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    Outlaw Platoon: Heroes, Renegades, Infidels, and the Brotherhood of War in Afghanistan
    Outlaw Platoon: Heroes, Renegades, Infidels, and the Brotherhood of War in Afghanistan
    Outlaw Platoon: Heroes, Renegades, Infidels, and the Brotherhood of War in Afghanistan
    Audiobook10 hours

    Outlaw Platoon: Heroes, Renegades, Infidels, and the Brotherhood of War in Afghanistan

    Written by Sean Parnell and John Bruning

    Narrated by Ray Porter

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    A riveting story of American fighting men, Outlaw Platoon is Lieutenant Sean Parnell’s stunning personal account of the legendary U.S. Army’s 10th Mountain Division’s heroic stand in the mountains of Afghanistan.

    Acclaimed for its vivid, poignant, and honest recreation of sixteen brutal months of nearly continuous battle in the deadly Hindu Kesh, Outlaw Platoon is a Band of Brothers or We Were Soldiers Once and Young for the early 21st century—an action-packed, highly emotional true story of enormous sacrifice and bravery.

    A magnificent account of heroes, renegades, infidels, and brothers, it stands with Sebastian Junger’s War as one of the most important books to yet emerge from the heat, smoke, and fire of America’s War in Afghanistan.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateFeb 28, 2012
    ISBN9780062205582
    Author

    Sean Parnell

    Sean Parnell is a former U.S. Army airborne ranger who served in the legendary 10th Mountain Division for six years, retiring as a captain. He received two Bronze Stars (one for valor) and the Purple Heart. He is a passionate supporter of America's military and is currently serving as an ambassador for the Boot Campaign, a national veteran's charity. He lives with his three children in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

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    Reviews for Outlaw Platoon

    4.5/5

    350 ratings31 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Oh my God! To young for Vietnam, too old for Grenada or Panama, I never served. I can only imagine how the horrors Outlaw Platoon witnessed, and it it fortified their love for one another and the brotherhood. I salute you Lt. Parnell, you and all the brave young men and women who allow me the freedom and safety of life here in the US. God bless all of you.
      Veterans Day, 2021
    • 4/5
      A well structured and balanced insight into those who served in Afghanistan.
    • 5/5
      Best book I've heard in a long time, listen in
    • 5/5
      Touching and inspiring a few similarities to things reminding of me and my family
    • 4/5
      If you like the military memoire style book then you should read Outlaw Platoon. Great story and great narration.
    • 5/5
      It took the reader on a powerful emotional journey.
    • 5/5
      A tale of courage,love of country and brotherhood of arms amongst the harsh reality of the war in Afghanistan.
    • 5/5
      Extremely recommended action packed and the characters are believable Ray Porter is the best narrator I've heard, I picked this book just because I saw his name and he did another great job.
    • 5/5
      AMAZING! . . . . . . . . .
    • 5/5
      Excellent writing unbelievable story breaks your heart what goes on in those countries how bad people are treated and how heroic our American servicemen are. I wish more people in this world understood the sacrifices they make. This should be required reading in high school and college
    • 5/5
      Outstanding!! Very few men understand the brotherhood that the US Military brings. It’s like nothing I’m this world.
    • 5/5
      Perhaps the most impactful book I have ever read on the personal courage and horrible cost of war.
    • 5/5
      The best audio book I have ever listened to, it's as simple as that. Thank you.
    • 5/5
      Fantastic book. Thank you all for your courage, devoton and sacrifices.
    • 5/5
      Very well written, very well narrated, inspirational in helping us who have never experienced war understand how much we owe to those who take on the toughest jobs both on the battlefield and back at home.
    • 5/5
      Really well written with lots of heart and guts. Thanks
    • 5/5
      Unbelievable story. So inspiring. So insightful. Highly recommended. Absolutely loved listening to this book.
    • 5/5
      Great story. Wort the lions ten, Thank you brave brothers
    • 4/5
      Great reading.
    • 5/5
      Gritty and emotionally draining, Mr. Porter's reading of this book gave a voice I don't ever think I will forget. The events that swept up LT Sean Parnell and the members of Outlaw Platoon in the mountains of Afghanistan, any word I write here would be ridiculously impotent. But the way those men stood up to such adversity can only lend further honor upon the storied history of the 10th Mountain Division! Even so, Sean Parnell's recollections provide a true human depth of the men of Outlaw Platoon. As a former soldier, myself, I thought that I was prepared for the inevitable heartbreak that happens in combat, but I was woefully wrong as the deaths that occurred took their own toll on me. Despite this, listening to this book has inspired me and I will be reading it for myself soon.
    • 4/5
      Perceptions of self and others in the horror of war. A bit much machismo, but understandable in a series of unreal situations. A bit like "The thirteenth valley" a Vietnam story.
    • 5/5
      Once I start reading this book I just cannot put it down.Well written ad interesting
    • 5/5
      Outstanding
    • 5/5
      A top-notch book on infantry operations in the Afghan War. Very intense, harrowing and very human.
    • 4/5
      Excellent book. Very brave man. Makes you wonder what we are fighting for.
    • 5/5
      If you expect books on contemporary US military history to be all gung ho and righteous posturing, this book will be a stunning surprise.

