Book Review – W.E.B. Griffin’s “Brotherhood of War: The Majors”

Today we’re taking a look at The Majors, the third book in W.E.B. Griffin‘s series, The Brotherhood of War.

The Majors begins on March 10, 1954, about eight months after the end of fighting in the Korean War, the focal point of the previous book, The Captains.  The general storyline of this book involves the growth of the usage of helicopters in the U.S. Army and the concept and attempt at arming them to create a new kind of weapon.  Although the book begins in French Indochina, the majority of the events take place in Germany and the Continental U.S.

The story begins with some action as President Eisenhower authorizes Major Sanford “Sandy” Felter to make a parachute jump into French Indochina so he can analyze how the French forces are fighting the communists at Dien Bien Phu.  Joining him on the secret mission is Major Rudolph “Mac” MacMillan and a soldier named Staff Sergeant Edward Greer.

While flying above Indochina, the soldiers’ aircraft is hit by anti-aircraft artillery, and only Felter, MacMillan and Greer are able to make it out of the aircraft before it crashes.  The rest of the paratroopers and the flight crew are killed.  The three soldiers are harassed by communist forces, but they’re able to reach a French base and analyze the situation.  A few days later the three Americans are extracted by a transport aircraft.  The general conclusion is that without proper reinforcements, the communists will push the French forces out of Indochina.

Sgt. Greer’s intelligence and military skills were noticed by Felter and MacMillan.  After completion of the mission, General Black gives Greer a pass into Warrant Officer Candidate School, and he sends him to flight school for army aviation.

In Ozark, Alabama, in the southern part of the state, Fort Rucker is quietly converted back into an operational army base for use by army aviation.  The airfield on the army base would later be renamed Laird Army Airfield when the base’s commanding officer, Major General Angus Laird, is killed in a flying accident on the base.

Major Felter continues his work in military intelligence, and he advances to a position in the White House where he gets to advise the president on current events in the army.  This position causes some tension with Felter’s friends as he’s unable to speak about his job.  Despite being only a major, Felter’s position in the White House gives him a boost in the army so that generals listen to what he has to say.

Major Craig Lowell still has a fledgling relationship with his son who is being raised by his late wife’s family in Germany.  Although Lowell is technically the boy’s father, his son feels more connected with his German relatives than with Lowell.  In the army, Lowell focuses on his new career of flying Sikorsky H-19 helicopters.  His job mainly has him ferrying important passengers from one army base and forward post to another.

One day while at an army base, Lowell notices how easy it would be to arm his helicopter and use it as a weapons platform for destroying tanks.  His goal is to mount a rocket pod to the side of his helicopter and demonstrate the flying machine’s killing power.  The only problem is that at that point in time, only the air force was allowed to have armed aircraft.  The Key West Agreement of 1948 prohibited the army from having armed aircraft.  Lowell’s point is that the air force was only concentrated on high-flying bombers, supersonic fighters, and missiles carrying destructive payloads hundreds (and later thousands) of miles away.  The air force had little concern about low-flying aircraft to assist soldiers and tanks on a battlefield.  Lowell believes that that logic would allow for the army to arm its helicopters without breaching the Key West Agreement of 1948.

One day Warrant Officer Junior Grade Greer is out flying when he witnesses Major General Angus Laird, the commanding officer of Fort Rucker, accidentally crash his Bell H-13D helicopter in the woods.  Although the general is killed on impact, Greer risks his own life and is burned when he pulls the general’s body away from the burning wreckage before the wreckage explodes.  Greer would receive a medal for his heroics.  Later in the book, Greer receives his commission as a lieutenant in the army, and he marries Melody Dutton, the teenage daughter of one of the richest and most powerful people in Ozark, Alabama.

Meanwhile, Major Lowell continues to get into trouble from the way that he chases women.  One of the women that he sleeps with is actually the wife of a senator in Congress.  Even though the woman basically entered Lowell’s home and blackmailed him into having sex, that doesn’t matter to the generals.  They’ve had enough of Lowell’s conduct.  General Black wants Lowell to resign and leave the army for good.  Lowell manages to convince him to allow himself to stay in the army until the end of the year.

The final part of the book involves a testing of an armed H-19 helicopter destroying several old Soviet tanks from World War 2.  It’s a big production involving the press and VIPs from Washington.  If the test is successful, it would prove that the army should be allowed to arm its helicopters.  Otherwise, the army was going to be in a heap of trouble.

Lieutenant Greer is chosen to be the pilot for the mission.  His H-19 helicopter is fully armed with two rocket pods.  He successfully destroys the first tank, but an errant rocket accidentally damages his helicopter’s rotor blades, causing it to crash into the ground.  When the helicopter hits the ground there’s a large explosion caused by the remaining rockets.  Lt. Greer is dead.

To honor Greer, the army gives him a first-class funeral.  It’s another spectacle as a large crowd attends the funeral and the media gives it coverage as well.  When the funeral shifts outside, Major Lowell uses an armed H-19 to finish destroying the Russian tanks and showing everybody what Greer was trying to demonstration.  Lowell’s demonstration is a success even though it catches everybody off guard.

The Majors ends on December 28, 1958 with General Black retracting his order and allowing for Major Craig Lowell to remain in the army.

So is Brotherhood of War: The Majors a good book?

Yes.

This is a great book that focuses on the early days of helicopters in the U.S. Army.  If you have an understanding of aviation, then you’ll probably enjoy this installment of W.E.B. Griffin’s Brotherhood of War series as well.

In this book it seems like the two main characters are Lowell and Greer.  Sandy Felter has plenty of attention early in the book, but after that he only pops up every once in a while.  MacMillan is kept to a minimum, and Captain Phillip Sheridan Parker IV is only briefly mentioned in this book.  Parker’s role in this story is so small that it’s not even a cameo.

Greer was an interesting character in this book, from his soldier skills in French Indochina to his tough attitude and even tougher drinking.  He was also one of the smarter characters and he turned into a fine helicopter pilot.  It’s a shame that he was killed at the end of the book.  I would have liked to have seen more action scenes with Greer, whether it was on the ground or in the air.

In the end, I was still greatly entertained with Brotherhood of War: The Majors.  Anybody seriously considering enlisting or becoming an officer in the army needs to read these books.