The Mission, The Men, and Me; in that order. Through compelling stories about his time as a commander with the U.S. Army's Elite Counter Terrorist Unit - DELTA FORCE, Pete Blaber illustrates battle tested leadership principles used in the most intense situations in the world. If these principles work for the Unit, they will work for you. If you have any interest in leadership that works you owe it to yourself, and more importantly to your team, to read this book.

I realy injoyed this book. I has some interesting pricipals for all aspects of life. Informitive and insightfull, yet plesent to read. I would definatly reccomend this book.

It's got plenty of patting himself on the back. Maybe a good editor could have made it a "management" book, by cutting out the self-congratulations and sticking to the theme, but, in the end, i'd recommend it. You can use the ideas, and the stories are interesting.

I was involved in much of the action in the area of operations in which the majority of the story takes place. After reading reviews here, I thought I was going to find it hard to put down and learn lessons to apply in this "after life." Not so. I kept waiting for the good part, the details of what training and life was like as a Special Forces soldier in the 2001-2007 time frame. The stories need to be told, but I felt it came up short on the details of what it was like... unlike so many Nam books. In those, you learned the ramifications of having a cold while on patrol as a squad, the utility of a p-38, and interrogation technics used against POWs, for example. 'It's in the details.'

I am thirty three years old and worked for a time at a Bible College in upstate New York and then returned to my home state to finish my four year degree. I had ACL reconstruction in 2007 (a problem from high school football and hockey.) Now I am looking to go into the army as an officer in the next few months. This book really resonated with me and has inspired me to a higher level. I just wanted to thank the author for the book. This book caused me to ask several questions.

What is my motivation? Love of country, desire to help others. Am I committed to being the warrior athlete? I'm pretty sure the author would say it is my duty. The principles are freeing when you get a chance to evaluate and get above the clouds and see life as patterns. I'll definitley read this book several more times. Thanks, Mr Blaber. I'll shoot for the highest goals and remember that life is complex, so I need to be ready to adapt.

Fascinating Book, thoroughly enjoyed it and found so many thing relevant to what is happening today. Words mean something and these words were rich. The humor was an added bonus. I bought a few and gave out to people I thought would appreciate it. Sent some to the Special Forces in Afghanistan and they told me this book has a place on thier shelf right next to thier Bible. haha

This book is one of the best books I have ever read. I will always remember the lessons he explained and lived throughout the book. I only wish the leaders of our military and country would read this book. Everyone would benfit from the prospective of the "guy on the ground". God Bless our Troops!

Blaber repeats some advice he received early in his career, "If you want to understand why we lost in Vietnam, review the 'Battle of Gettysburg". Then, he gives examples..the battle of Kirkut and Operation Anaconda. Stars on the shoulders do not a genius make. He also details the problems of micro-management by staffs, the Joint Chiefs and politicians. It helps if one has read books such as "Not a Good Day To Die", "Bush At War", "Cobra II", and "The Other Side of The Mountain". "The Bear Went Over The Mountain" helps one's understanding, but used copies are a bit expensive. He also points out the problems of relying on technology, such as Air Force "pilots flying" unmanned craft from 12,000 miles away and firing Hellfire missiles. Mistakes will always happen if you do not really know what's going on down below. All in all, a good critique of the military problems in Iraq, Afghanistan and Washington, D.C.

I am giving this a 5 star review, because of the other reviews. I am not going to buy it, because it is not available on Kindle at a reasonable price.

Where is the Kindle Edition? I hope that it is released soon.
I rated the book 5 stars based on the other reviews.

I absolutley loved this book. I have read many many Spec Ops books that have the typical "I was there and I am a elite soldier" books. This one is by far the greatest read I have encountered. Pete Blaber gves you simple principles that apply to everyday life. I have adopted a few of them in my Army career and it has opened my eyes so much. Highly recommend this book!

Pete Blaber really gives a great inside look at how the military works in the new world. He relates management issues he dealt with to real world business settings. I really liked the book and recommend it to everyone.

