Stories of war frequently fall into simplistic clichés, with portrayals of faultless heroes fighting nameless evil. Sean Parnell though, has avoided all the clichés (well almost all) to write a lucid, engrossing depiction of war in the 21st century.

He provides a rich, complete picture of the infantryman's experience, both physical and psychological, when trying to enforce peace in the face of insurgency. Sean avoids the political issues of why US soldiers are in Afghanistan, but doesn't shy away from the realities that his soldiers face as a result.

The book's most important contributions comprise its examination of the motives of each soldier for going to war, and how the army's organisation, their training, and their battle experience builds the intense brotherhood between them. In this Sean has given a contemporary perspective on a profession as old as human civilisation, that of the warrior.

Parnell keeps your attention, a must listen for those who can not give up there military roots. The recording seems to run at one and a half speed though. I would recommend this to all who are curious about operations in Afghanistan.

The narrative was very well balanced. Great highs and lows. Ray Porter read it PERFECTLY. It was as if Ray was living through Sean. Highly moving tale of brothers in arms in the battlefield and the BS politics at the base.

I had to catch my breath a few times. Almost cried twice. Looked forward to coming home and listening to it after work. Solid book all around.

The last battle. The air commander's command in response to the translation of the enemy's radio communication sent a chill down my spine.

No. I have not heard Ray Porter before. But if he reads all books as well as this one, then I will consider favoring one of his readings the next time I am undecided.

That Pakistan is NOT our ally.

God Bless the members of Outlaw Platoon. Thank you for your service.

no, too many things I want to forget.

REAL!

Ellison/

Of Course....when the old man warned the troop of invading insurgent soldiers coming to their base.

Thank you for making it personal. What else do we have if not each other.

Outlaw Platoon is a story of love, brotherhood, pain, suffering, tragedy, and loss. There is no 'upside', this is war. Before you vote to turn our American kids into American soldiers to send them to 'fight for our freedom' perhaps we should all read/listen to books like this.
It is a harrowing story at times, heart wrenchingly disgusting and tragic at others, but completely necessary to hear. I'm sure this is really just a glimpse into the life of a soldier in Afghanistan but one needs to begin somewhere. I would suggest right here. The only uplifting aspect of this story is the love these brothers in arms share and the sense of duty and honor these men and women posess. I walked away from this with a couple of haunting questions, "What the hell are we fighting for?" "What is winning and how do we do it?"

You can definitly get the feeling of being on site by listening with audio.

It is hard to not understand the feelings of our multi year combat soldiers while listening to this audiobook.

Our combat soldiers get my vote

Our combat personnel no matter what war or what time in our government history are always outstanding and with a good author their story are always appreciated by veteran and non-veteran folks

Keep the non fictional war writing coming

Great book with lots of facts about real people and great story-telling. As another reviewer said, "like a modern 'Band of Brothers' narrative". First hand accounts from an officer who was in the field and in the thick of the action and characters that you will dislike and some who will endear you. Great book. I recommend it to anyone interested military history books - Ambrose and WW2 first hand narrative lovers will feel right at home. Will not disappoint.

This is a very personal story. The things that the soldiers go through become very real to the listener. You can feel the authors emotions, and ray Porter does a great job of narrating.

Audio is all I have read.

I liked that Sean Parnell was a regular American with hopes and fears who gave all he had to defend our country.

Again, I have only heard the audio.
Ray is a very good reader and you will enjoy his narration.

No extreme reaction.
I just enjoyed reading a very good book.

Go ahead and use the credit.
It's well worth it.

The book describes the war in a way we usually don't see in media, both the good and ugly side of it.

The war is seen through the author's eyes and he is the person the reader gets the best picture of.

Ray Porter s a good narrator and he has the capacity to bring life to the caracters in a way that you hardly get when you read in your own.

This is a book you can listen to in on sitting without problems.

I don't think most people fully understand what is going on in Afghanistan and how cruel it is. The almost hopeless situation combating talibans that can move in and out of Pakistan makes me wonder if there is ever an end to it. It certainly boosts my respect for the soldiers we have over there.