The story of America’s longest war is complicated and difficult to convey, unless you were there.
Welcome to the September 16th stop on the blog tour for Black Flag Journals by Dennis John Woods with Goddess Fish Promotions. Be sure to follow the rest of the tour for spotlights, reviews, author guest posts & interviews, and a giveaway! More on that at the end of this post.
Please note that this post contains affiliate links, which means there is no additional cost to you if you shop using my links, but I will earn a small percentage in commission. A program-specific disclaimer is at the bottom of this post.
Author Interview
What group did you hang out with in high school?
I was able to fit into most groups but was most strongly associated with the JROTC.
What are you passionate about these days?
There are so many things but, helping other vets with the Veterans Association through referrals.
If you had to do your journey to getting published all over again, what would you do differently?
Spend more time on the query letters and have better marketing plans. Years in and I’m still learning.
Ebook or print? And why?
I’m hitting all venues as one must meet the customer on their terms. As of this writing I have Hard, soft cover versions as well as an Ebook version. I also have an audiobook version. My advice is climb the ladder of book variations that sell the most working toward every version available as you can afford it.
What is your favorite scene in this book?
Coming home and realizing that I was whole again, no longer suspicious of a clear blue like it was on 9/11/2001. I think a lot of citizens from that era had the same feeling about clear blue skies.
About the Book
Black Flag Journals
One Soldier’s Experience in America’s Longest War
by Dennis John Woods
Published 11 September 2016
Koehler Books
Genre: Non-Fiction, Memoir
Page Count: 360
Add it to your Goodreads TBR!
The story of America’s longest war is complicated and difficult to convey, unless you were there. Dennis Woods was there. By following his stories in Iraq and Afghanistan, we can sense the enormity of his combat experiences. Originally written for his daughter, Black Flag Journals is taken from the author’s nine battle book journals. It covers his time from the fall of the Twin Towers through his last combat tour.
Black Flag Journals contains not just stories from the first war of the new century, but a day-by-day record of events that other veterans may use to relate their own experiences. All who enjoy real life stories, and followers of history will connect with this first person account of America’s longest war.
Amazon US | Amazon CA | Amazon UK | Koehler Books | B&N | Audible
Excerpt
Taking into account the time required to clear the mission, plus the time required for the projectiles to fly the 4.25 miles to the target, the first round impacted on the enemy positions as they arrived at the last fire. The result was that 36-armed insurgents were killed on the Pakistan/Afghan border. (Count provided by the SF raid tower.) On this occasion, they literally ran into our impacting rounds as they exploded. They in fact died in exhausted heaps after conducting a series of sprints down a mountain.
About the Author
CSM Woods combat tours include;
Operation Urgent Fury, Grenada, 82d Airborne Division.
Operation Desert Shield / Desert Storm, Saudi Arabia – Iraq, 82d Airborne Division.
Operation Desert Fox 1998, Qatar, 5th Group Special Forces.
OEF 2 Afghanistan, 82d Airborne Division.
OIF 1 Iraq, First Armored Division.
OIF 6 Iraq, First Armored Division.
OEF X Afghanistan, 173D Airborne Brigade Combat Team.
OEF XIII Afghanistan, 191st Infantry Brigade
CSM Woods civilian education includes a Master of Education, (training & leadership) from North Central University, Prescott AZ, and a Bachelor of Science from Excelsior, Albany, New York.
Military education includes the United States Sergeants Majors Academy class # 58, Army force management course, Jump Master, Drill Sergeant, US Army Recruiter, Infantry Small Arms Master Gunner, Artillery Master Gunner, Amphibious Warfare leaders’ course (USMC), Anti-Armor Leaders course, Machine Gun Leaders course, Artillery Mechanics repair course, Small Arms repair course, Nuclear Biological Chemical defense, and all levels of air load planning and hazmat certification USAF.
CSM Woods awards include; one Distinguished Service medal, one Legion Of Merit,( 5) Bronze Star Medals, 5 Meritorious Service Medals, 4 ARCOM, 4 AAM, 1 Humanitarian service medal, 2 Armed Forces Expeditionary medals, Afghanistan and Iraq service medals. German Jump Master Wings, Qatar Jump wings as part of 5th Group, Netherlands Jumpmaster wings. Other awards include; Department of Defense “Inventor of the year” (2003) with 45 separate inventions. CSM Woods saved the United States Government over one Billion Dollars through cost avoidance. He is also the first recipient of the GRUBER award for an outstanding field artillery professional.
CSM Woods is credited by the US Army Smart Ideas program as the inventor of;
• The 105mm Howitzer night direct fire sight system M913 GELON.
• The 155mm towed Howitzer night sight system.
• The dual use day/ night direct fire sight reticule.
• The Dual optic MILES Laser trainer.
• The Urban Assault kit (PALADIN) improved crew protection, 155mm system.
On his most recent tour to Afghanistan, CSM Woods pioneered the first use of artillery training rounds in combat as a form of scalable fire support designed to limit civilian death and collateral damage. He is the author of, ‘Black Flag Journals One Soldiers Experience in America’s Longest War’, and numerous magazine, newspaper articles, including training pamphlets concerning Artillery, night vision, and combat operations.
Giveaway Alert!
One randomly chosen winner via rafflecopter will win a $50 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card.
a Rafflecopter giveaway| July 13: Rogue’s Angels | July 15: Literary Gold | July 20: Travel the Ages |
| July 22: Andi’s Book Reviews | July 27: All the Ups and Downs | July 29: Don’t Judge, Read |
| Aug 3: The Avid Reader | Aug 5: Long and Short Reviews | Aug 10: Becoming Extraordinary |
| Aug 12: Fabulous and Brunette | Aug 17: Author C.A.Milson | Aug 19: Aubrey Wynne: Timeless love |
| Aug 24: Momma Says: To Read or Not to Read | Aug 26: Iron Canuck Reviews & More | Aug 31: Novels Alive |
| Sept 2: Lisa Haselton’s Reviews and Interviews | Sept 7: Splashes of Joy | Sept 9: Hope. Dreams. Life… Love |
| Sept 14: It’s Raining Books | Sept 16: Westveil Publishing | Sept 21: Let me tell you a story |
| Sept 23: Lamon Reviews | Sept 28: Archaeolibrarian – I Dig Good Books! – review | Sept 30: The Faerie Review |
| Oct 5: Our Town Book Reviews | Oct 7: The Obsessed Reader | Oct 12: BooksChatter |
| Oct 14: Stormy Nights Reviewing & Bloggin’ | Oct 19: Sea’s Nod |
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Thanks for hosting!
Thank you for hosting my book based on 57 months of combat in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The book sounds great.
Thank you Rita, please share this blog on social media.
CSM Woods, thank you for your dedicated service. And thank you for writing Black Flag Journals. I’m sure many of your fellow soldiers will be able to relate to this book, but it also shows the American people the struggles and day-to-day life of a soldier on the ground in a war zone. We as civilians often take for granted all the freedoms we have and what it costs others to make sure those freedoms are maintained. Thank you, Sir.
Thank you Elizabeth. You’re correct concerning other veterans use of this book. Most use it as a Rosetta stone for combat to common living. To do this, I built in small lessons in a storytelling style for common events. One example is indirect fire from mortars and rockets titled The First of Many. Within a page I describe not just what is indirect fire but how it functions and why it’s dangerous.
The book sounds really interesting! Great cover!
Thank you Sherry, it should be noted that on one of my Afghanistan tours my boss was a Canadian General and CSM Rusk in charge of Police training.