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Francis J. "Bing" West Jr. (born May 2, 1940) is an American author, Marine combat veteran and former Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs during the Reagan Administration. West writes about the military, warfighting, and counterinsurgency. In the
Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...
, he fought in major operations and conducted over a hundred combat patrols in 1966–1968. For the
United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...
, he wrote the training manual ''Small Unit Action in Vietnam'', describing how to fight in close combat. As an analyst at the
RAND Corporation The RAND Corporation, doing business as RAND, is an American nonprofit global policy think tank, research institute, and public sector consulting firm. RAND engages in research and development (R&D) in several fields and industries. Since the ...
, he wrote a half dozen detailed monographs about fighting against an insurgency. Later, as Assistant Secretary of Defense, he dealt with the insurgencies in
El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...
. From 2003 through 2008, he made 16 extended trips to
Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...
, going on patrols and writing three books and numerous articles about the war. From 2007 through 2011, he made numerous trips to embed in
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...
.


Life and career

West is from the
Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
communities of Dorchester, Boston, Milton and Scituate. He is a graduate of
Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...
(BA) and
Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...
(MA), where he was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow. West was an
infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...
officer in the Marine Corps during the Vietnam War. He led the mortar platoon of 2nd Battalion, 9th Marines. Later, he led a Combined Action Platoon (CAP) that protected Binh Nghia village in Quảng Trị province. He was also a member of the Marine Force Reconnaissance team that initiated "Operation Stingray": small unit attacks behind enemy lines. He authored a study at the
RAND Corporation The RAND Corporation, doing business as RAND, is an American nonprofit global policy think tank, research institute, and public sector consulting firm. RAND engages in research and development (R&D) in several fields and industries. Since the ...
entitled "The Strike Teams: Tactical Performance and Strategic Potential". This paper was the featured event at the 1970 Department of Defense Counterinsurgency Research and Development Symposium. The RAND Military Systems Simulations Group implemented a classified model of West's concept. This doctrinal innovation was directly opposed by Military Assistance Command Vietnam (MACV), which favored the Army's concept of Air-Mobility "Fire and Thunder Operations". By way of rebuttal, West wrote ''The Village'', chronicling his experiences leading the CAP. The book became a classic of practical counterinsurgency and has been on the Marine Corps Commandant's Required Reading List for five decades. In a December 1969 report on pacification co-written with Charlie Benoit "Pacification: View from the Provinces—Part III," they concluded that pacification had been achieved through often indiscriminate firepower and rural depopulation, resulting in occupation rather than pacification. While
Vietcong The Viet Cong (VC) was an epithet and umbrella term to refer to the Communism, communist-driven armed movement and united front organization in South Vietnam. It was formally organized as and led by the National Liberation Front of South Vi ...
(VC) losses in the Tet Offensive and subsequent operations had severely attrited the VC and their support among the peasantry, the corruption of the South Vietnamese government and military meant that support for the government was not increasing. West served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs in the
Ronald Reagan Ronald Wilson Reagan (February 6, 1911 – June 5, 2004) was an American politician and actor who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He was a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party a ...
administration, and chaired the United States Security Commissions with
El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...
,
Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...
,
Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...
,
Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
,
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
,
Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...
,
Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...
,
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...
, and
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
. Among other awards, West is the recipient of the Department of Defense Distinguished Public Service Medal, the Department of the Navy Distinguished Civilian Service Medal, and
Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...
's Medaille de Liberté. A member of the Council on Foreign Relations and the Infantry Order of St. Crispin, he appears frequently on
C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American Cable television in the United States, cable and Satellite television in the United States, satellite television network, created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a Non ...
and ''The News Hour'' on PBS. He embedded with dozens of platoons in Iraq and Afghanistan between 2003 and 2012.


