Defense of Hill 781: An Allegory of Modern Mechanized Combat

By James R. McDonough

Book Overview

At the turn of the century a small, humorous book on tactics was published. The Defense of Duffer's Drift quickly became a bestseller and today is still widely read. The Defense of Hill 781 is a modem version of this classic -- a tactical primer with ample funpoking, but with serious lessons to be learned.

Lt. Col. A. Tack Always Finds himself in the California high desert, alone, disheveled, confused. A guide soon appears to inform him of his situation: he has died and is now in Purgatory (his humility in the Army was somewhat lacking) where he must atone for past sins. Purgatory is, aptly, the U.S. Army's National Training Center (NTC), and Lt. Col. Always may earn his way out by completing a successful mission. Through a series of six missions, the reader plans and fights with Lt. Col. Always, making the split-second decisions that determine victory or defeat, life or death.

Through successive difficulties, some important lessons are burned into the commander's brain -- lessons about tactics, about people, about what it takes to fight a winning battle. Like Duffer's Drift this book is a valuable resource for all military tacticians. For the armchair general, it is a fascinating look at how the members of a military unit work together in combat.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0891414754
• ISBN13: 9780891414759
• Release Date: June 1993
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.69 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

A Great Book for the Heavy Infantry

Today no one thinks that they could fly a jet or command a ship. But everyone thinks that they could command troops in the field. This book shows its not as easy as it looks. You don't line your tracks and grunts up in a line & go get them. This small, slim book is a great primer for the people who are going into the Mechinized Infantry or if you are going into the NTC for fun in the Sun. Altogether this is a great companion for the "Defense of Duffers Drift" and should be read and shared by the rough ,tough soldiery of the Green Machine.

Worth every penny

This allegory about LTC A. Tack Always having to serve his time in purgatory (the NTC) is an outstanding read. Having served 12 years in the Army as an Armor officer I found this book dead on about tactics and operational planning. This book is geared more toward someone who has some military knowledge, though. If you are a civilian with no military knowledge then this book might be a little hard to understand. Overall it is a great read.

The best picture you can get of NTC without enlisting.

The Defense of Hill 781 is the clearest and most accurate depiction of what the National Training Center at Fort Irwin is all about. I've deployed there three times and still learned from this book.

A mechanized Duffer's Drift

This book is the modern version of "The Defense of Duffer's Drift." Inspired by that classic (a series of fictional small unit actions in the Boer War intended as a learning experience for the commanding officer), this book follows the same story line (as freely admitted by the author.) "The Defense of Hill 781" substitutes Ft. Irwin NTC for South Africa, OPFOR for the Boers, and a U.S. mechanized task force for the British army. A well done, light read.

Great story about learning to fight

Take the reader through a mythical officers time in pergatory (which is the National Training Center). Learns a bunch about how to fight as we all do as well. Kind of folksy, but I've reread it twice. A good analysis of the keys to winning a combined arms battle at the battalion leve