BOOKS & MORE: Murphy's Book

Jack Murphy is a former US Special Forces soldier and one of the founders of the news portal NEWSREP (formerly SOFREP) with extensive experience in conflict zones. Jack is also a SPARTANAT author and we are delighted that he is introducing his new book " Murphy's Law: My Journey from Army Ranger and Green Beret to Investigative Journalist"

With the release of my memoir, I have once again looked through some old photos of trips to Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan, the Philippines, Europe, and elsewhere, recalling one confusing story after another. How wild and strange that time was. As I began to write my book, I had to reflect on all my experiences. I eventually chose the best ones to tell.

In the US Army, I first served in the 3rd Ranger Battalion and later in the 5th Special Forces Group, I was deployed three times to Iraq and Afghanistan. As a journalist, I reported from Iraq, Syria, South Korea, Switzerland, Italy, and the Philippines. There were also some curious interludes, such as studying at Columbia University, hitchhiking through Central America, running a news website, and much more.

Instead of writing a Moby Dick sized book in which every thought and feeling I had in the last 35 years is poetically described, I focused on the highlights of my life, the crazy adventures, the risky combat missions, and the bizarre moments. All in all, I am very proud of my book and how it turned out.

Shortly before a combat mission in 2004 with the 3rd Ranger Battalion.

I resisted writing an "autobiography" for many years, but some close friends eventually persuaded me. Now, since the first copies have circulated among family members, they have told me that they had no idea I had such experiences and that they were surprised I never talked about it. I guess that was partly why I resisted writing such a book: I wanted to avoid the past.

Sure, you can write a book about how great you are. Most military memoirs are either written by soldiers who have become anti-war activists and lament American imperialism, or by former Special Forces members who boast about all the brown people they supposedly killed in the Middle East. But I am neither of those, and all of that does not reflect my experiences. Furthermore, it wouldn't be fun to deliver a eulogy. "Murphy's Law" is unvarnished to a point where some readers may be surprised that I actually publish so much about my personal weaknesses and mistakes. The book is pro-military, although deeply skeptical of American foreign policy and the last 17 years of the "Global War on Terror."

That was important to me, because I wanted my book to have a concrete content. I wanted young men or women to be able to think about it if they want to lead the same kind of life, to teach them something and offer some practical lessons. This does not happen if you write a 300-page book that just boasts and waves the flag. But what is actually in the book, you may wonder?

• I describe a previously unclarified case of Friendly Fire in which I was involved in the winter of 2004. A small reconnaissance team with me was tasked with determining the location of the terrorist who had planned the Pat Tillman ambush.
• I write in detail about the Special Operations Task Force in Iraq, an industrial anti-terrorism killing machine, of which I was a member as a Ranger. We conducted well over a hundred High Value Target Strikes in Mosul alone that summer. This includes an ambush I got into when terrorists from an overpass threw hand grenades at us. There were also a variety of other firefights.
• My experiences in RASP, SFAS, Ranger School, and the Q-Course are briefly outlined, highlighting some funny or interesting stories, but mainly focusing on the hairy adventures overseas, as others have written about SOF training.
• My deployment with ODA 5414 in Tal Afar in 2009, training an Iraqi SWAT team and leading combat operations in Iraq. At some point, the JSOC Task Force was closed for political reasons, and my ODA became a direct action element for the entire northern Iraq.
• What it was like for me to leave the Army and attend an Ivy League university in New York City. The highs, the lows, the strange moments...
• My experiences in starting a news website and providing many behind-the-scenes looks, information on important stories I worked on, including articles I wrote about sexual assaults in the military.
  

  Reporting from Syria in 2014 and meeting "Rambo" at the border crossing

• The whole story of my 2014 trip to Syria, how I was smuggled into the country by the PKK at the beginning of the war and worked on the ground, before I had to illegally cross the border to get out, and then was detained by the secret police in Erbil...
• How I joined the fight with the Peshmerga during the Kirkuk offensive in 2015, almost blown up a few times, saw villages waving white flags renouncing ISIS and surrendering to the Kurdish fighters.
• Back to Syria, this time under the regime's auspices, and meeting with President Assad.
• Traveling across the Philippines and interviewing commanders of their Special Operations units, documenting the history and missions in the fight against ISIS offshoot organizations.

This is a very general overview, but there is much more to read. From early readers, I learned how different people engage with different aspects of the book. Some like the combat stories, others like the stories of the journalist reporting on conflicts, some want to read about a veteran returning to civilian life, while others found the last two chapters of the book (which are somewhat more personal in nature) the most convincing.

The book "Murphy's Law: My Journey from Army Ranger and Green Beret to Investigative Journalist" is available on Amazon.

Jack on Twitter: @JackMurphyRGR

Jack on Instagram: www.instagram.com/jackmcmurph

Jack on the Internet: jackmurphywrites.com/