Col (RET) Blader wrote the finite book for future manuevers. It became very depressing yet joyful to read about his discoveries of "shared reality". My previous 13 yrs served saw many a time when the plan was made, changes came about but no one could muster the change 'cause "The Plan" was made.

I was expecting a book in the vein of Generation Kill, One Bullet Away or Horse Soldiers -- this may have been my mistake since I didn't do my homework. Blaber's book is more of a management text with war stories used to illustrate its points. Unfortunately the lessons are not what I would characterize as eye opening, because they are relatively obvious to anyone who has been even marginally successful in a management role.

Further, the dialog that Blaber uses to illustrate his stories seems contrived at points -- I would be startled if many of these quotes were exact, and I'm curious why Blaber (or his editor) felt it was necessary to try and "fancy everything up," rather than using more standard dialog. It's not difficult to read, but at points I found it almost laughable.

The final element I found a bit grating was that this text is obviously a mouthpiece for Blaber to grind an axe with some of his superiors in the military. I do not disagree with Blaber's conclusions, but I did find it frustrating that he felt the need to again and again criticize his superiors, while rarely identifying weak elements of his own plan.

All in all, a good book, although I wish Blaber would stick to the war stories and avoid the life lessons. For many, this is what makes this book from all of the others -- for me, it was unwelcome. If you're looking for a management text, this may be your book!

pete blaber is one of the most clear thinking human beings that ever existed on this planet, the fact that he chose US special forces as a career is testament to our country's ability to attract the finest and bravest that risk their lives, often un-reported, in defense of our great nation......pete blaber could have been the ceo of a global conglomerate company or the best 4th grade elementary teacher in any town we all live in....be glad such a person exists and is on our side....god bless america, god bless pete blaber and his military brethren protecting us all!

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As others have noted the content was somewhat of a surprise. Rather than 300 pages of adrenalin filled action, Pete Blaber has offers critical, big picture lessons in thinking and managing which are priceless.

Blaber does an outstanding job of weaving the lesson into a first hand story of the battles at Takur Ghar and events leading up to the battle. For openers it's interesting to note that he arrived in the area in January 02, only four months after 9-11 and that the primary action took place several months later. It was a classic use of Lesson 1 - When in doubt, develop the situation and Lesson 2 Always listen to the guy on the ground. Most of the last third of the book (approximately 100 pages) focus on the events leading up to the battle, the opportunities lost and the losses that need not have occurred.

Blaber describes the development of the situation as a process that began long before his arrival in Afghanistan.
Understanding operations in high, snow covered mountains
Interviewing terrorists who had knowledge of the area and bin Laden's operations
Reading both Afghan and Russian accounts of the earlier war with the Soviets

Listening to the guy on the ground is remarkably similar to Colin Powell's advice that in the absence of concrete evidence to the contrary, headquarters should assume the people in the field are correct. Blaber takes it one step further in seeking out sheepherders, taxi drivers and other sources while avoiding the more traditional government officials who may be working for the other side.

One of Blaber's great contributions, and something that Washington should heed, is that the lack of a complete plan should not inhibit the development of the situation in a way that you are prepared to act upon opportunity. The use of the Lewis and Clark expedition as a classic example is enlightening.

The lessons continue......

Although Blaber does not make direct accusations it's clear that he believes the mission was compromised and a too many US and Afghanistan troops died because several people up the chain of command made bad (perhaps ego driven) decisions from distant command posts. The decisions were based on a lack of awareness of what was on the ground and ignored the advise of those who had been on the ground for several months carefully developing the situation. In addition to our losses, too many of the Arabs escaped. We had one opportunity to corner and exterminate them and we lost it.

One of the reasons the US was able to accomplish the unexpectedly rapid removal of the Taliban from control of most of the country was that in the early days we focused on sending a very limited number of people to work with the existing forces and provided them with support not supervision. While the mainstream press pronounced the US incapable of acting before the spring of 02, the Taliban were forced from government by Christmas 01, only a few months after the 9-11 attacks.

