Madness in Mogadishu: Commanding the 10th Mountain Division’s Quick Reaction Company During Black Hawk Down

Madness in Mogadishu is both a powerful narrative of the U.S. Army's early clash with asymmetrical enemies and an honest, absorbing study in command. No outside historian could capture the immediacy, fear, courage, menace, and adrenaline rush of such fighting half so vividly and convincingly as Michael Whetstone, the commander who took the fight to a savage enemy. Outstanding --Ralph Peters, Fox News Strategic Analyst and author of Cain at Gettysburg"Mike Whetstone's book is a tough, hard-hitting memoir of infantry company command and modern warfare. In powerful prose, he provides a superb account of what it is like to lead a group of our best young men into battle against ruthless enemies. In the future, it will find pride of place alongside other American classics of close combat such as MacDonald's Company Commander and Ambrose's Band of Brothers. A must read for all military professionals."--Lt. Col. James V. Di Crocco III, Director of the Defense Strategy Course, U.S. Army War CollegeOn the afternoon of October 3, 1993, two Black Hawk helicopters were shot down over the Somali capital of Mogadishu, leaving a handful of U.S. Army Rangers and Delta Force operators at the mercy of several thousand approaching militants. Ordered to "go find the glow"--the burning wreckage--hard-charging Capt. Mike Whetstone, commander of a Quick Reaction Company in the 10th Mountain Division, led part of the convoy sent to rescue the survivors. This powerfully vivid story of modern war is the intense firsthand account of the mission to find the crash site and retrieve the downed soldiers. Raw descriptions of urban combat in the labyrinthine streets and shantytowns of Mogadishu Complements the bestselling book and Oscar-winning movie Black Hawk Down, which recounts these events primarily from the perspective of the Rangers and Delta Force Presents battle-tested lessons for young leaders"

Michael Whetstone remained in the U.S. Army after Somalia and retired as a lieutenant colonel after service in Afghanistan. For his actions in Mogadishu, he received the Silver Star. He currently heads scenario development for a defense contractor, providing live and virtual combat-training support to the U.S. Armya s Joint Readiness Training Center at Fort Polk. He lives in Hampton, Virginia.＂