Newly release book by David Shearman and JT Taman

For all my readers of this blog who may not be aware of the new book authored by James Taman and me and released on 09/11/2018 this blog serves as an additional notification.

Some background on the book:

In Outside the Wire in Blue, co-authors and American police officers, David Shearman and James ‘JT” Taman, dramatically reveal the highly successful but little known DOD civilian law enforcement advisory program born out of the height of the 2006 campaign against the insurgency in Fallujah, Iraq. During this struggle, U.S. Army and Marine Corps leaders recognized that contemporary tactics and strategies were ineffective against an insurgency that acted more like thugs and criminals than a regular fighting force. The question that plagued these leaders was who within their arsenal of warriors understood organized crime, the mindset of criminals, and the tactics and techniques of gangs. The solution was not found within the DOD, it was found in their brothers in blue – the American Police Officer.

Thus began the DOD Law Enforcement Professional Program. A highly unusual and extremely unconventional Proof of Concept project that quietly recruited veteran police officers from across the country and placed them smack dab on the front lines on the War on Terror. These street hardened cops, LEPs as they became known, who had already fought crime and done their time on the mean streets of America laced up their combat boots and left retirement behind destined to joined the ranks as a Key Advisors, and so much more, in the COIN fight in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Their story begins with calamity and the truly inspirational account of comeback and personal redemption. For in the in early morning hours of May 16, 2009,  author JT – LEP JT – was participating in a joint US Army – Afghan Police mission to capture a group of wanted Taliban Insurgents in Eastern Afghanistan when all hell broke loose and his life was changed forever.

Outside the Wire in Blue is story of servant leadership – police style – that was brought to bear on the battlefields in Iraq and Afghanistan. It’s a collective story about the lives of a group of American policemen who are fundamentally bonded together by unwavering patriotic values and principals forged over a lifetime of shared sacrifice. It’s a story of “over there” and “back home” and the deeply personal desire of bunch of retired old Cops to have the chance, once more, to stand shoulder to shoulder with our nation’s greatest warriors and be a partner in some of the toughest battles and battlefield conditions experienced in decades.

At a time in our nations’ history when there is rampant disrespect, disdain and outright hatred for the American police officer, Outside the Wire in Blue tells the “other side” of the story. Their story of old time police values of public service, bravery, will-power, honor, and country and community first is simply a story that needs to be told to the American public.

What is very exciting is the raving endorsement a we received from renown New York Times Best Selling author of On Combat and On Killing, military professional, and law enforcement trainer, Lt. Col. David Grossman who wrote the following Foreword for our book:

Foreword to Outside the Line in Blue by Lt. Col. David Grossman

This is one of the most amazing and important books to come out of the Global War on Terrorism.

Again and again our media has declared and predicted our nation’s defeat in Afghanistan and Iraq.  Yet, as of 2018, for over 16 years, through liberal and conservative administrations, these war-torn nations continue to survive as fragile, fledgling beacons of freedom and democracy in a region beset by endless centuries of tyranny and oppression.  And one of the major reasons for this survival can be found in the pages of this amazing and profoundly important book.

Future generations who want to study and learn from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will find this book to be a mother-load of critical insight into these wars.  And warriors in the years to come will turn to this book in order to succeed in similar wars in the future.  Many great books have been written about these wars, but to my knowledge this is the only book to cover this critical, vital and essential aspect.

Born out of the fierce fighting experienced in Fallujah, Iraq and the devastatingly effective new weapon—the Improvised Explosive Device (IED) used by Al Qaeda-Iraq (AQI)—U.S. Army and Marine Corps leaders recognized that contemporary tactics and strategies were ineffective against an insurgency that acted more like thugs and criminals than a regular fighting force.

The question that plagued these leaders was who within their arsenal of warriors understood organized crime, the mindset of street criminals, and the tactics and techniques of gangs? The solution was not found within the DOD. It was found in their brothers in blue, the American policeman.

Thus, in 2006, at the direction of the Department of Defense (DOD), the Law Enforcement Professional Program (LEP-P) was established by the aptly named Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Organization (JIEDDO). The mission of the LEP Program was to obtain and employ police officers and federal agents from across the U.S. who had a minimum of twenty years of criminal enterprise investigative and analytical skills and embed them at corps, division and brigade/regiment levels in Iraq and Afghanistan. The unique skill sets of the American police officer was being called upon to assist the U.S. Army and Marines Corps to more effectively understand, identify, penetrate, interdict, and suppress the insurgent organizations.