Back in the beginning of the book there is a partial account of an audacious operation which airlifted less than a dozen lightly armed vehicles far behind Saddam's lines to create the impression that there was another US army loose in the country. In a supreme act courage they took the remaining 5 vehicles into Tikrit and engaged in a firefight with the best of Saddam's forces who had believed there were no American ground forces within hundreds of miles.

There's no doubt that the flood of information available to field commanders, from internet searches, sat photos, Predator and Global Hawk sensors, AC-130 sensors and personnel and the troops engaged give our side a great advantage. However, the flood of information flowing from the battlefield to distant commands gives rise to an almost irresistible temptation on the part of both military and civilian leaders to inject themselves into tactical decisions while looking through a keyhole, without context. This is not a new problem but one that has multiplied with the flow of information. The withdrawal of the AC-130 from the battle at a very critical point was just one of the examples.

The book is a light read and 300 pages pass quickly. The lessons should last a lifetime. Highly recommended along with First In and Not A Good Day To Die.

As an amateur military history buff, this book was a page turner. As an entrepreneur, I found it fascinating and very applicable for small rapidly growing companies.

Full of learnings and an entertaining read. I expect to read more from Blaber in the future, he's definitely a talented writer.

He communicates clearly, and his sense of humor as well as the stories he chose to support his points are as diverse as they are interesting.

Not much new info on Delta, obviously, but a great read nevertheless.

Very nicely written. The author does a great job of bringing SOF life to light Good, Bad ,and Indifferent.

"Always listen to the guy on the ground who is closest to the action."

`When in doubt, develop the situation',
`It's not reality unless it's shared'

One of my favorite book. I got mine from the local public library and read it over two days. I would highly recommend buying this book to keep in your library and lend it out for your friends (because if you do not shared it will not be a shared reality), coworkers, subordinates, or boss to read. The principles articulated in the book can be apply to many situation. Essentially, everything is context depend and nothing exist in it of it self in a vacuum. Beware of technology as a sole single source solution for getting direct first hand information from the ground. That information is not only one dimensional but misleading in more ways than you can imagine. Therefore the technical approach should only be considered as one of many tools in your tool box of as a problem solver.

My favorite part of the book was when they hiked in the Montana mountain range and met this female, self assured, confident, blond hair, green blue eyes ranger who completely disarmed them, four highly trained armed Operators.

*At least two of the operators died in mission outside the scope of the book if you followed the asterisk next to their name. Bring home the reality of life and death, this was what they were trained to do, this was what they wanted to do, and they died doing it. Not from old age, not from sickness, not from car accident, not from natural disaster, they died from doing the mission.

One of the heart breaking story was of the Captain of a ranger unit who were about to land his troop onto a hot kill zone. The good Captain was listening to the line of sight radio, and rather than asking for update on the situation on the ground of where to land he landed his troopers onto the hot kill zone because he was waiting for the update from headquarter, the Tasker of his mission. The heart breaking part is that I know would have done exactly what the good Ranger Captain did if I was in his position. It would not have occur to me to call on the line of sight radio to ask for update of the situation on the ground from the author. I don't know how that experience can be instilled in someone.

'The 3Ms are the keys to being successful in life. The stand for the mission, the men, and me.' He then drew a line from the top M through the middle M, down to the bottom M. 'They're all connected,' he continued. 'So if you neglect one, you'll screw up the others. The first M stands for the mission; it's the purpose for which you're doing what you're doing. Whether in your personal or professional life, make sure you understand it, and that it makes legal, moral, and ethical sense, then use it to guide all your decisions. The second M stands for the men. Joshua Chamberlain, a Medal of Honor-receiving schoolteacher in the Civil War, once said that "there are two things an officer must do to lead men; he must be careful for his men's welfare, and he must show courage." Welfare of the troops and courage are inextricably linked. When it comes to your men you can't be good at one without being good at the other. Take care of your men's welfare by listening and leading them with sound tactics and techniques that accomplish your mission, and by always having the courage to do the right thing by them. The final M stands for me. Me comes last for a reason. You have to take care of yourself, but you should only do so after you have taken care of the mission, and the men. Never put your own personal well-being, or advancement, ahead of the accomplishment of your mission and taking care of your men . . .'" (Pages 10-11)


