Military Personal Development

It's clear that we have not honored the promise we make to veterans: that we as a country will help them after they've served and sacrificed. And while there are many books written by and for veterans, only a small selection of those address the transition to civilian life, and none are a truly complete reference for stepping out of service and back into normal life. Warrior to Civilian covers a range of topics, from the practical—finding a job, reintegrating into family life—to the more challenging topics, like dealing with loss, and finding new purpose in life.

Mike Hayes has lived a lifetime of once-in-a-lifetime experiences. He has been held at gunpoint and threatened with execution. He’s jumped out of a building rigged to explode, helped amputate a teammate’s leg, and made countless split-second life-and-death decisions. He’s written countless emails to his family, telling them how much he loves them, just in case those were the last words of his they’d ever read. Outside of the SEALs, he’s run meetings in the White House Situation Room, negotiated international arms treaties, and developed high-impact corporate strategies.

The story of the indomitable American POWs who endured "Alcatraz," the Hanoi prison camp where North Vietnam locked up its most dangerous and subversive prisoners, and the wives who fought to bring them home. As these men suffered in Hanoi, their wives launched an extraordinary campaign that would ultimately spark the POW/MIA movement. When the survivors finally returned, one would receive the Medal of Honor, another became a U.S. Senator, and a third still serves in Congress.

Mark Bouman recounts the events of his childhood at the hands of his larger-than-life, neo-Nazi father in brilliant, startling detail. From adventure-filled days complete with real-life war games, artillery fire, and tank races to terror-filled nights marked by vicious tirades, brutal beatings, and psychological torture, Mark paints a chilling portrait of family life that is at once whimsical and horrific - all building to a shocking climax that challenges even the broadest boundaries of love and forgiveness.

This book is considered to be the best account of the Civil War ever written from the Confederate point of view. It is also the one most frequently cited by historians of the Western campaigns. Sam Watkins, a high private in the Army of Tennessee, brings a vividness and detail to his story unmatched in the genre.

When you delete your adjectives, who are you? Most people limit themselves to their labels. They embrace barriers based on the box that society puts them in. But your adjectives aren’t your destiny. In Delete the Adjective: A Soldier’s Adventures in Ranger School, Lisa Jaster proves your merit should always trump your labels. Lisa didn’t confine herself to the adjectives of “middle-aged” or “female.” Instead, she became one of the first three women to graduate from the United States Army Ranger program. For those six months in the program, her adjectives didn’t matter.

SEALs are notorious for telling riveting stories without a shred of emotion. There's a good reason for that. They've been trained to keep their emotions at bay-to be hard-so they can accomplish seemingly impossible missions. Rarely do you find a Navy SEAL who is willing to be vulnerable and share from the heart. Mark Greene is one of those SEALs. For years, he didn't understand how emotions played a part in decision-making. He had trained and worked under such extreme conditions that there was no room for subjectivity. Logic dominated his thoughts.

Among the most successful leaders throughout history - from Abe Lincoln to Rosa Parks, Mahatma Gandhi to Susan B. Anthony, Martin Luther King, Jr., to Nelson Mandela - some were brilliant mathematicians and economists, others were creative visionaries, still others were masterful at strategic planning. Their mastery of their field wasn't the secret to their highly effective leadership. All of their skill, grit, resilience, charisma, and courage emanated from one thing: their strength of character.

The Art of War was written in the sixth century BC by the high-ranking military general and strategist Sun Tzu. Though it is most commonly known as an ancient Chinese military treatise, The Art of War has become more versatile and is currently being used worldwide in business management.

Marriage is hard enough for the everyday civilian. But imagine marriage when you’re separated by thousands of miles, when one of you daily faces the dangers of combat, while the other shoulders all the burden of home-front duties. Add to that the unpredictable schedules, frequent moves, and the challenge of reintegration, and it’s no wonder military marriages are under stress.

The timeless original text; required listening for anyone interested in strategy. This is a work of subtlety and paradox that shows the way to a clean and aesthetic triumph. Sun Tzu insisted that a skilled warrior observes, calculates, outwits, and outmaneuvers an adversary, and in doing so averts the destruction of battle.

Less than three months after retiring from a 30-year law enforcement career, Kim Colegrove's husband chose suicide. Since that day, Colegrove has been helping first responders across the country practice techniques to cope with the stress and trauma that their work brings. And this book continues that mission by offering first responders and their families hope by introducing meditation and mindfulness as viable and practical tools to help reduce stress, regulate emotion, and improve overall health and well-being.

In 2003, already an older father, National Book Award–winning novelist Tim O’Brien resolved to give his young sons what he wished his own father had given to him—a few scraps of paper signed “Love, Dad.” Maybe a word of advice. Maybe a sentence or two about some long-ago Christmas Eve. Maybe some scattered glimpses of their rapidly aging father, a man they might never really know. For the next fifteen years, the author talked to his sons on paper, as if they were adults, imagining what they might want to hear from a father who was no longer among the living.

For us, it was a literal knock, with two men standing in crisply pressed uniforms. They had news. News that gutted us to the core - the death of our loved ones, a brother and two husbands - in combat zones. The thing about those moments is that it's almost inconceivable that they can happen to you. That is, until they do.

For the last decade, decorated Navy SEAL, accomplished athlete, and bestselling author Don Mann has been traveling across the country giving motivational talks and in the process inspiring hundreds with the secrets behind his awe-inspiring achievements. In Reaching beyond Boundaries, Mann brings his much sought-after wisdom to the audiobook. As an elite Navy SEAL, Mann performed seemingly impossible tasks on a regular basis. Here he details the lessons he learned from his training and shows how the rest of us can apply those teachings to our daily lives.

The lives of Hannibal and his Roman enemies are the stuff of legend. But these classic stories contain truths with relevance today: The seeds of our successes lie in our failures, and within our successes are the kernels of our failure. Knowing how to recognize these paradoxes will help us to be more effective at work, at school, at home, and with others. A big new idea book that springs from ancient history, Hannibal and Me explores these exciting ideas by analyzing the experiences of Hannibal and others who made their mark on history.

When Green Beret Bryan Black was killed in an ambush in Niger in 2017, his wife, Michelle, saw her worst nightmare become a reality. She was left alone with her grief and with two young sons to raise. But what followed Bryan's death was an even more difficult journey for the young widow. After receiving very few details about the attack that took her husband's life, it was up to Michelle to find answers. It became her mission to learn the truth about that day in Niger - and Sacrifice is the result of that mission.

Lena wrote You're Lying! because no matter what your profession or life circumstances, you need the skills to take control of a situation, detect deception, and reveal the truth. While you probably won't ever have to interrogate a detainee who doesn't want to tell you about an upcoming terrorist attack - as Lena has - You're Lying! will help you deal with that salesperson trying to rip you off, the kid bullying your child who claims innocence, a cheating spouse, or a dissembling boss.

Suicide rates among Army soldiers increased 80 percent between 2004 and 2008, according to a recent report published in Injury Prevention. In the last several years, the number of soldiers returning from the Middle East with mental and physical wounds has continued to climb. According to Dr. Simon Rego, a supervising psychologist at Montefiore Medical Center, "Unlike any other time in history, U.S. military suicide rates now appear to have surpassed those among comparable civilian populations. It is therefore critical that we address this emerging public-health problem."

While On Hallowed Ground chronicled the history of the cemetery, Section 60: Arlington National Cemetery is the powerful contemporary biography of a five-acre plot where many of those killed in Iraq and Afghanistan have been laid to rest alongside service members from earlier wars.