Oral history interview with Francis J. "Bing" West Jr., 2025 March
Information
Date
2025 March
Summary
Francis J. "Bing" West Jr. is an American author, Marine combat veteran, and former Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs under the Reagan Administration. A distinguished military writer and analyst, West focuses on warfighting, counterinsurgency, and military strategy. During the Vietnam War, he served in major operations and conducted over 100 combat patrols between 1966 and 1968. His experience led him to write Small Unit Action in Vietnam, a U.S. Marine Corps training manual on close combat tactics. As an analyst at the RAND Corporation, West authored several in-depth monographs on counterinsurgency warfare. Later, as Assistant Secretary of Defense, he played a key role in U.S. strategy regarding insurgencies, including in El Salvador. From 2003 to 2008, he made 16 extended trips to Iraq, embedding with troops on patrol and producing three books and numerous articles on the war. Between 2007 and 2011, he conducted multiple embeds in Afghanistan, continuing his firsthand analysis of modern warfare.
Archival processing title
Oral history interview with Francis J. "Bing" West Jr.
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Preferred citation
Oral history interview with Francis J. "Bing" West Jr., 2025 March, https://n2t.net/ark:/54723/h3qv3cg3z