"You need to understand how the human mind works. The mind has three elementary phases it goes through when it's thinking: saturate, incubate, and illuminate. Although they generally occur in order, all three are continuous processes, so your mind is constantly cycling through all three phases. The saturation phase occurs when the mind if first exposed to something. When you're planning a new mission, you're saturating your mind with facts, assumptions, insights and/or sensory cues - ergo, the saturation phase. the next phase is incubation. This is a critical phase if you ever want to come up with something innovative. The mind needs time to incubate. During this phase the mind subconsciously sorts through all of the inputs and begins to recognize patterns and snap those patterns together to come up with concepts and ideas. This is why you may have heard people say, 'I need to sleep on it' before making a major decision. It's not the sleep per se that they need: it's the time to allow their mind to sort through information and search for patterns. The recognition of patterns that occurs during the incubation phase produces the illumination phase, also known as 'eureka' moments, when your mind begins to translate those patterns and form the into actionable ideas. Saturate, incubate, illuminate - it's how the mind works, and it's probably the main reason why you have lost so much sleep over the years. The best thing you can do is to keep a pen and paper by your bed. Writing down your thoughts while you're incubating and illuminating should help to temporarily get the off your mind and back to sleep." (Page 70)

"No matter how many patterns you recognize -- or think you recognize -- they won't do you any good unless they're shared."

Your book was a razors edge read, full of firsthand accounts, and first person narrations. Its relevance to life and business should be well-heeded by all who read it. This should be a must read by all who want to lead in the military and in life.

Do you have a movie deal? This is a great american story.

Thanx for the inspiration,
Tom Stella

Firstly let me say that this was a fun read as well as informative. I fully agree with the poster who compared the structural technique of Blaber and the Combat Applications Group to that of Sun Tzu and Malcolm Gladwell. I'd also throw in a little C.G. Jung for archetypical imagery. I feel as though too much has been said regarding the book, by other posters and I don't want to ruin the adventure for future readers, but I will say thank you Mr. Blaber for not only a great read, but the countless hours of duty where you and your men were allowing us the luxury of sleep and protection. These men of Delta/CAG are selfless modern samurai...this book is by their former leader. Buy it and you won't regret it!

Most of the emphasis is on Me, # 3!

Delta is not all classified, speak more!

It's difficult to add anything original to the many reviews already written. But as a female, I am probably a minority when it comes to this book's reader demographics. So I'll state that this is not a book for men only. It's really a fantastic, can't put it down page turner! 3M is written in all seriousness but with wonderful bits of humor, irony and an amazing ability to paint a picture with words. The 'behind the scenes' view of operations in Afghanistan, in intelligence gathering and in preparation for battle were fascinating. The incredible characters in military and intelligence operations were both colorful and inspirational. And finally the story of John Walker Lindh exposed how self limiting thinking paralyzes critical missions. As the writer comments, if a dopey teenager can infiltrate UBL's terrorist network and gain audience with the big guy himself, why has the most professional and best equipped intelligence service been stymied in their attempts? These and other answers await the reader.

When I first saw reviews for this book I was thinking that this should be a great book. Everyone gave it 5 stars. Well I must join the masses and give this book 5 stars. It's just that good!

I found this an excellent book with principles that apply not only in a military organization, but in most any life and business setting. The precepts were to be utilized by the individual to enable success and coordination of efforts regardless of the directives of superiors. Naturally, the further up the organizational tree these concepts are accepted and embraced, the more efficient the decision making process can be. Planners of policy must have a symbiotic relationship with the operational assets in order for the procedures to have an enhancing value. I highly recommend this book as both entertaining and enlightening for leadership principles.

