NEWPORT, R.I. – Bing West, a combat-hardened Marine and a former assistant secretary of defense, will discuss his new book, “The Wrong War: Grit, Strategy, and the Way Out of Afghanistan,” when he presents a lecture on Wednesday, Oct. 12 at 6 p.m. at Salve Regina University.
West’s talk will be given in Bazarsky Lecture Hall, located in O’Hare Academic Center on Ochre Point Avenue. Sponsored by the Pell Center for International Relations and Public Policy, the lecture is free and open to the public. Those interested in attending are asked to RSVP by Oct. 11 to pellcenter@salve.edu or (401) 341-2927.
In his book, West draws on his expertise to produce a profound narrative, rich with vivid characters and gritty combat that shows the consequences when strategic theory meets tactical reality.
He served as assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs in the Reagan administration. A graduate of Georgetown and Princeton iniversities, he served in the Marine infantry and was a member of the Force Recon team that initiated attacks behind North Vietnamese lines.
West wrote the counterinsurgency classic, “The Village,” that has been on the Commandant’s Reading List for 40 years. His books have won the Marine Corps Heritage Prize, the Colby Award for Military History, the VFW Media Award and the General Goodpaster Soldier-scholar Award.
He has been on hundreds of patrols and operations throughout Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. He is a member of St. Crispin’s Order of the Infantry and the Council on Foreign Relations.