Kier M. Elmonairy
I. Two Heads are Better than One
Hunting the Caliphate, a co-authored book detailing the authors’ firsthand experiences of fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and al Sham (ISIS) from the summer of 2014 until the fall of 2015, provides a remarkably personal first draft of history. Dana J.H. Pittard, the commander of the U.S. forces fighting ISIS in 2014 and 2015 and an Army Major General (MG) at the time, [3] provides a bird’s eye view of U.S. efforts in Iraq and Syria.[4] Wes J. Bryant, then the senior Special Forces (SF) Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC) and an Air Force Master Sergeant (MSgt),[5] gives readers an up-close look at the fight against ISIS.[6] Each author provides his own point of view, and the book clearly marks where one perspective end and the next begins.[7] Rather than becoming a distraction, this passing of the narrative from general to non-commissioned officer creates a dynamic tension that not only drives the book forward, but serves to set it apart from other books about the Global War on Terror (GWOT). Few of the leading books concerning ISIS feature a first-person perspective.[8] Additionally, as the authors point out, Hunting the Caliphate is “the first major book written by a JTAC),”[9] a remarkable fact given the key role of airpower in the fight against ISIS.[10] This pairing creates an account of the fight against ISIS that is equally at ease discussing meetings with senators[11] and speeches to foreign generals on the one hand, and the inner workings of a strike cell on the other.[12]
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