Halfway through the huge Social Sciences category, I arrived at books dealing with Public Administration & Military Science. This section had books with topics that include general considerations of public administration, specific fields of administration, public administration of economy & environment, foot forces & warfare, mounted forces & warfare, air and other specialized forces & warfare, engineering & related services, and sea forces & warfare.
I am a military brat. My father served in the Air Force. My husband served in the Army. We’ve had family members in the armed services which probably date back to recorded time. Additionally one of my brothers served in the Army and the other brother was a Navy SEAL. My nephew is a marine. All branches of the armed services are represented in my family. I grew up around air force bases and played in old planes as a child. Being a child I took my environment for granted and though I was exposed to this world, I now realize that I know very little about it. Because of my background I found this section as fascinating as it is informative.
There are many picture books in this section which are very helpful. I was able to trace the development of uniforms which turned out to be quite interesting. I hadn’t realized before the gradual changes uniforms have made not only in appearance, but also in technology. Picture books can trace uniform insignia or actual uniforms. As an example that even the jacket covers show one can trace U.S. army uniforms from 1755 to the present in The American Soldier U.S. Armies in uniform, 1755 to the present by Philip Katcher
to current and futuristic uniforms in 21st Century Soldier by Frank Vizard and Phil Scott, Popular Science.
From all of the pictures it is interesting to note how the tools of a soldier are carried on or in addition to their uniforms which seem to have been gradually changing over time to the point where the uniform itself is becoming a major weapon and defense armor.
There is one tool of a soldier that can not be given enough credit-soldier dogs.
Dogs have been present in every US engagement and operation in some capacity since WWII (and probably before that). It was a military dog named Cairo working with Navy SEALS that took down Osama Bin Laden. The book Soldier Dogs by Maria Goodavage is a must read. Goodavage traces the involvement of working military dogs (WMD) in history and explains what it takes to make the cut as a WMD. There are both heart warming and heart wrenching dog stories included in this book in which handlers tell the stories of many unsung heroes.
For more about soldier dogs, check out these blogs:
https://k9pride.wordpress.com/tag/lackland-air-force-base/
http://www.njpetcommunity.com/pets-life/the-heroic-story-of-lucca-the-military-dog/
Dewey Hop 