This is an excellent book on leadership and execution. Although it uses military based vignettes to illustrate its points, the lessons it teaches are universal. Anyone in a leadership position (business executive, consultant or coach, etc.) could benefit greatly from this book. I work in Defense Acquisition inside the Pentagon and I can put its lessons to use immediately - in fact, I plan to make it required reading to my civilian team tomorrow. It should be required reading in B-school where this sort of hands-on realistic leadership training is sorely lacking. Much better than Bossidy's "Execution."

I stopped reading this book when he mentioned tanks rolling silently into position. I won't even discuss the tank drop from a C5; I guess his team was trained as 45Es and 63Es (nevermind 19Ks). I have been a tanker and a soldier for a long time, and this book is complete garbage.

As I have a keen fondness for our special operations forces, I was hugely anticipating this work...It was all I was hoping for...and so much more. While the stories of Delta Force ops were exciting in and of themselves, I found myself more intrigued by the lessons in "mindset"...Afterall, our most powerful weapon is our mind...For the military buff, business person, or if you just want to improve yourself, I highly recommend "The Mission, The Men And Me"...

The book is a great read and I recommend it to everyone. Its easy to read and though its centered around a military setting its not just for military readers. The ideas the book offers are solid with real world examples that makes it easy to understand

This book has a deceptively simple construction. Unlike most business books, the author does not attempt to detail how the life lessons apply to someone else's situation, never straying from the military experience. He uses compelling tales of his own adventures to frame the life lessons he has learned. He uses the stories to arrive at the lesson, rather than pronouncing wisdom and supporting that pronouncement with stories. This allows you to understand the thought process that led him to his conclusions.

The title of this book does not require additional explanation. The story is typical for what you can expect from elite special forces (Delta, SAS). These guys clearly have an opinion and feel independant enough to voice this (either in the book or in the field). Why you should read this book is that it is interesting to read these conceptual, good leadership theories, from a military perspective, in a structured way. The style is smooth and promotes finishing the book.

This excellent book is really about how to thrive out on the edge of a high-risk, high-profile career. It's not a book for armchair experts or backseat drivers of whatever stripe, because one of Blaber's key teachings is how to circumvent the kibbutzers and second-guessers in positions of authority, ignore their distractions and overcome their interference, and accomplish the mission.

In fact, while it's a great title, the equation of the "mission", his "men" and himself "me" gives the misleading impression that Blaber may be a bit of a prima donna. In fact, the "Mission, Men and Me" framework is applied whenever Blaber is being pressured by a senior commander to take an action that Blaber is convinced will result in damage to the mission or needless harm to his men. When forced into these dilemmas, if the only consideration is his personal or career interests, than Blaber always puts "Me" at risk to assure the best outcome for the Mission and his Men.

The realism of the book can be conveyed by observing that Blaber needs to apply the Mission, Men and Me framework fairly frequently!

The book, which is officially divided into Parts One - Four, is thematically structured into three sections:

(1) The first section is a series of very helpful lessons and mental frameworks for handling intense, stressful and complex situations. Blaber has benefited from the kind of resources the US Government can afford to pour into its best and brightest, and an unbelievable amount of cutting edge cognitive, psychological, sociological, and other areas of research have been reduced to practical learnings and made available to the operators of Delta Force, and Blaber makes them available to readers of this book. Just the insight into chronic insomnia provided by a Delta psychologist (page 70) from which I and many people I know who work in high stress professions suffer, is worth many times the price of the book. This section comprises Parts One and Two of the book;