In 2007, the program transitioned from JIEDDO to United States Army Criminal Investigation Division Command (USACIDC) whereby this highly unusual and extremely unconventional project began to quietly recruit veteran police officers from across the country and place them smack dab on the front lines on the War on Terror.

These street-hardened cops, LEPs as they became known, who had already fought crime and done their time on the mean streets of America, laced up their combat boots, left retirement behind and joined the ranks as Staff Advisors and so much more in the COIN fight in Iraq and Afghanistan. Although they were still civilians, these LEPs were outfitted as soldiers and treated as such. They ate, slept, laughed, cried, and when necessary fought and died alongside our country’s finest warriors.

In this book, author JT says, “I have always believed that making the supreme sacrifice on behalf of your country as honorable and noble.”  And then he speaks of a fellow LEP killed by one of the Afghan police that they were training.  “The Department of Defense politically coined these events as ‘Insider Threat’ but out on the street it is just called straight up murder…nothing heroic or romantic about that. Welcome to the show that no one wants to talk about. Not war, just cold-blooded murder.”

This is the world our law enforcement officers live in, over there and over here, when we hear of police officers ambushed and murdered in America almost daily.  But there is honor here, there is even glory here, if we give them honor and glory.  This book captures their stories and immortalizes their sacrifices.  This book even gives their sacrifices a greater value, because others can follow the pioneering law enforcement paths that these trailblazers have carved in history, with their blood and their lives.

Co-Author Randy wraps up this superb book by telling us that,

The police make the invisible, visible. The primary advantage of an insurgency is its anonymity, the fact that its actors do not wear uniforms and cannot be distinguished from ordinary members of society, except on rare occasions when their actions identify them…

Experienced insurgents are those who avoid field engagements, which means that the game of cat and mouse in a room full of undistinguished mice (which the cat may not slay willy-nilly) goes on. And on and on….

If only the cat had an ally, a mouse of its own that lived among the mice, knew them intimately and could easily determine which mouse was an insurgent and which is a simple farmer wanting to be left alone.

The point of this chapter is to show that such a mouse exists, and you’ve been reading about him…

This is the raison d’être of the police. It is the role of police in society to live among the people, to know them as individuals and as a community, to be intimately familiar with the human terrain which hides the insurgent, and to be able to apply basic police techniques to determining who was responsible for a given offense or penetrate a criminal gang in order to dismantle it before it continues its outrages. To a properly constituted, well-trained and equipped police force, this type of activity is basic bread and butter.

It is for this reason that the police are so often the first and continuing target of insurgents in any asymmetrical conflict.

Men and women who have served their time protecting our nation at home are also some of the best suited to assist in protecting our nation abroad. They have little use on the traditional battlespace, the ideal for which our nations forces train, to which they are oriented and in which they are unmatched. But in the little wars of the street and alley, the back-room plot and the operation of a continuing criminal enterprise, against these they are irreplaceable and invaluable, both as force multipliers and as actors in their own right.

My book, On Combat, introduced the concept of “the Sheep, the Wolf and the Sheepdog”. Our children’s book, Sheepdogs, goes deeper, telling us, “The sheep will die to protect the ones they love. Only the sheepdog loves enough to die for other people’s loved ones. But they are not heroes because they die. They are heroes because they walk out the door every day, prepared to lay down their lives.  Sometimes the greatest love is not to sacrifice your life, but to lead a life of sacrifice.”

To the authors, Dave and JT, a hearty, “Well done, my brother, warrior-wordsmiths!” To the readers, an exhortation to not just read this, but to study and learn from this amazing resource. And finally, to the sheepdogs among us – the brave men and women who risk their own safety, and their own lives, on a daily basis in the selfless, endless pursuit to protect and serve others – we hope that this book, in some small way, gives glory and honor to you and your families.

Lt. Col. David Grossman USA (ret.)

Author of On Combat, On Killing, and Assassination Generation

July 4th, 2018

 

Outside The Wire In Blue is available for purchase at our website at:

http://www.outsidethewireinblue.com

http://www.Amazon.com

http://www.Titletownpublishing.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Please visit our website to read more information on the book, the LEP story, and order your personally signed 1st edition hard cover edition. We will ship your copy out to you and you can also download a free E-Book version at check-out on our website. Please select the Free E-book (valued at $9.99) along with the hard cover edition and at checkout enter the Coupon Code: OTWIB which will credit the sale for $9.99 and offer you the free E-book for immediate download.

Portions of each sale of the book are going to the National Law Enforcement Officers Museum in Washington, D.C.

Thank you and we hope you enjoy our book!

Viper One Six – Out