Analyzing the reading from McDonough, I see where a lot of your points come in. A lot of memoirs and autobiographies that I have read start out this way. James portrays his schooling and training as a positive precursor to the inevitable experiences of war. There is a redundancy in Chapter 2 that I’ve seen before in many modern war biographies. Characters being harped on that during their childhood that they need to do well or they will never amount to anything. James’s father was a prior enlisted and, even with some NCO/Officer clichés, he was proud of him for the route he was taking.

West Point is quickly portrayed and the thought of going to war was becoming more apparent. He describes the anxiety and stress the program put on him. This is felt by all Military personnel throughout any type of training. Especially in a wartime situation. I feel that James never questioned his decision or had any second thoughts about it. Even with the current situation at the time. And he even quotes, “The decisions to serve in the infantry, to join the U.S. airborne brigade in the war, and to select Vietnam for my first full assignment were not decisions at all.” (McDonough, p. 227) With the opening in Chapter 1, I believe he truly felt the natural feeling of duty and loyalty to this country. There is a feeling at the end of Chapter 2 that he is in for an indoctrination.

From personal experience, I feel that I was very fortunate to have the training and leadership that I was afforded. Between my enlistment in 2004, to OSUT, and my first contract of four years. James does a phenomenal job of portraying the relationships he develops in Chapter 3. When I think about the relationships that I developed during my junior enlisted career, we all knew that within six months of graduation from OSUT we would be deployed in support of OIF or OEF. However, I didn’t know that I would be deployed within 60 days. I feel that my training was sufficient enough and the personnel assigned to mentor me were seasoned professionals placed there for a reason. However, there is never enough training to prepare one for everything. Meanwhile, there was a lot more on the job training that required me to be a leader efficiently.
This introduction to this piece of writing tells me that readers will be vividly placed in a detailed and thorough mindset to know how it is to be a leader in a combat situation. Everyone knows that war is hell and only the few are made for it. This biography seems to have the potential to show young aspiring leaders in the U.S. Army what to expect.

Dave