. He is a graduate of Georgetown University
Georgetown University
Georgetown University is a private, Jesuit, research university whose main campus is in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic university in the United States...
(BA) and Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
(MA), where he was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow. He was an infantry
Infantry
Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...
officer in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War. He served with a Combined Action Platoon that fought for 485 days in a remote village. He was also a member of the Marine Force Reconnaissance team that initiated "Operation Stingray": small unit attacks behind enemy lines. He authored a study at the RAND Corporation entitled "The Strike Teams: Tactical Performance and Strategic Potential". This paper was the featured event at the 1970 DoD Counterinsurgency Research and Development Symposium. The RAND Military Systems Simulations Group implemented a classified model of West's concept. This doctrinal innovation was directly opposed by MACV (Military Assistance Command Vietnam) that favored the Army's concept of Air-Mobility "Fire and Thunder Operations". By way of rebuttal, West wrote The Village, chronicling the daily lives of 15 Marines who protected the people by living among them in their hamlets. The book became a classic of practical counterinsurgency and has been on the Commandant’s Required Reading list for 36 years.
West served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs in the Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
administration, and chaired the United States Security Commissions with El Salvador, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Pakistan, South Korea, and Japan. He is currently president of the GAMA Corporation, which designs wargame
Wargame (video games)
Wargames are a subgenre of strategy video games that emphasize strategic or tactical warfare on a map, as well as historical accuracy.-History:The genre of wargame video games is derived from earlier forms of wargames...
s and combat decision-making simulations.
West is the author of seven books. His collaboration with retired Marine Major General Ray "E-Tool" Smith
Ray L. Smith
Ray L. Smith is a retired United States Marine Corps major general. Smith is a highly decorated Marine who has commanded infantry units at all levels. His awards received for service in combat during the Vietnam War include the Navy Cross, two Silver Stars, the Bronze Star, and three Purple...
, The March Up, was awarded the Marine Corps Heritage prize for non-fiction, as well as the Colby Award
Colby Award
The William E. Colby Award was established in 1999 by the William E. Colby Military Writers' Symposium at Norwich University in Vermont in order to recognize "a first work of fiction or non-fiction that has made a major contribution to the understanding of intelligence operations, military history,...
for military history. (Smith, a legendary fighter, had received numerous awards for valor.) West also authored a foreword for Boredom by Day, Death by Night: An Iraq War Journal by Marine Sergeant Seth Conner. The Veterans of Foreign Wars
Veterans of Foreign Wars
The Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States is a congressionally chartered war veterans organization in the United States. Headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, VFW currently has 1.5 million members belonging to 7,644 posts, and is the largest American organization of combat...
presented West with its National Media Award in 2005, after he wrote the book No True Glory: A Frontline Account of the Battle for Fallujah. His book The Strongest Tribe, is a history of the Iraq War that was a New York Times Bestseller and was ranked by Foreign Affairs Magazine as #7 among the top foreign policy books of 2009.
In The Strongest Tribe and in a subsequent article in Military Review about counterinsurgency lessons, West argued that the current doctrine of nation-building and winning hearts and minds by economic development was based on Western liberal theory rather than the realities of battle. West has grave reservations about extolling the effects of "non-kinetic COIN" (counterinsurgency). He believes that the warriors, not the people, defeat warriors, and that America's mistake in both Iraq and Afghanistan was to concede all authority to appoint and to remove for cause military and police officers. He believes insurgencies proceed from the bottom up, and must be dealt with at the local level. To that extent, each American battalion operates as a separate franchise. Variations among units are extraordinary because the high command has lacked a set of practical guiding principles.
Among other awards, West is the recipient of the Department of Defense Distinguished Public Service Medal, the Department of the Navy Distinguished Civilian Service Medal, and Tunisia
Tunisia
Tunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
's Medaille de Liberté. A member of the Council on Foreign Relations
Council on Foreign Relations
The Council on Foreign Relations is an American nonprofit nonpartisan membership organization, publisher, and think tank specializing in U.S. foreign policy and international affairs...
, the Middle East Institute
Middle East Institute
The Middle East Institute is a non-partisan think tank and cultural center in Washington, DC. Founded in 1946, MEI is the oldest institution in Washington dedicated exclusively to the study of the Middle East. Its founder, architect and philanthropist George Camp Keiser, assembled a team of...
, and the Infantry Order of St. Crispin, he appears frequently on C-SPAN and The News Hour.
His articles appear in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Atlantic, The National Review, and The Washington Post. He lives with his wife, Elizabeth, in Newport, Rhode Island
Newport, Rhode Island
Newport is a city on Aquidneck Island in Newport County, Rhode Island, United States, about south of Providence. Known as a New England summer resort and for the famous Newport Mansions, it is the home of Salve Regina University and Naval Station Newport which houses the United States Naval War...
.
Books
- Small Unit Action in Vietnam, Summer 1966. ISBN 0-405-00018-9.
- The Village. ISBN 0-7434-5757-9.
- The Pepperdogs: a Novel. ISBN 0-7434-5643-2.
- The March Up: Taking Baghdad with the US Marines. ISBN 0-553-38269-1.
- No True Glory: a Front-line Account of the Battle of Fallujah. ISBN 0-553-80402-2.
- The Strongest Tribe: War, Politics, and the Endgame in Iraq (Random House, 2008) ISBN 1400067014
- The Wrong War: Grit, Strategy, and the Way Out of Afghanistan ISBN 1400068738.