Writing

West is the author of a dozen books. His latest is ''The Last Platoon: A Novel of the Afghanistan War'', Bombardier Press, 2020. His 2019 collaboration with Marine General Jim Mattis, entitled ''Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead'', was the #1 ''New York Times'' Bestseller. A prior book, written with retired Marine Major General Ray L. Smith, ''The March Up'',Gal Perl Finkel
General Mattis: A warrior diplomat
'' The Jerusalem Post'', December 12, 2016.
was awarded the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation's General Wallace M. Greene, Jr. Award for non-fiction, as well as the William E. Colby Award for military history. The Veterans of Foreign Wars presented West with their National Media Award in 2005, after he wrote the book ''No True Glory: A Frontline Account of the Battle for Fallujah''. His book ''The Strongest Tribe'' is a history of the Iraq War that was a ''New York Times'' Best Seller and was ranked by ''
Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit organization, nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership or ...
'' magazine as #7 among the top foreign policy books of 2009. ''Into the Fire'' ranked #8 on the ''New York Times'' Best Seller List. In ''The Strongest Tribe'' about counterinsurgency lessons, West argued that the doctrine of nation-building and winning hearts and minds by economic development was based on Western liberal theory rather than the realities of battle. West criticized those extolling "non-kinetic COIN." He believes that warriors, not the people, defeat warriors, and that America's mistake in both Iraq and Afghanistan was to concede authority to appoint and to remove for cause military and police officers. He believes American policymakers tried to do too much with too little in too short a time. His articles have appeared in ''
The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...
'', ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'', ''
The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 185 ...
'', ''
National Review ''National Review'' is an American conservative editorial magazine, focusing on news and commentary pieces on political, social, and cultural affairs. The magazine was founded by William F. Buckley Jr. in 1955. Its editor-in-chief is Rich L ...
'', and ''
The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
''. He is a recipient of the Department of Defense Distinguished Public Service Medal (twice), the Marine Corps Heritage Award (thrice), the Goodpaster Prize for Military Scholarship, the Father Clyde E. Leonard Award, the Free Press Award, the Marine Corps Correspondents' Distinguished Performance Award, the Veterans of Foreign Wars' National Media Award and the Marine Corps Russell Award for Leadership.


Personal life

West lives with his wife, Elizabeth, in
Newport, Rhode Island Newport is a seaside city on Aquidneck Island in Rhode Island, United States. It is located in Narragansett Bay, approximately southeast of Providence, Rhode Island, Providence, south of Fall River, Massachusetts, south of Boston, and nort ...
and Hilton Head, SC. He has two daughters and two sons (one of whom is Owen West). He has 8 grandchildren.


Books

* Bing West, ''The Last Platoon''. * Bing West & Jim Mattis, ''Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead''. () *''Small Unit Action in Vietnam, Summer 1966''. . *''The Village''. . *''Naval Forces and National Security''. . *''The Pepperdogs: a Novel''. . *''The March Up: Taking Baghdad with the US Marines''. . *''No True Glory: a Front-line Account of the Battle of Fallujah''. . *''The Strongest Tribe: War, Politics, and the Endgame in Iraq'' (Random House, 2008) *''The Wrong War: Grit, Strategy, and the Way Out of Afghanistan'' . *''One Million Steps: A Marine Platoon at War''. *''Into the Fire:a Firsthand Account of the Most Extraordinary Battle in the Afghan War''


References

Notes


External links


Official WebsiteBing West index
at ''The Atlantic''
Tripping Light PressReview of West's ''The Strongest Tribe: War, Politics, and the Endgame in Iraq''
from ''
The New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of ...
''
Interview
on ''No True Glory '' at the Pritzker Military Museum & Library on November 10, 2005
Interview
on ''The Wrong War'' at the Pritzker Military Museum & Library on March 9, 2011
Conversation
with Dakota Meyer on ''Into the Fire'' at the Pritzker Military Museum & Library on October 3, 2012 * {{DEFAULTSORT:West, Bing 1940 births Living people Writers from Boston United States Marine Corps officers United States Marine Corps personnel of the Vietnam War American military writers Georgetown University alumni Princeton University alumni Military personnel from Massachusetts United States Assistant Secretaries of Defense Reagan administration personnel