"Tip of the Spear, Us Marine Light Armor in the Gulf War
Book Review by: Frank Lopez
"Tip of the Spear, US Marine Light Armor in the Gulf War", by Greg J. Michaels
Hardbound. 280 pages. 14 photographs.7 maps. Notes.
ISBN: 1-55750-599-3.
"Tip of the Spear" is Greg J. Michaels’ experience as a Marine Non Commissioned Officer` in a Light Armored Vehicle (LAV) company in the 1991 Gulf war. Not the fiction of a technology thriller, it is the first book written on present day US wheeled armored vehicles in combat, and the men who fought in them. It looks at the mission of the LAV units, the needed training that is difficult in peace and the capable leadership of Non Commissioned Officers and Officers required for a unit to be cohesive and functional.
These real experiences include the effort to operate effectively in a desert environment devoid of recognizable terrain features that are basics of map reading and land navigation. Early Global Positioning Satellite receivers (GPS) helped but there were not enough units and experienced users to make a difference.
Communications, even with the frequency hopping SINCGARS radios could and did not always work. Contact with aircraft providing ground support was only possible with the command vehicles and there were several occasions of mistaken identity by friendly aircraft that led to Marine casualties. An Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) device could have also helped in preventing these accidents.
Greg Michaels looks at his experience in Desert Storm as the manifestation of Honor, Courage and Commitment. Michaels understood that this was their purpose in Desert Storm; to free Kuwait.
The book serves as an insight into the organization of the Light Armored Infantry Battalions (LAI) s where the LAV-25 and its variants serve. The vehicle’s combat experience will influence the future utilization of the US military’s largest number of wheeled armored vehicles. The Marines have used the LAV flexibly in its role of reconnaissance, mechanized infantry, or infantry support. The
"Tip of the Spear, US Marine Light Armor in the Gulf War", by Greg J. Michaels
Hardbound. 280 pages. 14 photographs.7 maps. Notes.
ISBN: 1-55750-599-3.
"Tip of the Spear" is Greg J. Michaels’ experience as a Marine Non Commissioned Officer` in a Light Armored Vehicle (LAV) company in the 1991 Gulf war. Not the fiction of a technology thriller, it is the first book written on present day US wheeled armored vehicles in combat, and the men who fought in them. It looks at the mission of the LAV units, the needed training that is difficult in peace and the capable leadership of Non Commissioned Officers and Officers required for a unit to be cohesive and functional.
These real experiences include the effort to operate effectively in a desert environment devoid of recognizable terrain features that are basics of map reading and land navigation. Early Global Positioning Satellite receivers (GPS) helped but there were not enough units and experienced users to make a difference.
Communications, even with the frequency hopping SINCGARS radios could and did not always work. Contact with aircraft providing ground support was only possible with the command vehicles and there were several occasions of mistaken identity by friendly aircraft that led to Marine casualties. An Identification Friend or Foe (IFF) device could have also helped in preventing these accidents.
Greg Michaels looks at his experience in Desert Storm as the manifestation of Honor, Courage and Commitment. Michaels understood that this was their purpose in Desert Storm; to free Kuwait.
The book serves as an insight into the organization of the Light Armored Infantry Battalions (LAI) s where the LAV-25 and its variants serve. The vehicle’s combat experience will influence the future utilization of the US military’s largest number of wheeled armored vehicles. The Marines have used the LAV flexibly in its role of reconnaissance, mechanized infantry, or infantry support. The