DOGWOOD
A National Guard Unit’s War in Iraq
Based on years of interviews and written by one of the finest American military historians of his generation.
An unsparing account of the sharp end of war.
This book traces the experience of the 150th Combat Engineers of the Mississippi National Guard through the unit's tour of duty in Iraq in 2005 Comprised of city youth hoping to attain college benefits, to rural African Americans seeking a way out of grinding poverty, to women who sought to break barriers, to patriots answering their nation's call after 9/11 - the unit represented nearly all of what America had to offer in 2005.
Amidst the transformation of the military in the 2Ist century, no longer was the Guard destined to be weekend warriors tasked mainly with local disaster relief. The new Guard was a sharp weapon of war. Guardsmen and women grew up together in the same communities, played sports and served together. This provides a singular advantage, but also makes loss hurt all the more. Defying poor equipment, lack of specialist training and heart-breaking losses, they endured combat. But they also did much more.
Thinking on their feet they implemented their own homespun counterinsurgency policy that turned a hotbed for insurgency into a thriving community - one of the few success stories of the war. But it was all for nought.
Set within the context of a changing military and an unpopular war, Dogwood lays bare the harsh reality of combat in Iraq.
OSPREY PUBLISHING
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
First published in Great Britain in 2025
Andrew Wiest, 2025
ISBN: HB 9781472863188; PB 9781472863195
Typeset by Deanta Global Publishing Services, Chennai, India
Printed and bound in Great Britain by CPI (Group) UK Ltd, Croydon CRo 4YX
336 Pages
9.25 x 6 x 1 inches