Looking for a fellow military person to punch me

I am looking for a fellow service member, or someone well-read on military matters, to read my WIP and give a critique. I will return the favor, for I too am a crayon-eating jarhea- I mean service member.

Specifically, I am looking for someone who will be able to read the combat situations, tactical reactions, jargon, acronyms, sayings, mannerism etc. of the military personnel depicted and check them for accuracy. I would like an outside view from another military person, just to ensure I am not taking too many 'literary liberties' with how a military operation might go.

I do not need a SPAG or theme or style edit, but a simple look at how the military is depicted. As I said, I will return the favor, and give insights from my own ongoing experience as a US Marine.

Thank you, and don't forget to keep your friggin' hands out of your pockets.

 

I can probably help you out. I'm a POG though, so my experience with combat maneuvers is very limited, but I only recently EAS'ed.

Send me a PM if I fit the bill.

And I'll do what I damn well please with my hands! I had enough years of that!

 

Thanks a lot, but I've got @EFMingo helping at the moment, and I don't want to hog all the attention.

I'm curious though, cause it's been so long since I've been around, which work do you have?

 

Just noticed this, you know I'm always willing to help out.

 

I thought about asking friends I know around the forum directly, but I didn't want to take advantage of relationships. I made it public so people could come and look and offer without feeling pressured.

 

....I really want to read it, but my only experience of the military is ROTC and having a former Air Force brother. Would it be okay if I beta'd it too? I want to have a better understanding of military writing. I'm working on a pseudo-military piece at the moment (sci-fi) and it's not ready for beta (and even if it were...uh, well, it's complicated), but I feel like I would have a better sense of how to make it feel military if I could see how a military writer goes about the craft.

Please? All hail Chesty Puller?

 

I would suggest that if you are using military acronyms or words that would only be understood by a former or current member of the military, you might be making your story beyond the understanding of readers who have no military experience.

 

Sorry I never replied to this. I've been on the range all week.

I'm going to do what I always do when vets ask ME about writing, as if I am some author who knows what they are talking about. I don't. Don't read my crap. Read this.

 

This was excellent. Studied it a few times. I'm also a fan of Leon Uris at tines too, though his books are generally quite long. Immersive though, and not afraid to show people as they really are. At least on the side of the soldiers or Marines. He was particularly poor at depicting those left at home, but otherwise pretty interesting. I like Walter Dean Myers Fallen Angels as well, though I havent read it in some years. Maybe it's less good now.

 

The Things They Carried is amazing, as is Dispatches by Michael Herr, although the second is from the perspective of a journalist.

 

Well, I bought The Things They Carried, so that's next up on the list. Not interested in any journalist perspectives.

Edit: ...Well....I'll just say it. The book is not good. The writing style is terrible, and the writer would rather focus on things that don't really bring war or the military into clear view. Yeah, from now on, no military fiction. I'd rather read something more objective and less emotional. More like Ernst Junger and less like a college professor trying to impress people.