Swofford is part of a Marine STA, so he is not just some grunt at the bottom complaining about serving his country, and he's not a general telling you about all the decisions he has to make and why with all the little details. Swofford shows you who he is and tells an amazing story using the war in Iraq during the first Gulf War as the linear part of the story, cutting in to tell the story of his life. Why he joined, his family, his girlfriends, and about the Marines (the real Marines) and the difference between trained to kill and warrior. Jarhead is a great book and by middleman I am referring to him being above his fellow Marines in combat skill, but not in control.