rapidfire
In Review
disastrous results,” this
would be laughable were it
The Bay of Pigs. By not so tragic.
Howard Jones. Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 2008. $24.95.
The Brusilov Offensive. By
ISBN 978-0-19-517383-3.
Timothy C. Dowling. Indiana
University Press, 2008. $24.95.
ISBN 978-0-253-35130-2.
The CIA-sponsored Bay
of Pigs invasion of Cuba in
April 1961 was a complete This book features the
catastrophe from the out- little-known and less-
set, revealing the “unimagi- written-about Russian
nable incompetence” of the General Aleksei Brusilov’s
CIA, the U.S. military, and surprisingly successful of-
government bureau- fensive against the armies
crats, according to au- of Austria-
thor Howard Jones. Hungary on
This fascinating the southern
account chronicles portion of
the various U.S. ef- the Eastern
forts to oust Fidel Front in 1916.
Wounded Canine Care
Castro, Virginia
President Military In-
M
ilitary dogs with war wounds and other Eisenhow- stitute Profes-
health issues will get the medical care they er’s plan sor Timothy C.
need, thanks to a new $15 million Military for regime Dowling tells the
Working Dog Veterinary Service Hospital at Lackland change, and story of World
AFB, Texas. The hospital, which opened late last year, President War I on the
replaces a much smaller facility built in 1968 that treated Kennedy’s Eastern Front,
and rehabilitated military working dogs, including some blunders in where military
used in Vietnam. this showdown. operations were
Demand is high for working dogs — all branches of With colorful characterized by maneu-
the military, as well as the Transportation Security Ad- detail and analysis, Jones ver, breakthrough, and en-
ministration, use working dogs to fi nd explosive devices tells of the CIA’s attempts circlement. He describes
and drugs. Personnel at Lackland currently are training to assassinate Castro as well Brusilov’s tactical innova-
about 300 dogs a year. To ensure a continued supply of as the slapdash Bay of Pigs tions and the planning,
qualifi ed dogs in a dwindling market, offi cials at Lack- amphibious invasion by training, and execution
land began breeding dogs at the base. 1,500 Cuban exiles — coura- of a stunning offensive
Like their human counterparts, dogs injured in Af- geous men poorly trained, that nearly collapsed the
ghanistan or Iraq receive medical treatment on the poorly equipped, and Hapsburg armies and cre-
battlefi eld before being fl own to Germany for care. When doomed to death or capture ated the conditions for
necessary, combat-wounded dogs will be fl own to Lack- by White House meddling, later revolution within
land to receive additional care provided by U.S. Army dithering, and indecision. the Russian army.
Veterinary Corps offi cers. The hospital has CT scanning As “a classic example Dowling insightfully
equipment, an ICU, and rehabilitation rooms with under- of how building a national describes the man who
water treadmills and exercise balls. policy on personal obses- became “the best Russian
— Kris Ann Hegle sion grounded in self- commander of the war.”
righteousness can lead to — William D. Bushnell
2 2 M I L I T A R Y O F F I C E R M AY 2 0 0 9 PHOTOS: ABOVE, STEVE BARRETT; LEFT, JAMES STEGMEYER/AP
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