Apache - Ed Macy

 

Here is the thing, the war in Afghanistan was and is very real.   A war of our time and with social media and 24-hour news you can have all the information you could ever need.   But what that does not give you is the reality of what is required, to be a part of that war on many levels.

Apache by Ed Macy is one man’s story, a story of a man who thought his career was over through injury, who seized another opportunity to serve in the Army Air Corps flying one of the most technically advanced helicopters in the world. 

The author takes you through what is needed to be the best of the best and to fly the Westland Apache AH MK1 from training and testing and all the anxiety that entails to the brutality and stress of making decisions in a war environment culminating in an astonishing mission.   For those that have not read the book I will not spoil that.

This is a book about reality.  This is not a chest out, banging, I am a warrior type of book.  It is a book that shows the fragility of war, the problems that are encountered, the decisions in real time that need to be made that affects lives.  What the author does is take you inside the mind of a pilot, the emotions of battle and the impact and affect that has not just on himself but also the regiment and those he served with. 

This book humanises the story and gives you a real sense of the grittiness and stress of war, the decisions that affect every person, the wider network required to make those decisions and how life and death is affected by them and how that affects those involved. 

It has a fantastic balance between military jargon and slang and yet being able to understand the requirements of each man and women.   It is respectful yet does not shy away from showing the issues of an army in battle.  It is a breath-taking book to read and leaves you emotional in several ways.

What this book gave me was a real insight into how technology can and does affect war. How the men and women involved in that are affected by what is around them.  This brings war into stark reality for the reader and helps you understand a little of what is required to serve and put your life on the line every day.

If you have a fascination with the Afghanistan war it is for you.   If you are interested in how an army operates and its decision making it is for you, and if you want to understand a bit about how war affects those involved it really is for you.  Ed Macy really hits the mark and brings all these things to life. 

A great book to read.