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First to Fight

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First to Fight!

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Is First to Fight Really that Good of a Book… Air War College 2 September 2009 By Michael E. Cordero LtCol USMC

First to Fight!
General Al Gray, the 29th Commandant of the Marine Corps (CMC) placed the book First to Fight (FtF) written by Lieutenant General (LtGen) Victor Krulak, on the first Service reading list established in 1988.2 General James Conway, the 34th and current CMC mandated in an All Marine (ALMAR) message

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during May 2007 that all Devil Dogs would read the book FtF and discuss its importance and what it means to them.3 During September 2009, General Conway published another ALMAR that supported his Commanders who recommended retaining FtF as the CMC’s choice.4 Is this book really …show more content…

It should be stressed to refer to this book by its full title--First to Fight: An Inside View of the United States Marine Corps- -when mentioning it for by not doing so could lead to allusions that LtGen Krulak meant this book to be a definitive history of the USMC, something it is truly not.12 What it is though is one person’s very insightful view on the major events that took place within the Corps during his years on active duty, especially those controversial events that he has intimate knowledge of to include President Truman’s and General Marshall’s attempts to do severely minimize the USMC roles in the future defense of America.13 It would have been great if before he died last year (2008) if LtGen Krulak could have written a “Part 2” to update/include other important events that have taken place since the early 1980s, especially since his son was the CMC from 1995 to 1999 and the Marine Special Operations Command being created in 2006.14 Finally, three major takeaways that readers of this terrific book should realize are (A) the USMC and the USA can never afford to become complacent for doing so leads to disaster, (B) the USMC must always accomplish the mission and take care of the individual Marine or risk

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