The training book thread

[theblackknight]

Recomendation, reviews, questions, post them here. Mindset books ala On Combat go here too.


Ive been on a reading spree lately. Finished Born to Run in 2 days. Halfway thru "the ugly american".

Anyone read Pat Mcnamera TAPS? Amazon has some good reviews.

[coloccw]

Blink by Malcolm Gladwell and Training at the Speed of Life by Kenneth Murray are good reads. Another to consider, for any profession, is Pete Blaber's The mission, the Men, and Me. Great insights that transfer to every mission.

[J8127]

Not a "training book" per se, but Lone Survivor had more impact on me than any other book I have ever read. It puts things in perspective, and for me, it makes those burning lungs, tired muscles, or blistered skin really seem not that ****ing bad after all.

Books like that do more for me than any how to guides or philosophical crap.

[mpd046]

Anyone read Pat Mcnamera TAPS? Amazon has some good reviews.

I liked the book and got a few things out of it. It's not a thick book with flowing prose, but it is more a collection of little snippets of McNamara's thoughts on training. Each topic might get a page or less. It could'nt even be called a collection of articles, just a collections of thoughts and ideas.

The second half of the book is made up of courses of fire. The course of fire section has instructions on setting them up, how to score them, and tips on how to run them.

Matt

[Ash Hess]

Death Ground: The Modern Infantry in Combat by GEN Danial Bolgar

Stories of Marine and Army Infantry from the Modern era. I learned tons from this book. There is a section on 2-14 Infantry, 10th Mountain from Mogadishu. You will be surprised what the Movies and other books left out.
It is required reading for the young Leaders in my Platoon.

[RV4021]

I just started reading The men, The Mission and Me today so far it is a good read. I am waiting for Pat McNamara's TAPS to arrive from Amazon. Other books I have read recently:

Kyle Lamb - Green Eyes & Black Rifles, good information and illustrations.

Scott Reitz - The Art of Modern Gunfighting, very detailed AAR's of the five gunfights he was involved in. Solid information regarding pistol shooting and detailed photos.

Paul Howe - The Tactical Trainer & Leadership and Training for the Fight. Short books with clear, concise, points of instruction.

Other books I hear are good but have not gotten too are Training at the Speed of Life and Jeff Gonzalez's book (can't remember the name)

Robert.

[theblackknight]

Kyle Lamb - Green Eyes & Black Rifles, good information and illustrations.


Paul Howe - Leadership and Training for the Fight. Short books with clear, concise, points of instruction.

Jeff Gonzalez's book (can't remember the name)

Robert.

Ive got all 3 of these.

Kyle's and Paul's are awesome. Jeff's book"combat fundementals" i think, was rather dry. I need to go back and try it again.

[comprido]

I liked the book and got a few things out of it. It's not a thick book with flowing prose, but it is more a collection of little snippets of McNamara's thoughts on training. Each topic might get a page or less. It could'nt even be called a collection of articles, just a collections of thoughts and ideas.

The second half of the book is made up of courses of fire. The course of fire section has instructions on setting them up, how to score them, and tips on how to run them.

Matt

This is an accurate review of TAPS. It's almost stream of consciousness. Not a book to that's going to teach you the fundamentals, but lots of good tips throughout. He is very pro-competition, as well.

Lamb's book is an absolute must. Everyone should have it.

Howe's Leadership and Training for the Fight is very good. The Tactical Trainer is more for folks running training programs. It's audience is very limited, and I imagine a lot of people bought it without knowing it wasn't written for them.

Brian Enos' Beyond Fundamentals is vital to mastering the handgun. It's getting old, but there's nothing out there yet to replace it.

Mike Seeklander's Your Competition Handgun Training Program is a just what it says it is. Tells you exactly what drills (dryfire and live fire) to do and when to do them. Has a lot of mental management, goal setting and visualization instruction as well. If you are serious about improving, I think it will get you there. Be warned: following his program will take a serious time commitment. I like it. He's writing an instruction book now, and I'll get it when it comes out.

Those are the books I like. Some that I've read and didn't like include but aren't limited to Surgical Speed Shooting, the Book of Two Guns, Dave Spaulding's Combative Handguns. Maybe these can be of value to others, but there wasn't much in these that I didn't already know.

[mpd046]

I enjoyed Bruce Siddle's Sharpening the Warriors Edge and Wes Doss Train to Win.

I agree with Comprido's thoughts that Paul Howe's second book has a limited audience. If your involved as a trainer at all, it's well worth the money.

Matt

[Iraq Ninja]

I agree with most of the books listed so far. What about books that are not directly firearms or tactical related?

I might be reaching on this book, but I have been reading The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable. I have not finished yet, but I can see already there is something useful information.

Les Stroud has a new book out called- Will to Live: Dispatches from the Edge of Survival. I have not read it all yet, but it is good so far...

In Will to Live, Les examines many incredible true life survival stories—explaining what happened and why, and offering valuable perspectives on what went right, what went wrong, and what could have been done differently. The tales in Will to Live include:

Chris McCandless—the subject of the book and movie Into the Wild. Yossi Ghinsberg—who survived alone in the Amazon for twenty-one days.

Douglas Mawson—the Antarctic "superman" who survived three hellish months at the bottom of the planet.

Nando Parrado—who was trapped for two months high in the Andes after a plane crash killed his friends and family.