 Hey everyone, Dylan Schumacher, Citadel Defense, and it's time for more tactical book review. This is Small Unit Tactics by Matthew Luke. That's actually a pseudonym, it's not the author's real name. Full disclosure, this book was sent to me in exchange for my review. I'm going to be as honest as I can, but just want you to know that the author did reach out to me and send this book to me, and that's how we're getting this video. So this book content, pretty straightforward, right? It's Small Unit Tactics. So it's tactics at the squad and platoon level. And the way the content in this book is organized is you're going to do an ambush, and so they walk you through all the things you do, you know, from leaving the fob and maneuvering out and dealing with casualties and having choke points for accountability and break contact and assault through and all this stuff out to the ambush, then they talk about the ambush, right? So that is how the content of the book is organized. It's unique in that regard. I haven't read any of the books that kind of tell a story as they do that. One of the other things I like about this book is a lot of it is in color, right? So you have a lot of color diagrams and things like that, which you just don't see that often. So that's pretty cool. They have a lot of pictures that they pull from, you know, various operations or whatever in here. So that's cool. I enjoyed that aspect of it. It's probably the only small tactics, manual or book that I've read that is in color. So, hey, gotta give it gotta give it credit for what it is. So this book does cover some things that I haven't read in other books. And for that, I'm thankful, such as using a point man and kind of running a five-ish man fire team versus the traditional four-man fire team. I talked about, like I mentioned earlier, choke points and having accountability for people coming in and out. It is very detailed on its movement. And you're going to go here and you do this and you're going to talk about this and you're going to do this before you leave. And I appreciate that. I appreciate kind of a step-by-step detailed nature. In my opinion, it's like a better version of the Ranger Ham book or, you know, any kind of standard military manual. I would tell you to read this over those because it's going to be a little bit more thorough and it's going to be more clear in its explanation. So for that, I am thankful. A couple things that I kind of didn't like or was whatever about is they have footnotes in here and then it's kind of putting these pithy quotes here and there. That's fine. I mean, if you're into that, that doesn't take away from the book, but I just thought that was a little silly at points. The pictures, honestly, I could do without. Like if they cut those, I don't really think they add any value. They look cool, but I don't think they really add any value to the actual learning process in my opinion. Other than that, would I recommend this book? Yes. Would it be the first tactics book I would recommend? No. I would probably point you to Light Infantry Tactics by Christopher Larson. That's probably the first one, or Small Unit Tactics Manual by Max Velocity. Actually, that would probably be the first one I pointed to. But one of those two, I think, gives a good job of giving the whole topic kind of broader stroke. This book does a better job of starting to drill down into specifics and getting in the more minute details. So if you've read a couple books already, I think you would do well to read this. I think this would add this in. If you're just getting into Small Unit Tactics and you're wondering where do I start, I don't think this is a bad book to start with, but I think there's some other books that would serve you better that will allow you to get more value out of this book after you've had a book or two under your belt. All in all, if that tickles your fancy, go ahead and get it. I think it's valuable. I think it's worth your time, and I think you will learn something. One of the other things that they talk about a lot in here is the use of machine guns and saws. So when I say machine guns, I usually mean like the M240, right? Something shooting the 308. And then the saw is the squad automatic weapon, which usually shoots a 556. I don't have a machine gun, unfortunately. And so this is a military tactics manual. You've got to understand that. I have never been in the military. I'm not a military guy. So for me, it's not as applicable when we start talking about anti-tank weapons and machine guns and claymores because I don't have access to those things. And as an American who wants to embrace my militaristic heritage, those just aren't tools available to me. So in that sense, it's helpful to know and have an understanding and an overview of that. But because those aren't things that are currently in my arsenal and they're not things that I'd likely be able to have my arsenal, there's not a lot of value for me in my position to be gained there. And so that may or may not apply to you. Again, if you're in the military and you do have access to those toys, you're going to get more value out of this book in that sense. But if you're like me, and you're just an everyday guy, and you have your rifle and your pistol and you're set up and whatever, and you have some other guys that also have that set up, when it comes time to talk about placing machine guns and everything and anti-tank weapons and claymores, that it's not really going to apply to you. So that's not the most applicable to your life situation at this time. That being said, one of the things that was helpful from this book and did drive it home to me was that machine guns are highly effective at causing enemy casualties and or suppressing the enemy, right? And that's been that way since about World War I. So for the last hundred years, you know, since machine guns have shown up, they've really changed the way we've done small unit tactics. I think that's all I have to say about this book, Small Unit Tactics by Matthew Luke, would suggest to read it if you've read some other books already. Hope you enjoy it. Do brave deeds and endure.