JD Lock Interviewed on National Defense Radio
The National Defense Radio Show with Jerry Newberry
Friday, August 17, 2007
http://www.townhall.com/talkradio/show.aspx?radioshowid=14
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An interview with Lieutenant Colonel J.D. Lock with a discussion of his new book, "Rangers in Combat: A Legacy of Valor."
Review of Rangers in Combat
Assembly Magazine - West Point Association of Graduates
Saturday, September 01, 2007
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What ingredients make an elite organization truly elite? The answer is by no means easily discernable. Practically every country in the world has its own elite forces, which possess various degrees of competency. If it were a matter of dedicated financing, resources, equipment, and training, U.S. Army Rangers would not have emerged as one of the world’s premier combat organizations. In fact, much of the American experience with Ranger units reveals a motley collection of small contingents, often slapped together in the midst of a conflict, and tasked to complete perilous missions with little or no support.
It is this history that Rangers in Combat examines, covering the exploits of Rogers’ Rangers during the French and Indian War to the 75th Ranger Regiment during the early months of Operation Enduring Freedom. Deviating from the traditional approach of simply relating historical events, the author provides a refreshing framework using the following themes to underscore how U.S. Army Rangers have become the premier military force of modern combat: Leadership, Determination, Survival, Intrepidity, Initiative, Boldness, Training, Fearlessness, Endurance, Daring, Valor, Personal Courage, Heroism, Planning, Cojones!, Confidence, Sacrifice, and Brotherhood.
Lock assigns a theme to highlight a Ranger attribute during a particular conflict. The striking feature is the crucial role that perseverance and fortitude play during operations. As Rangers in Combat subtly evokes, military competence alone is not enough to ensure success. It takes dogged determination to succeed against daunting odds. History is replete with the failures of competent units that lacked these traits to push on despite hardships and misfortunes.
For most of their history, American Ranger units have been accustomed to operating with insufficient supplies, equipment, intelligence, and even manpower. They learned to depend on themselves, often operating independently for weeks at a time. It is this tradition that suggests why today’s Rangers are different from other elite organizations. Even if they were not the best equipped, resourced, and trained combat force in the world, U.S. Army Rangers would still dominate their adversaries; their tradition demands it.
Rangers in Combat is filled with fast-paced action, placing the reader in the moccasins or boots of those who shaped American history. Lock adroitly weaves tactical lessons in his observations at the end of each chapter. These insightful nuggets provide the interested reader with tactical guideposts. Indeed, this book serves not only as a history book, but also as a tactical manual for specialized operations.
In short, Rangers in Combat is a superb book for the professional library as well as for military instruction. It has promise as an American military classic.
LTC Raymond Millen ‘82 is the author of Command Legacy as well as several studies and articles.
An Outstanding Tribute!!!
Military Writers Society of America
Monday, July 23, 2007
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An OUTSTANDING tribute!!!!! I loved this book! I have always been sort of a dreamer when it comes to military history and have often wondered what some of our brave soldiers of the past must have gone through, especially those of the civil and revolutionary war eras. Still like a young kid I often put myself in their place when engaging a good, vivid book about their trials and tribulations.
This is such a book, and it deals with the some of the toughest of the tough, our Rangers, from past to present. Such great detail and vivid images. It thought I was there. J.D. Lock took me from the beginning stages during the French and Indian Wars right up to Operation Enduring Freedom. You can feel this book. The action in Korea, the mishaps in getting our Rangers into Grenada. All there. Hats off to an outstanding book!"
Jim Stewart, Board Member, Book Reviewer, Military Writers Society of America (author of "The Ghosts of Vietnam")
What Makes Them Heroes?