(2) The second section is a realistic, clear-eyed critique of the organisational pathologies that are running rampant in the US Government, and which clog the arteries of any large institution. This is a very alarming section. This is where Blaber's Mission-Men-Me framework, while nominally one of the key tools he explains in Section 1, is used again and again. Blaber has very insightful comments to make about risk aversion, the tactical foolishness of the helicopter assault concept, and the counter-productive stupidities that have been institutionalised through high bandwidth modern telecommunications technology. Two examples of this are (a) the way deeply rear echelon senior commanders, at one end of a data feed 10,000 kilometers away, over-ride combat participants because of the communications capabilities that give the Generals access to two-dimensional video imagery and real time voice contact--and therefore the illusion that they are across all the information required to make tactical decisions during combat, and (b) the second example is the pervasive abuse of the VTC (Video Teleconference), a subject all its own, and how the VTC has allowed the Staff Planning function to engulf and just about devour actual war-fighting, at least in Blaber's account--which is persuasive. This second section is Part Three of the book.

(3) The third section is a live example of Blaber's experiences in combat in the conquest of Afghanistan and the sudden collapse of the Taliban. This is exciting material on its own, but Blaber includes it with a view to illustrating the frameworks he explains in the first section and the kinds of organisational irrationalities he critiques in the second section. This third section is compelling at all levels, but I must say my blood boiled from time to time at the account of the self-serving careerist officers and senior authorities driven by their own egos who repeatedly interfered with the mission and the best interests of the brave men in harm's way.

While this book could be considered an unusually useful management resource there is a broader vista that opens up in its pages, and that is a vision of horizon-to-horizon mismanagement and incompetence in the US Government. I really hope plenty of people in a position to push through much needed reforms are reading this book . . . we need to embark on root to branch institutional reform across the US Government before it's too late . . . 9/11 and the operations described by Blaber were one symptom, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina was another, and the Global Financial Crisis (Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the SEC, etc.) was yet another . . .

How many of these shocks can we sustain? I hope many people read Blaber's book--and then do something!

Imagine a Leadership book written by a highly successful individual with years of experience gained from all over the world. In this book, the writer provides key principles and highlights them through the use of stories from his own career. I just closed such a book. Now, what if I tell you the writer is Pete Blaber, a former Commander of the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (1st SFOD-D) a.k.a Combat Applications Group, or, as most know it, Delta Force.
Blaber's guiding principles come from real life experience, and the stories he provides to help you gain an understanding of these principles are from his own career. The Mission, the Men, and Me, needs to be required reading at the Military's and the Business worlds most important leadership schools: all the Service Academies, Officer Candidate School, Sergeant Major's Academy, as well as every MBA program across the country. Business execs, small business owners, and anyone looking for an edge should get a copy, study it, and put it into action fast. Its that good!

Perhaps due to my own cognitive limitations I was very dissapointed in this book. Many of the missions are given a light overview because Blader says they are still secret, and because of that there is very little action. I'm sure the folks on the receiving end know about the battles but you will not read about it here. I read Lone Survivor and went to this book thinking I would get some more real life battle stories from a Delta Force Commander. As a few other reviewers have said there are fragments of action mixed with junior management theory. One constant theme is that Blader knows best, because he is "on the ground". In his opinion all the professional military in the army, air force, special forces are ignorant of the realities of the battle field and should follow his suggestions and command. I suggest he think back to his creative solution to capture an enemy officer, he wanted to dress someone in a gorilla suit and have them run in front of the enemy vehicle at night. The idea was to startle them into stopping and then grab a wanted enemy. I wonder who he would have got to wear the suit in front of a vehicle of armed soldiers?

I think when commanders consider Blader's suggestions during battle they refer back to his gorilla suit thinking before they accept his advice.

If you want to read what to me looks like a ploy to get on the motivational speaking circuit order this book.

Pete Blaber is a wise person. He is wise because he can learn from life. And don't get me wrong, to learn from life is not an easy task. Pete Blaber learned a lot of though lessons during is career as a soldier. These lessons are simple and easy to retain. But in though situations I am pretty sure that only simple lessons are useful. For that, Pete Blaber is very wise, he brings us a sum of very simple and very wise lessons based on personnal experiences along a military career. And for that I can say only one thing: Thank you Pete.
This book is a "must read" for everyone who want to better understand the challenges proposed by our Life.

