BOOK REVIEWS reconnaissance platform, and the Griffon rotary-wing surveillance Ultimately, Sean Maloney delivers an excellent analysis of and utility platform. Specific chapters have been allocated to each, the Canadian contribution to military intervention in Kosovo, including explanations regarding their development and innovative balancing the geo-political and strategic context with tactical use by soldiers and aviators towards peace-enforcement in theatre. operations in theatre. His extensive primary source research and Strangely enough, we learn that some of these surveillance systems experience reveal some striking insight and detail, and his com- were used to keep our supposed-Allies in line and on mission. parative assessment of Canadian military effectiveness within the What follows are two sections on battle group operations, the first multi-national brigade and theatre are significant contributions based upon the 1st Battalion, Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light to our understanding of the Canadian efforts in Kosovo. It is, Infantry, and the second applicable to the 1st Battalion, The Royal however, his thorough use of anecdotes to paint a truly- Canadian Canadian Regiment. Both chapters are replete with anecdotes perspective of Operation Kinetic that makes this publication a related to operations, and Maloney’s assessment of their value to worthwhile and refreshing read, one that is uniquely Canadian. stabilization throughout Kosovo, albeit mostly within the United Kingdom’s Multinational Brigade Group (Centre) area of opera- Lieutenant-Colonel W.G. Cummings, CD, a highly-experienced tions, captures well the evolution of battle group operations over infantry officer, has spent 36 years in The Royal Canadian Regiment, and the one-year arc; from forced entry, through peace enforcement, has completed operational tours in Cyprus, Bosnia, and Afghanistan. and finally, to stabilization. He then finishes with an account of Canadian forces involved in sustainment operations that should satisfy both professional and armchair logisticians. Call Sign Chaos: indiscretion (it was three-against- Learning to Lead one, with Mattis being the loner, and a serving Marine officer at the by Jim Mattis time…) which saw him awarded and Bing West a night behind bars before board- New York, Random House, 2019 ing an eastbound freight train the 300 pages, $27.75 (hardcover) next morning. ISBN 978-0-8129-9683-8 Reviewed by The book is divided into three Peter J. Williams major sections: n case you were • Direct Leadership. This wondering, it doesn’t covers Mattis’ career as an mean what you might officer up to the time when he think. It stands for (Does commanded Naval Task Force the) Colonel Have Another 58, as a brigadier-general in IOutstanding Solution, a sobriquet Afghanistan in 2001; given him by a staff member • Executive Leadership. This, when Mattis commanded the the longest section in the th 7 Marine Regiment between book, spans his time as 1994 and 1996. Admittedly, Commander 1st Marine though the author freely states Division in Iraq until his that over the course of a mili- appointment as Commander tary career spanning almost US Joint Forces Command 4 ½ decades he did much to inflict (US JFCOM) with the ‘addi- bedlam upon his nation’s enemies. tional hat’ of being NATO’s He’s also very likely the only Supreme Allied Commander Secretary of Defense or four-star for Transformation (SACT), both of these being four-star general in US history to have done jail time! appointments; and Retired General Jim Mattis, United States Marine Corps, • Strategic Leadership. This section describes Mattis as has teamed up with a long-time colleague (and a former Assistant Commander Central Command, during which he was, Secretary of Defense and Marine Vietnam veteran) Bing West in inter alia, responsible for the conduct of US military the compilation of this chronicle, which serves, “…[to] convey operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Within this Section, the lessons I learned for those who might benefit, whether in the he also includes a chapter entitled, “Reflections.” military or in civilian life.”1 Spoiler alert; the vast majority of the book covers Mattis’ military career, with only a few pages devoted The book also includes a total of seven appendices which to his tenure as Secretary of Defense (SECDEF, 2017-2019). cover a wide variety of subjects, including a letter he wrote as His life as a young man is also covered, including the youthful a lieutenant-colonel directly to a general four levels above him Canadian Military Journal • Vol. 20, No. 2, Spring 2020 73 BOOK REVIEWS (reviewer’s italics) expressing his “…extreme disappointment his superior headquarters, and he relied upon the senior with the performance of the Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) NCO within the Coalition Special Forces, rather than have Awards Board in its downgrading of awards I submitted on his own sergeant-major. This contrasts greatly with the my men.”2 Certainly, Mattis was not afraid to speak truth to Canadian approach, where such advisors exist at all levels; power. His famous e-mail about being too busy to read, and his • The role he played in firing himself, when he took actions recommended reading list is also included in the text. resulting in the creation of US Joint Forces Command (JFCOM) - while he was in command! While we often The book is written chronologically, with Mattis using can create headquarters, eliminating them is often a much anecdotes from his career to illustrate various lessons he learned more challenging and daunting prospect. while so serving. Three in particular struck me, and which gave an insight into the type of leader Mattis was: I found the author’s style to be very engaging, which made it a quick, very enjoyable, and instructive read. Strongly recom- • His relief of one of his Regimental Commanders during mended, particularly for General Officer/Flag Officer audiences. Operation Iraqi Freedom, when Mattis was a division commander. This cannot have been an easy decision, as Colonel (ret’d) Williams’ final posting prior to retirement in Mattis explains, “But when the zeal of a commander flags, 3 2016 was as Director Arms Control Verification on the Canadian you must make a change.” Certainly a constant theme Strategic Joint Staff. throughout the book is the premium Mattis placed upon initiative, speed, and aggressiveness; • His decision as Commander Naval Task Force 58 to ensure NOTES his headquarters remained lean by not replicating staffs and advisors at various levels within his command. Thus, 1 Jim Mattis and Bing West, Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead (New York: Random House, 2019), p. xiii. if he needed legal advice, he consulted a legal officer in 2 Ibid., p. 251. 3 Ibid., p. 107. Relentless components to the point that by Struggle: Saving 1995, there were two camps with decidedly-different viewpoints the Army Reserve about what the future of the Army 1995-2019 Reserve should look like. by C.P. Champion Ottawa: Durnovaria, 2019 This is the point where 494 pages; $29.95 Champion takes up his narrative. Outraged by unilateral, detrimental ISBN: 978-1-9991945-0-5 initiatives by the then-commander Reviewed by Wolfgang of Central Area effecting his Army W. Riedel Reserve units, a group of retired officers, reserve unit honorary or most of Canada’s colonels and lieutenant colonels history, its army was and other influential individuals, one predominantly banded together to develop a stra- made up of part-time tegic response. This group, located reservists assisted primarily, but not exclusively, in Fby a small group of full-time southern Ontario, would quickly soldiers dedicated to training become the nucleus of Reserves them. That structure changed in 2000, an organization that would the early-1950s when Canada spend the next two-and-one-half formed a total of four full-time decades seeking to influence brigades dedicated to counter- the Canadian Forces and the ing the Communist threat in Government with respect to Army Europe. Then-Chief of Defence Reserve issues. Staff, Lieutenant-General Guy Simonds insisted that if Canada Champion, a former senior was to fight in Europe, its soldiers policy advisor to a Minister of needed to be there at the start of National Defence and the current hostilities. As Canada’s full-time editor of The Dorchester Review, force expanded dramatically to its peak in 1963, its part-time took the unusual step of joining the reserves as a Guardsman, force declined both in numbers and in equipment holdings. and then completing infantry training while writing this book. Thereafter, insufficient funding issues caused decline in both Commissioned by Reserves 2000 as a part of their information 74 Canadian Military Journal • Vol. 20, No. 2, Spring 2020.