Leadership and Training for the Fight: Using Special Operations Principles to Succeed in Law Enforcement, Business, and War [Paperback]

Leadership and Training for the Fight: Using Special Operations Principles to Succeed in Law Enforcement, Business, and War by Paul Howe is a comprehensive leadership and training doctrine. Howe articulates with a high degree of clarity how leadership and training go hand in hand especially when dealing in a high-risk environment such with law enforcement or the military. The topics of leadership and training are each covered separately and integrated to show how exceptional trainers must also be excellent leaders. The book begins with an introduction called Accelerating the Loop which goes into detail about Boyd's OODA Loop. Howe believes this information is so critical that he states:

"Boyd's Loop is the most essential tool for anyone looking to develop their leadership skills or hoping to teach tactical training to others."

After the introduction Howe gets into Part 1: The Mentality and Actualization of Leadership where he goes into specific detail about: Combat Mindset, Individual Leadership, Team Leadership, Organizational Leadership, Combat Leadership, Training for the Fight, Leadership Planning, Counseling and Mentorship, and Realities of Combat and Tactical Tips.

Many of the chapters begin with a `scenario' which highlight the theme of the chapter. At the end of the scenario is a brief section for "After-Action Comments" in order to `Sustain' and `Improve' so that you have an understanding of the lessons learned. Each chapter ends with a summary of `Key Points" to focus on from the chapter.

There are numerous references throughout the book on having a "Combat Mind-Set" which Howe defines as:

"An aggressive combat mind-set is possessed by people who can screen out distractions while under great stress to focus on the mission and are willing to go into harm's way, against great odds if necessary."

Howe is also a firm believer in the use of After Action Reports/Review (AARs) in order to extract lessons learned and to ensure that honesty, integrity and candor are held to a high standard. AARs can be an informal debriefing that occurs after a mission or a formal AAR that consists of detailed written lessons learned that are passed through the chain of command.

Part II: Tactical Instruction and Leadership in the Field tackles topics such as: Developing Yourself into a Good Student, Developing a Teaching Mindset, Understanding the Student, Understanding the Whole, Developing Tools to Teach a Class, Developing a Specific Course Curriculum, Validation and Refining your Instruction, Managing High-Risk Training, Managing Leadership Training, Safety, Technical Skills and Tactical Skills, Maintaining the Instructor Edge, Selection or Training Courses, Training Combat Mindset and The Profession of Training.

In Part II, Howe integrates the principles of leadership into the tactical training environment. This section of the book provided integral details on how to plan, develop, teach and refine training classes and how to positively impact students so they can take the information back to their department/unit and integrate the skills that they learned. If you are a current instructor you will pick up a host of excellent ideas to improve your current skill set. If you a new instructor or want to become an instructor this section will provide you a detailed blueprint to obtain your goals. Howe provides a plethora of information that is only obtained through experience. He freely provides information to genuinely assist instructors so that they can develop and improve their skills. Too many people hold their training methods close to their vest and don't want to share their knowledge. Howe does not take this approach which will benefit anyone who reads this book.

Howe does provide a level of redundancy with his material which is both deliberate and beneficial for the reader. He is constantly reiterating important points that the reader should pay attention to and implement. In that same vein, this book is consistent with his prior two excellent books so there will be overlap. I see this as a benefit and not necessarily a rehashing of material that he has previously covered. This is definitely Howe's best and most detailed book to date and provides an abundant amount of information on leadership and training.

This is a book to keep and preserve in your "tactical library" as a critical and relevant resource. Howe is a consummate professional who has proven his skill set on numerous occasions. He is an excellent instructor who truly cares about bettering his students by providing exceptional training. Howe is a humble person who has nothing to prove and keeps his ego in check...a true professional.

I highly recommend Leadership and Training for the Fight.

I was a tad skeptical obtaining this manual fearing it to be a rehash of Howe's two older works, but I was pleasantly surprised at the dept of new and updated material contained within this book. Sure there is some overlap, but it is good overlap, as in reviewing standards that need to be maintained at a highly proficient tactical level of operations.

Howe not only offers more of his real world, operational stories concisely written, in order to convey key principles of sound tactical practices and procedures, without giving "trade secrets" to the "enemy" (who will obviously be studying this manual, too), he also provides at the end of each well written chapter, a conclusive summary of key points to study, improve upon, sustain and/or change as one progresses in experience and training.

The book is quite comprehensive, insofar as how and why one must prepare as both leader and innovative, out of the box thinker, if one is to be truly an effective and efficient tactical "fighter."

The book possesses an easy to read and follow format with precise outlines of essential know how and applications that will guide the reader to being more appreciatively mindful of key elements of not only how to go about creating training paradigms, but how to properly maximize implementing said training paradigms for the "fight."

All through the book, Howe emphasizes the great importance of proper mindset, mindset, mindset if one is going to a leader men will willingly follow into harms' way, and who is capable of actually leading men in the utter chaos, duress and mayhem of killing combat.

All superior systems possess built in redundancies, and this book is no exception, but as within great systems, they are much needed and do not need to be downgraded. So if it sounds as though Howe is repeating himself at times, it is for that very specific reason of drilling the necessary survival mechanisms into high working order.

This book, I personally believe, illustrates that Howe has grown and matured as a better writer, tactical instructor and teacher of leadership principles and concepts. His extensive, real world operational skills, sound academic research and his continuing growth as a world class instructor of military and law enforcement tactical teams, brilliantly shines forth from this work, offering the consumer a mix of expertise not many others can match in this crazy, crazy world of commercial tactical training.

This book needs to be read carefully, underlined, contemplated deeply, and then kept close by for immediate referencing as it will genuinely help one systematically look at, tear apart and bring to resolve small to serious problems one will surely meet when engaged at the leadership level of tactical operations in the military or law enforcement.

This IS a Superb book, that MORE than delivers the truths one expects to discover in a volume that is genuine and true to its title: "LEADERSHIP AND TRAINING FOR THE FIGHT."

Highly recommeded. MSG Howe is former CAG and has been all over the world serving in ugly places while wearing the flag of the USA. He has more real time leadership experience in the worlds toughest arena, Combat.

His work is simple to read and he easily makes his point. He is not a writer by trade and it shows with small grammatical errors but who cares? He makes no excuses and writes from the grunt's perspective. Much of what he writes is directly related to not only Military but LE Officers as well and in my opinion should be a MUST read for any currently taught LE Field Training Officers, aspiring Tactical Team members and management classes populated by those who haven't been in the field in years.

This is one of the few books in my 30+ years in LE I have not only kept but highlighted certain portions and given to younger warriors as a guide. It's that good.