This is an extremely worthwhile book, especially if you are of a more cerebral type. All too many special operator memoirs suffer from an excess of rah-rah me-tough-guy braggadocio. Blaber's book is very different. Here is a professional warrior who can both fight and think, and then produce intelligent writing about it. His book is not just descriptive, but reflective. Now don't misunderstand: this is not some philosophical treatise. There are plenty of good, well told recountings of adventures and operations from his decades-long career in special ops, many of which, especially his perspectives on the battle of Sha-hi-Kot, I found very illuminating, having read the other books about it. But what sets this book apart from other memoirs is the fact that his stories always serve to illustrate a point, a broader principle that can be applied not just to military life, but life in general. Other reviewers have detailed those lessons, so I won't go into details, but I highly recommend this book. I guarantee that you will finish it with a feeling of not just having read an interesting story, but having learned some lessons that you will remember.

The real life stories, and specifically the detailed and at time intense examples, helped to crystalize the key management and leadership lessons in this book. I believe it is quite rare to have someone whose creative, broadranging mind could thrive in the necesary constraints of the military world - making this a particularly valuable perspective on high stakes and global management. The author has made this accessible for all while remaining riveting and farsighted. Well worth it.

I highly recommend this book. I read it in "chunks" over about two month's time... I use the principals brought forward in the book nearly every day on the job. This book will enhance the way you live your life, plus it's just a darn good read.

I've just finished reading Pete Blaber's book. The contents are essential to anyone concerned with human behavior in a context requiring tangible results, which can be almost any situation. Whether you're serving in the military or inside a company or teaching at a university, the invaluable and enlightening lessons that Pete Blaber deduces from his extensive experience in the most immediate of environments imaginable (i.e. real-world specops) convey crucial insights in a manner that is directly recognizable and understandable.
I'm at the moment involved in a project focused on describing as well as explaining the military mindset in a medieval Japanese setting. And I've become a staunch believer in Pete Blaber's insights, since I feel that they make great sense. The human mind in a military context doesn't differ much over time. The greatest minds are those that are able to think out-of-the-box using the context at hand, and those that always listen to the man-on-the-ground. Whether you're talking about the 21st century or the Japanese middle ages doesn't make any difference.

This book is not just for people interested in military history. I see many of the same problems at work. Better than most management or leadership books.

The Delta Force is arguably one of the most professional and disciplined, yet nimble and creative organizations in the world. So when one of their top commanders speaks, let me assure you, what he says is relevant to more than just those with an interest in the military.

In "The Mission, The Men, and Me", which traces his career within the Delta Force, Pete Blaber has authored an exceptional book on leadership and management with lessons particularly applicable to today's highly matrixed, fast-paced business environment. Using consistently direct and simple language, Pete has steered clear of the convoluted, garbled tone of most business / management books, making this a fast-paced and powerful read.

Pete is skilled at distilling penetrating insights from each of his experiences. The reader will not only virtually feel the heat and dust of the battles described, but will definitely come away thinking about how the lessons Pete teaches apply to his or her own work environment.

This is a fantastic book. A definite "Must Read"!

This compelling, historic and courageous rendition of Pete's military missions should be required reading for everyone in all levels of personal and professional growth!
I will say that I took to heart all of the guiding principles and brought them to life as I thought of examples in my personal and professional life that reflected each one of them.
"When in doubt, develop the situation" is a guiding principle that is evident in every day of our lives.
As the story unfolds, I was purely amazed at Pete's commanding general's reluctance to break away from the rigid plan, despite its misinformation. The principle was at work when Pete decided to stick to his plan, develop the situation and always listen to the guy on the ground.
The principle that also struck me was "it's not reality unless it's shared". Put so perfectly in such few words, this should be an addendum to the "golden rule". The concept is global and yet elementary at the same time. From family to friend, local to multinational business, government, peace and wartime - it's true! If you can't get others to buy in/agree/share your feelings, concept, plan, mission then you clearly will not be successful in achieving your goals!
I can also relate to the "humor your imagination" principle as I believe that humor is essential to the ebb and flow of life's situations, business and personal. If you can't laugh about things you're sure to sink yourself in the process of living and understanding why things happen as they do.
"Don't get treed by a Chihuahua" - this guiding principle is a great reality check, as you proved in the book in several situations that forced you and your team to look at the big picture, alas, The Mission, The Men and Me!

