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That's incorrect. The author has provided a detailed account of his service in the US armed forces and US government national security council. First of all, the US Air Force did not train Iranian F-14 crews. I liked the book and its real story.
Thought to mention this minor error. But the book is well told and has a great story line. It must be RIO (Radar Interceptor Officer) which is a purely navy term. And the word used for the backseater is not WSO which is an air force term.
he is flat wrong or misinformed or can't recount things well. None of them had anything to do with flying anything especially F-14. But his account of F-14 within the Imperial Iranian AF is totally wrong based on what that captain told him. Homafars were mainly ground crew and technicians/engineers.
So, he is wrong on that note.The other minor error/data is the claim that Iranian F-14 backseater was of Homafar ranks. So when the author mentions that he talked to a USAF Captain (p242-244) in charge of training the F-14 crews in Isfahan. For one thing, the US Navy trained the F-14 crews of IIAF and navy had bought the Tomcat fighter not the US air force.
Colin Powell has clear concepts to share. Great to hear that true values are still an element out there to guide us.
Recommened by a neighbor. One of the bst biographies that I have ever read.
Sometimes he explicitly states that he takes no ideological stance, that he is open, or somehow immune to the politicking that occurs at such high levels of government. Indeed, he entered the military at a disadvantage, without a West Point education. What is special about Powell. In one kissing-babies moment, he tells us the story of his founding a traditional church where there was none before. He says in passing that he is uncomfortable with public affection. At every opportunity, he assures as that he is a military man to the core, and further that he takes great care to ensure the safety of the troops.
My judgment of him based on this book, but also informed by other writings, is that Powell is one of two things: either he is exactly what he seems, an intense, stoic, and capable man well-placed in a more removed, military planning environment; or, he is keeping something from us. It is hard to judge Colin Powell on the basis of these memoirs. Published in 1995, well before his career was over, one gets the sense that this could not possibly be all there is to him. He messages ahead to his wife what specific colors and outfit he wishes her to wear.
In another incident that lingers in my mind, Powell is returning from a tour in Vietnam. Even for an Army General, it is surprising to me that one could bend the very souls of civilians to one's whims. We see a man largely devoid of strong independent emotion--or do we. I suspect there is something of the latter in him, but I would not know it from these memoirs.
There are allusions to his fiery temper, and he seems to make only extremely rare mistakes, but one gets the feeling by this account that a person could rise to the highest office merely by following orders and not getting arrested. Yet this last example is emblematic of the more subtle telling moments. One of the more glaring general holes in this story is how exactly Powell managed to climb the ranks of the military so quickly, and so high. Almost never does Powell write anything close to inflammatory.
These moments are not so surprising as they are revealing. There is some resistance to the church that he intends to found, yet Powell seems to force it into existence. He embraces his cultural and racial heritage, but always following it is some soliloquy about racial harmony, either in the armed forces or his neighborhood or life. Here we see Powell the man of rigid tradition, and of great willpower.
While equal blame may lay on my view of Powel's somewhat humdrum life as much as the writing style of this book, I believe this book will only be of interest to those already seeking to research Powell's life, not those in search of an enthralling piece. This book often presents itself more like an encyclopedia entry than an insightful biography. Colin Powel is clearly a great American as exemplified among his many accomplishments and life experiences. However, this presentation of his life story is arduous and without excitement.
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