rapidfire In Review
Wild Bill Donovan: The Spymaster Who Cre- ated the OSS and Modern American Espionage. By Douglas Waller. Free Press, 2011. $30. ISBN 978-1-4165- 6744-8.
A Veterans’ Resource T
he Veterans Crisis Line (formerly the Veter- ans Suicide Prevention Hotline) is a confi dential phone and Internet chat service available all
hours, every day, for veterans and military family mem- bers in crisis, including those not enrolled with the VA. Responders at the Veterans Crisis Line have answered more than 400,000 calls since the hotline launched in 2007 and have made more than 14,000 life-saving rescues. If you or someone you know is in crisis, please en-
courage them to call the Veterans Crisis Line at (800) 273-8255 or use the online chat at
www.veteranscrisis
line.net. All responders are specially trained to assist and counsel veterans and family members in crisis.
TRICAREUPDA+E
HEAVY ALCOHOL USE REMAINS A CONCERN IN THE MILITARY. Servicemembers often use alcohol to handle stress, boredom, and loneliness. Others might turn to alcohol to cope with traumatic experiences from deployment. The 2008 DoD Health Related Be- haviors Among Active Duty Personnel survey found young men in each branch of service have higher rates of heavy drinking than their civilian counterparts. TRICARE beneficiaries can reduce their risk of
becoming alcohol-dependent by monitoring their alcohol consumption. According to the CDC, heavy drinking is more than two drinks a day for men and more than one for women. Binge drinking is con- sidered five or more drinks on one occasion for men and four or more drinks on one occasion for women. TRICARE beneficiaries should discuss all their
William
“Wild Bill” Donovan (1883- 1959),
head of America’s
premier spy organization in World War II, the OSS, was a brilliant spymaster, “Roosevelt’s idea man, his secret daredevil, his spark plug for thinking outside the box,” writes biographer Douglas Waller.
This detailed and excit-
treatment options with their primary care manager. *online: Find more information about alcohol abuse and treatment at
www.tricare.mil/alcoholawareness.
ing biography is a triumph of nonfi ction writing, with Waller revealing much about the complex man who was “thrilled by the danger of combat,” who earned the Medal of Honor in World War I, and whose innovative spy organization, the OSS, became the model for today’s CIA. Waller tells vivid an- ecdotes of OSS successes and failures in worldwide wartime spying, sabotage, propaganda, and guerrilla warfare. He also explains how Donovan recruited, trained, and used his thousands of eager opera-
24 MILITARY OFFICER SEPTEMBER 2011
tives and accumulated and deftly handled legions of powerful and vindic- tive enemies like the FBI’s J. Edgar Hoover and President Truman.
Into the Viper’s Nest: The First Pivotal Battle of the Afghan War. By Stephen Grey. Zenith Press, 2010. $28. ISBN 978-0-7603-3897-1.
Award- winning journalist Stephen Grey tells the grip- ping story
of an international bri- gade’s battle in December 2007 to capture the stra- tegic Taliban stronghold town Musa Qala in the largest set-piece battle in Afghanistan since 2001. Grey accompanied Brit-
ish forces in the brigade during the fi ghting, but he also tells of the heroic ac- tions of the American con- tingent, Task Force Fury 1 of the 508th Parachute In- fantry Regiment, as well as other NATO forces, the Af- ghan army, and the Taliban enemy. He delivers a critical appraisal of the Afghan government’s weakness and the diffi culties of eff ective allied command, conclud- ing that brute force might win battles, but it won’t win the war where “the popula- tion is the prize.” — William D. Bushnell
PHOTO: SHUTTERSTOCK
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