      Sean Parnell has achieved in this diary something very rarely experienced in military diaries and histories from any era.
      With humble eloquence and intelligent self-reflection, he takes us inside the mind and life of a platoon leader during deployment in one of the most hazardous conflict zones in recent history.
      We get the privilege of sharing in what is unspoken at the time: the doubts, the bonds of brotherly love, the daily psychological battle that all front line soldiers must face but few ever speak of.

      The book brims with insight that civilians and those off the front line would otherwise find impossible to imagine. In a refreshing turn for the genre, it is illuminating to see so much detailed coverage of the non-combat aspects of the mission.
      An early passage tells of a first meeting with a local Afghan leader and we experience the clash of cultures at first hand, and the vast gulf of life experience that leaves Sean feeling way out of his depth despite all the 21st century training and equipment.

      One cannot read this book without finding a deep respect for the men of the platoon.
      There is humour, adrenaline-filled exhilaration, but also intense despair and sadness.
      With grit and loyalty, and the moral courage of their leaders, it is clear they served with honour despite the circumstances into which they were thrown.

      For any soldiers reading this book, I imagine it must inspire a desire to live up to such high standards.
      For civilians, I challenge you not to be thinking: Is there not more we can do
      to make the world a better place, so that in this day and age we no longer need such sacrifice?
    • 5/5
      Deployed to Afghanistan in 2006, Parnell and his platoon would spend over a year at Forward Operating Base (FOB) Bermel, a remote outpost in eastern Afghanistan, mere kilometers from the Afghan-Pakistan border. The description of their area of operations paints a desolate picture of a rugged, mountainous landscape, untouched by time. Jagged cliffs and mountain ranges serve as both obstacles and enemy hideouts as Parnell and The Outlaws sortie out from FOB Bermel to try and staunch the flow of enemy personnel and materiel coming in from Pakistan. Far from the ragtag bunch of farmers and militia he had been led to believe, the enemy that they came up against (both local and foreign) was cunning, tactically proficient, well-equipped, experienced, and completely ruthless. Over the course of their deployment, The Outlaws become engaged in several firefights. Thanks to the very descriptive and clear writing, it is very easy for the reader to get a good grasp of the geography of the battles. Parnell takes the time to put things into context, and as a result, the book has a very immersive feel to it. I could easily imagine myself riding in a humvee with Parnell and trying to endure the ungodly summer heat or the sheer terror of being caught in an ambush. Parnell discusses his thoughts and decision-making processes at length throughout the book and also tells us a great deal about the various personalities in the platoon and their idiosyncrasies. Again, the reader can sympathize with him as he struggles to make decisions and be a competent platoon leader. The constant banter between Parnell and his men serves to highlight the diversity of the group as well as provide some humor to an otherwise morbid story.One thing I appreciated about Outlaw Platoon is the raw honesty of it. Parnell pulls no punches when it comes to describing the things he saw. Much like David Finkel’s The Good Soldiers, Outlaw Platoon is graphically violent. Blood is spilled, limbs are mangled by machine guns and grenades, and bodies are completely blown apart by bombs and missiles dropped from aircraft. One particularly harrowing chapter doesn’t even involve combat. The Outlaws come across a remote village where the children have been brutally tortured, mutilated, and raped by the enemy as a warning to not support the