Bing West

Francis J. ‘Bing’ West, originally from the Dorchester section of Boston, served as an infantry officer in the United States Marine Corps during the Vietnam War. A warrior-scholar, West authored an extremely influential study while a Visiting Research Associate at the RAND Corporation (1966-68) entitled: "The Strike Teams: Tactical Performance and Strategic Potential". This paper was presented at the Annual DoD Counter insurgency Research and Development Symposium in October 1968. The RAND Military Systems Simulations Group implemented a classified model of this concept. This doctrinal innovation was directly opposed by MACV {Military Assistance Command Vietnam} in favor of the Army's concept of Air-Mobility "Fire and Thunder Operations".

He served as Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs in the Reagan administration. He is a graduate of Georgetown University (BA) and Princeton University (MA), where he was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow. He is currently president of the GAMA Corporation, which designs wargames and combat decision-making simulations.

West is the author of several books relating to the United States Military. His collaboration with retired Marine Major General Ray "E-Tool" Smith, "The March Up", was awarded the Marine Corps Heritage prize for nonfiction, as well as the Colby award for military nonfiction, but has also received criticism for lack of scholarship.Fact|date=August 2008 West also authored a foreword for "" by Marine Sergeant Seth Conner.

He is currently writing the screenplay for "No True Glory", with his son Owen, for Universal Studios. West is a correspondent for "The Atlantic Monthly", appears on "The News Hour" on PBS and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Books

*"Small Unit Action in Vietnam, Summer 1966". ISBN 0-405-00018-9.
*"The Village". ISBN 0-7434-5757-9.
*"The Pepperdogs: a Novel". ISBN 0-7434-5643-2.
*"The March Up: Taking Baghdad with the US Marines". ISBN 0-553-38269-1.
*"No True Glory: a Front-line Account of the Battle of Fallujah". ISBN 0-553-80402-2.
*"The Strongest Tribe: War, Politics, and the Endgame in Iraq" (Random House, 2008) ISBN 1400067014

ee also

References

* [http://www.westwrite.com Official Website]
* [http://www.cfr.org Council on Foreign Relations website]
* [http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/by/bing_west Bing West index] at "The Atlantic"
* [http://www.trippinglightpress.com Tripping Light Press]