I picked up this book as the War on Terrorism interests me, only to find a book offering values and concise messages that test all we believe.
Col. Blaber has the lead the greatest warriors in the world, tells their real life stories, and relates the thought process involved in dealing with the complex and ever changing world of America's Special Forces and those who choose to fight with them.
Well done Colonel... you, your men, and your decision make all of us proud!
Clearly one of the best books I've ever read!
JJ

Excellent book showing the frustrations faced by the men on the ground when trying to accomplish their mission but are frequently overruled by commanders who are thousands of miles away and have no situational awareness of what's going on on the ground. Excellent life lesson, "Always listen to the man on the ground".

Whether you are military or not you will gain a lot from reading this book. Excellent insight and woven well into interesting stories. Stop reading this review and buy the book NOW!!

I encourage anyone who enjoys reading military genres to read this book. The author's first hand experience makes it feel like you are present for each adventure. This is also a great read for the person who wants to understand the way real leadership works.

Mr. Blaber exposes Self-induced fog of war
Mr. Blaber's treatise on command and control is simply brilliant. Most of us who have served in the military understand quite well what Mr. Blaber alludes to throughout this well crafted book. His axioms of successful command and control are common sense, yet in most major military and non-military operations this same common sense is usually the first casualty of action. Commanders and leaders listen but do not hear and look but do not see especially as the action intensifies. All of us who have been in military (or corporate) combat understand the fog of war, but what is even more insidious is the self-induced fog of life. Mr. Blaber explains this brilliantly. The "lessons" Mr. Blaber refers to are important in all aspects of life. Some are obvious, some are not so obvious, but all are required to be truly successful whether in combat or the daily grind of life.
Mr. Blaber's book is more than just a how to book. It is a great read on the complexities of the military today and how those complexities can lead to failure if not understood in the context of reality. So much of what is done today is done without understanding or knowing the true context in which "things" are happening. Mr. Blaber explains why success in any endeavor is really an understanding of total reality and the context in which it exists. Sounds simple, but in actuality is usually misunderstood or confused by human emotion and desire.
I liked Mr. Blaber's book for many reasons but one of the foremost was his NOT pointing fingers at particular people by name. Rather he praised by recognition and condemned by obscurity. Those that demonstrated their incompetency know who they are and must live with their mistakes. Will this book solve the problems inherent in any large organization like the military or major corporation? Probably not, for it is incumbent on the individuals to know and understand what leadership is and what brings about success. This book is an excellent guide, but the realities of life and the innate conflict within the human political condition will always be an impediment to success and all that word means.
Must read. We who have been there, done that, know and understand what Mr. Blaber is saying. Excellently written and very well presented. A must for leaders to fully understand the self-induced fog of life.

Blaber writes an easy to read, often humourous book on military leadership. Here is a guy who is more concerned with getting the mission done than micro-managing or following painfully slow institutions. I liked the lessons (listen to the guy on the ground) and the ability to adapt that Blaber writes about. I also like the humility of being able to accept advice from outside of one's expertise. (Like wearing snow shoes in snow country.) A refreshing leadership book that out classes the boorish volumes from people who have never been and done.

I can attest to being part of the snow ball brigade. The rest was a wonderfully insightful first hand account of news stories I have followed over the years. I admire the determination and courage of these Delta team members. My dad was a 17 year old Marine at the Chosin Reservoir fighting in another time in another place caught in similar "group think". Hopefully future decision makers will read this book. I recommended it to all my friends.