Midwest Book Review
Sunday, June 10, 2007
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Written by former Army noncommissioned officer and former assistant professor of the US Military Academy at West Point J.D. Lock, Rangers in Combat: A Legacy of Valor is a survey of the lethal battles, acts of heroism, and faithful dedication of the U.S. Army Rangers, who have placed their lives on the line against crushing odds for more than 200 years of American history. In scrutinizing their courage, Rangers in Combat examines the question, "What makes them heroes?" The answer lies in the many examples of the Rangers' intrepidity, initiative, training, fearlessness, endurance, planning, confidence, sacrifice, brotherhood, and other powerful qualities, examples drawn from battles throughout historical record from the French and Indian War to both World Wars, the Korean War, the modern-day war on terror, and more. Black-and-white photographs are interspersed amid the examples, observations, and portraits of incredible individuals in this shining tribute to the men who have given, and continue to give, their all for their country.
A Champion For His Country
New Jersey Star Ledger Op Ed
Wednesday, April 28, 2004
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A Champion For His Country
New Jersey Star Ledger Op Ed, April 28, 2004 [modified]
By JD Lock
Since the birth of this great nation, there have been only two wars in the past 192 years that were the result of enemy attacks launched directly against the United States. The first occurred on Dec. 7, 1941, when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. In response to that "day of infamy,' professional athletes voluntarily enlisted or were drafted by the thousands. Within the professional baseball ranks alone, 5,400 of 5,800 players served in uniform.
The second attack occurred on Sept. 11, 2001. It was another surprise attack, but this time by international terrorists against the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. In response to that 21st-century "day of infamy," only one professional athlete enlisted. Not only did Pat Tillman volunteer to serve his nation in uniform, but he chose to serve it by enlisting in one of the world's most elite combat units, the 75th Ranger Regiment, thus virtually guaranteeing that he would engage America's enemies in ground combat.
Sir Winston Churchill once noted that "Courage is the first of the human qualities because it is the quality which guarantees all of the others." In World War II, the "greatest generation" was the face of courage. In the Global War On Terror, the face of courage is the face of Pat Tillman and the tens of thousands of others like him who have, in lieu of a national draft, volunteered to serve and to fight America's enemies. From a greatest generation of professional athletes who served in their nation's defense, we have devolved to an uninspired generation of professional athletes who were represented by their only "greatest" member, Pat Tillman, a virtual—and literal—Lone Ranger. Sadly, it took this man's death to realize that.
Will Tillman's death—his "last full measure of devotion" for the Stars and Stripes he so dearly loved—have a lasting impact? Only time will tell. But it should serve as a wakeup call and a point to ponder for all Americans of service age, especially for our over-hyped national "heroes," the professional and excessively pampered athlete.
For those game "warriors" who so easily talk of titanic struggle, battle and war on the fields of friendly strife, it is best to recall William Shakespeare's King Henry V, Act 4, Scene III:
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers.
For he today that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition.
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.
America's professional athletes, "gentlemen in England now a-bed," should hold their manhoods cheap, for Pat Tillman shed his blood for them and fought their Saint Crispin's day.
On 17 April 2005, the Associated Press reported “Four months before he was killed in Afghanistan, Pat Tillman was told that he could opt out of extending his military service because NFL clubs were interested in him.” Tillman’s agent urged the Ranger to seek a discharge. He’d “already served in a war.” Despite the urging and despite the opportunity to seek a release, Tillman refused to consider it. “No, I’m going to stay. I owe them three years. I’ll do one more tour.”
All deaths are tragic, but some seem more tragic than others. An American warrior was Pat Tillman. When one dies so tragically young, there is no finer epitaph to give than that ‘final measure of devotion’ in support of the greater good, and my heart swells with pride knowing that this nation still produces such fine young men—even if they are fewer in number than in generations before, even if there are fewer willing to place themselves in harm's way while the rest of us sleep safely in our beds each night.
I am humbled by Pat Tillman's character, selfless service and personal sacrifice. While others of his profession talk the walk, he not only walked it, he ran it full throttle. I pray that, if only for a moment, his manly peers "shall think themselves accursed" that they were not there when his blood ran red as he lay dying in a foreign field on their behalf.
And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country.
President John F. Kennedy
Inaugural Address
January 20th 1961
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