[Animats]

The official USMC reading list is at [1].

Some recommendations:

- "Warfighting (MCDP 1)". This is the official USMC document on how to run a war. It's more philosophical than tactical. It's about how to achieve a goal.

- "The Defense of Duffer's Drift". This little book on small-unit tactics and how not to screw them up is over a century old. It's little-known outside the military, and quite funny.

- "Boyd, The Fighter Pilot who Changed the Art of War". Boyd was a very strange guy. Top fighter pilot. Responsible for pushing through the F-16 and the A-10. (Yes, a fighter jock pushed the A-10 Warthog, which is a slow, heavily armored ground-attack aircraft.) Invented the OODA (Observe-Orient-Decide-Act) Loop, a way of thinking about decision making under uncertainty. It has some similarities to "agile" development, but is more suitable for combat and crisis. USAF hated him. USMC liked him.

- "Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife" - understanding counterinsurgency. This is a depressing read, but necessary.

[1] http://www.marines.mil/News/Messages/Messages-Display/Articl...