Customer Reviews

Generally Speaking: A Memoir by the First Woman Promoted to Three-Star General in the United States Army

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I had the great pleasure of meeting General Kennedy when she was still a captain. Even then, she displayed an amazing dedication to her troops - male and female alike. Of all the officers I worked with over my military career, General Kennedy stands out as the best of the best.

General Kennedy's story is unique, but it's also the story of today's military - right down to the barenuckled, back room politics that have always been evident in political decision making. Far more interesting is her unswerving loyalty to the Army and her country despite the petty rumormongering and questionable tactics used against her.

One thing is certain: General Kennedy is a soldier's general. Her story is the story of today's army and the end of the obsession with personal power that's dominated the military since World War II. This is a story, not just of the coming of age of a woman soldier - but the coming of age of the US military.

I highly recommend this book for people who want to understand the perceptions of powerful, influential feminist elites, and how we might have gotten to where we are today--female soldiers coming home from war in body bags.

This book presents an excellent road map for people interested in understanding how we have arrived at where we are today--women coming home from a war in body bags.

As a journalist and enlisted soldier, I would have no qualms about handing this "manuscript" back to Ms. Kennedy and telling her to start over. She has an amazing story and is one of the great pillars of the military, but one has to wonder, who is her audience here?
She lost her enlisted readers after remarking that she had to use "the enlisted latrine" as a captain in the middle of a freezing night near the demilitarized zone in Korea because the officer's latrine was to far away. It had nothing to do with the story and deepened the huge gap between officers and enlisted soldiers. Besides, in the field, a latrine is a latrine and I'd be rather happy to even have one available! I was very disappointed in this fact (as well as in the disorganized context, vague discriptions, and non-existent chronology). What sad messages to hear from one of the Army's pioneers.

This book screams for the work of a good editor and another year of rewriting. It's not particularly well organized, and leaves the reader wondering about some incidents that could have been explored in greater depth, but were left inexplicibly blank. General Kennedy is understandably provented from discussing the nature of much of her career in Army Intelligence, but totally glosses over much of the human story.

Having followed her career since being a cadet, a found this book a bit disappointing and could not help but wonder why someone of talent and intelligence allowed it to go to print with such obvious quality flaws.

All of that said, Kennedy and her story are important, and the book is not tedious to read, and often times funny. Those who like her will still like her, and those who dislike her, did before they even picked up the book.

Reviewers who dismiss the book as a "woman's story" are missing the point. Kennedy joined the Army as a WAC and, as a young officer, was denied access to combat branches. She made strategic moves throughout her career, choosing a branch where her gender wouldn't hold her back, knowing when to speak out and when to keep quiet.
I loved the sections about her training: she didn't worry about getting demerits or being yelled at, and she did worry when she never did get her brass and shoes to shine as brightly as those of her classmates.
The mentoring discussion is superb. She offers guidance to men AND women -- but she dismisses a woman who foolishly asks, "How can I be a general like you?"
As General Kennedy's career demonstrates, you need inner wisdom to move through a system like the Army or a giant corporation. You have limited time and you'd better figure out the rules early. That's the lesson of this book, which I would recommend to all my career consulting clients.

As an Army Intel Officer, I hoped to learn something about my chosen profession from an officer who was at the peak of the Intel world. Instead I found myself skimming ever forward to find something new. Given the 5 pages of explanations of Army terms at the back of the book it should have been no surprise that General Kennedy wrote to a general audience, not a military one. I think she missed the mark. Most of her "management" lessons have been given elsewhere and better. Most of her military leadership lessons have been too. Her stories of her early days and the transition from WAC to regular army were good and I wish she had continued. She could have related her views on the change from the Army Security Agency (ASA) to the current INSCOM as someone who was part of ASA and then Commanded INSCOM. Where were the stories of the growth and then near death of tactical SIGINT? I had hoped for a book about an Intelligence professional, and Army Officer and a Female soldier. Instead General Kennedy wrote the reverse emphasis with far more about being a female than an intelligence professional. I was also disappointed that General Kennedy glossed over so many difficulties. She speaks of the "myth" of female soldiers getting pregnant to avoid deployment yet one check of the medical stats at Ft Hood during Desert Storm would dispel the thought that it is a myth. Why not show that just as many male soldiers suffered sudden lower back problems or other ailments that made them non-deployable too. Avoiding deployment is equal opportunity but pregnancy is not so why pretend it doesnt happen? She also missed the opportunity to take to task women like Lt. Kelly Flinn and the Army officer who insisted on breast-feeding at work. Her silence gives the impression of support. Maybe the money she earned from this book (I did my part) will give General Kennedy the opportunity to write another book. Get a better editor if you do General!

I am a former dependant of a Naval officer who retired in the mid-60s. I wanted to hear how it was to be a woman in the military service - especially from years ago until recently. It does this but there is a lot of drumming of patriotic themes that I found sometimes distracting. I just skipped over much of it. The organization of content isn't the greatest and the amount of personal information/thoughts/feelings is lacking but if you want to get an idea of how you'd have to think to serve in the military, read this book. I'm not really sure that woman have come that far in the military after reading this book and I would have liked to have more details presented directly from Ms. Kennedy rather than being referred to documents I have no idea how to access as a civilian.

I am a future female Air Force Officer who bought this book in the hopes of reading a great story about Claudia Kennedy's career and climb to the top. I was let down so horribly that couldn't even finish the book. The whole tone was "women this, women that". If she would have focused more on her career, instead of the fact that she is a woman, it would have been a shorter book, but perhaps a better one. I do not suggest this book to anyone. Watch the Patton movie instead!!!!

I am a retired military careerist. I served in the intelligence corps for years however I never worked directly for LTG Kennedy. I did have some contact with her and I certainly was party to her peer evaluation in the intelligence field. I bought and read her book, frankly, because I was curious and if, perhaps, everything I heard and knew of which was NOT complimentary, may be untrue. Unfortunately, it is not, the three prior evaluations give an assessment of Kenndey, as a soldier, which she was not, and all three hit the nail square on the head. Kennedy wore a uniform, she was in the Army, this is true, but soldier...? I think not, business or corporate manager, maybe. Laughing stock of the officer corps, at her grade and above, as well as among the old timers.... Yes! I wasted my money on her book, which offered nothing to take into perspective that might have served to elevate her legacy in my view or estimation. This is not the book of a soldier, rather a caustic rebel who was never a team player and always wore her gender as a chip on her shoulder. Sad..........but what can one expect to be spawned and flourish under the past Presidental Administration. Thank Goodness she is gone.
Sincerely.
Ernst Guth
Austin, Texas.