Non-fiction about US military recs?

I'm looking for recommendations for non-fiction books about the US military. I'll take anything, from personal memoirs to accounts of wars to books that protest things, but I want it to be from an insiders perspective - so written by (ex-)military people. I'd prefer it to be about the modern, recent military, meaning 1995 or later (so no Vietnam War or anything). I'll give you bonus points for anything about the Air Force, Marines, or special forces, but that's not neccesary.

So, is there something (preferable good) out there that fits my criteria? I'd love any and all recs you can come up with!

From Baghdad With Love is really enjoyable and readable. It focuses more on the human (&canine) side of the war.

Off the top of my head, some recent military memoirs:

One Bullet Away
Love My Rifle More Than You
The Last True Story I'll Ever Tell
My Nuclear Family

Also some books that, though written by journalists rather than ex-military folk, are grounded in the experiences of people whose boots were on the ground:

Generation Kill (highly recommended)
Thunder Run
The March Up
Imperial Grunts
Making the Corps

Finally, a handful of acknowledged classics from out of your date range, just in case you're ever looking:

Blackhawk Down (Somalian intervention)
We Were Soldiers Once . . . and Young (Vietnam)
With the Old Breed or Goodbye Darkness or Up Front (WWII)
The Face of Battle (WWI and before, though British rather than American)

Dispatches (Vietnam)
The Things They Carried (Vietnam)
And No Birds Sang I know this one is WW II, but it is excellent.

Thank you all for these wonderful recs! Plenty to read in the near future!

I wasn't reading your request too carefully. And no Birds Sang is neither recent nor US. It is about WW II Canadians.

Another way in to the current Army is to simply read from Army publications. There are a number of web sites from which you can pick up access to the full text of the two main publications categories: Army Regulations (ARs), and Army Field Manuals (FMs). A quick google will show you various sites for getting either. These are the real thing: when you read FM 1-114, Air Cavalry Squadron and Troop Operations, you're reading what the present-day Army thinks small-unit Air Cav ops are. In that particular FM, there are sections for missions, organization, responsibilities of the various people, supporting unit tasks, and detailed description of how to conduct operations of all types. There are very few occupations which are as well-described as those in the military - they've made a whole-hearted effort to write down everything you have to know to do your job right, for every standard military occupational speciality (job title) they have.

Samantha could you say more about your interests,why now, etc.?

Sorry for the late (very late!) answer, I've been bsuy and thus haven't visited LT for awhile.

jjmiller50, thank you for that idea! I actually managed to snag a couple of army manuals for free for the kindle when they were limited time free download on Amazon.

mkboylan, the interest is from a writer's perspective. I like to write fanfiction as a hobby. It's taking characters from a favorite book or tv-show and exploring what would happen if you put them in situation X, or if you changed Y in their background, would they be where they were today?

Thanks Samantha. I haven't heard of fan fiction. So interesting. You might be interested in checking out Helen Benedict books The Lonely Soldier the Private War of Women serving in Iraq as well as her fictionalized account, Sand Queen. I found them both excellent reads and very educational. My college students appreciated The Lonely Soldier.

OJI-SPY GIRLS AT THE GATE
WT Naud

How about a true account of a soldiers time in the ASA at a super-secret base in OJI-Japan from the so called "Forgotten War" in Korea.
It also shares the touching stories of the devastation the Japanese people experienced during WWII. As an American soldier it changed my view of victory in war.

>11 WTNaud: - Please note that advertising your book in LT Talk forums is not an appropriate use of the site. You can promote your book in the Hobnob with Authors group, but in other groups it's not allowed. See the "Tread Lightly" section of our How Authors Can Use LibraryThing page for more. Thanks!