Index to selected publications of the Combined Arms Center.

“A superb book—an American equivalent to John Keegan’s The Face of Battle. I sincerely believe that Grunts is destined to be a classic.”—Dave Grossman, Author of On Killing and On Combat From the acclaimed author of The Dead and Those About to Die comes a sweeping narrative of six decades of combat, and an eye-opening account of the evolution of the American infantry. From the beaches of Normandy and the South Pacific Islands to the deserts of the Middle East, the American soldier has been the most indispensable—and most overlooked—factor in wartime victory. In Grunts, renowned historian John C. McManus examines ten critical battles—from Hitler’s massive assault on U.S. soldiers at the Battle of the Bulge to counterinsurgency combat in Iraq—where the skills and courage of American troops proved the crucial difference between victory and defeat. Based on years of research and interviews with veterans, this powerful history reveals the ugly face of war in a way few books have, and demonstrates the fundamental, and too often forgotten, importance of the human element in serving and protecting the nation.

Operations Vigilant Resolve and Phantom Fury – the operations to take and hold the city of Fallujah in the face of determined insurgent resistance – were amongst the most dangerous and controversial carried out by the Coalition forces during Operation Iraqi Freedom. These two battles of Fallujah saw some of the heaviest urban combat faced by regular troops in modern times and, even though much of the civilian populace had fled, the enemy was well-armed, well-prepared and driven by a fanatical resolve. With the scenarios and information presented in Fallujah, the latest Force on Force companion, wargamers will find themselves thrown into the narrow, twisting streets of the city, forced to negotiate IEDs, snipers, barricades, and a multinational insurgent force.

The Iraq War (2003–2011) was the most significant conflict in the early 21st century. This book examines the ongoing importance of this war for the Middle East and the world today through first-person accounts of the war and primary source documents. Voices of the Iraq War: Contemporary Accounts of Daily Life illuminates the complex and poorly reported realities of the conflict that those without direct experience cannot possibly fathom, presenting detailed personal accounts of what the conflict in Iraq was like across multiple disciplines and through a variety of viewpoints. The accounts are based on interviews with American, Iraqi-American, and British officers who deployed and fought throughout the country of Iraq. The book begins with the story of an Iraqi boy who flees Iraq with his family after Desert Storm and then returns to Iraq as a translator to assist U.S. forces nearly 16 years later. The book is filled with personal accounts of combat and training as well as other real-world experiences that define what the Iraq War meant to thousands of U.S. and allied service members. These personal accounts are supported with national level policy speeches and official statements that help readers put the individual stories and events in national, regional, and global perspective. The book concludes by examining the impact of this war on thousands of young men and women that will last for decades to come.