On 26 February 1991, cavalry troops of “Cougar Squadron,” the 2nd Squadron of the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment, charged out of a sandstorm during Operation Desert Storm and caught Iraq's Republican Guard Corps in the open desert along the North-South grid line of a military map referred to as the “73 Easting.” Taken by surprise, the defending Iraqi armor brigade was swept away in salvos of American tank and missile fire in what became the U.S. Army's largest tank battle since World War II. Douglas Macgregor, the man who trained and led Cougar Squadron into battle, recounts two stories. One is the inspiring tale of the valiant American soldiers, sergeants, lieutenants, and captains who fought and won the battle. The other is a story of failed generalship, one that explains why Iraq's Republican Guard escaped, ensuring that Saddam Hussein's regime survived and America's war with Iraq dragged on. Certain to provoke debate, this is the latest book from the controversial and influential military veteran whose two previous books, Breaking the Phalanx and Transformation Under Fire, are credited with influencing thinking and organization inside America's ground forces and figure prominently in current discussions about military strategy and defense policies. Its fast-moving battle narrative, told from the vantage point of Macgregor's Abrams tank, and its detailed portraits of American soldiers, along with vivid descriptions of the devastating technology of mounted warfare, will captivate anyone with a taste for adventure as well as an interest in contemporary military history. "It is that immediacy and intensity of close combat that Warrior's Rage evokes. Macgregor depicts war as it is experienced and fought, not with neat arrows on a well-drawn map, but with seared flesh, grit, blood, dirt and pain. Exhaustion, confusion, fear and death define the world of Cougar Squadron; Macgregor describes every bit of it. Yet he also grants us a glimpse into how soldiers deal with such grim realities—leadership, discipline, training and humor surely help. Warrior's Rage includes all of those as well. A book like Warrior's Rage would normally be on the reading list of every fighting battalion in our Army. Some will hesitate at that, though, because there is a strong subtext to Macgregor's account. It's a truism of war that although good units are composed of team players, most soldiers know well that when you close that hatch, few have much good to say for "those bastards back at platoon." That is a normal part of a soldier's point of view. The dangers of combat only serve to amplify this tendency. Macgregor does not spare us his opinions about his superiors. He castigates America's generals as a group—and often by name—for what he sees as their timidity in finishing the job in 1991. By implication, and in many cases by bald statement, a reader of Warrior's Rage would not be surprised that these generals' chosen successors have fumbled around in the current war as well. That may turn off some readers, but I would encourage those offended to hang in there. Believe it or not, such things get said about most leaders in the Army—maybe even Macgregor. As soldiers, we have learned after a lot of failed operations at the National Training Center—let alone on the ground in theater—to be brutal on ourselves, to ask the hard questions and to own up to mistakes. Our Army judges by results more than by form or style. The ability to adapt under fire is the key to winning. Macgregor's Cougars did it at 73 Easting, but ourselves, to ask the hard questions and to own up to mistakes. Our Army judges by results more than by form or style. The ability to adapt under fire is the key to winning. Macgregor's Cougars did it at 73 Easting, but it all starts with the guts to accept criticism. Macgregor himself offers the best explanation for why his harsh tone still makes Warrior's Rage well worth the read. At one point, describing a particularly headstrong cavalry troop commander (now a serving general officer), Macgregor approvingly quotes Werner Binder, a German officer who fought on the Eastern Front in World War II: "Your best commander is always your most difficult subordinate. He always asks hard questions and offers new ways to do things, because he thinks. He may be quick-tempered and occasionally insubordinate, but if you have one like this, give him the freedom to do what he thinks is right whenever possible." Macgregor did just that, and the outcome was a signal victory. I think Binder's advice may be good for anyone who reads Warrior's Rage. The author of Breaking the Phalanx and Transformation Under Fire has never been a shrinking violet—Macgregor was always a most difficult subordinate. But he's also one of the smartest and most gifted armored commanders our Army has produced. Warrior's Rage is just the latest fine contribution from a veteran cavalryman who will no doubt stay in the fight for the Army he loves." —MG Daniel P. Bolger, b