Selected for the Marine Commandant's Reading List when first published in hardcover, this book offers a vivid, firsthand account of Operation Desert Storm during the Gulf War. A U.S. Marine sergeant in Alpha Company of the 1st Light Armored Vehicle Battalion (LAV), Michaels provides a revealing look at what it was like to endure and prevail in ground combat at the platoon and company level. Readers are given an opportunity to look inside the battalion as it battles a savage environment and a host of tactical snafus while pushing forward at the tip of the spear to help liberate Kuwait City from the Iraqis.