coalition. Parnell’s description of such imagery doesn’t require any dramatization or tabloid sensationalism, the horror speaks for itself.Parnell struggles with reconciling the differences between his humanity and the requirements of surviving as a soldier. When it’s all said and done, and Parnell is safely back home after his tour, he puts into words what many of us cannot and simply concludes that his life has been changed forever, and there is no going back to the way things were before. Although Parnell had planned to make a career out of the Army, he ended up being medically retired at the rank of Captain due to the traumatic brain injuries he sustained in battle.All in all, I’d give Outlaw Platoon a 5 out of 5. It is probably one of the best war memoirs I’ve read thus far. I’d put it up there with other modern war memoirs such as Nathaniel Fick’s One Bullet Away. The writing is clear, honest, and gives the reader a great deal of insight into Parnell’s mindset and experiences. While the battles the platoon fought will probably never go down in the annals of military history as the greatest, largest, or most decisive of battles ever won, Parnell shares with us his small portion of the war in Afghanistan. Outlaw Platoon is both touching and horrifying; filled with emotion and vivid imagery. It is not a book about foreign policy or strategy, but rather a look at the men of 3rd platoon 2/87 inf. 10 Mountain Division who fought in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan in 2006.
    • 4/5
      As an attempt to get into the lives and the minds of the young men fighting the war in Afghanistan, this book works fairly well. These are the stories of very young men -- I want to call them boys, but truly can't. What makes a man face death and his overwhelming fear? Lt. Parnell concludes it's love - and sees that his job, as the leader of the platoon, is to make sure the chemistry is right to support the love of these men for one another. In the end, though, it's futile. They can win individual battles against the Afghan and Taliban but there is an unending supply of new enemy soldiers, well equipped and just as determined to win. You have to wonder about the sense in conducting such a war, and in the judgment of men who refuse medical care when fluid from your brain is leaking out from your ears and nose... I found this interesting, both in terms of the description of the situation on the forward lines in Afghanistan and in the way it let us see how men become and remain warriors.
    • 3/5


      A very revealing look at what the war in Afghanistan is really like (or was). By turns revealing, gripping, enraging and saddening, it's a poignant chronicle of young men in a difficult place.

      Unfortunately, at times the writer (the book is a collaboration between Sean Parnell [the soldier] and John R. Bruning [the writer]) attempts to get too literary, and it interferes with the narrative. Fortunately, it happens infrequently, and the book's grittiest passages read more authentically for it.

      One caution; these are grunts in a war, so don't expect a lot of high-zoot philosophy or thoughtful examinations of the larger geopolitical landscape -- this is the real, unprettified thing.

      Overall, the book isn't a masterpiece, but it does hold its own among the flood of war memoirs.
    • 4/5
      Outlaw platoon is the story of today's buffalo soldiers, engaged in futile and costly battles on the Afghan-Pakistan border. Commanding a platoon of Humvee-borne infantry from the 10th Mountain Division, 2LT Parnell experiences the typical journey of an enthusiastic and patriotic young man absorbed into a bureaucratic machine. He seems to slowly realize the futility of his mission but can still not acknowledge that his and his men's sacrifice is in vain. Even the comradeship shows marked boundaries. He describes some truly atrocious and anti-social behaviors allowed for by the.mismanaged and underled US military. Abandoned by politics in an unwinnable war, the buffalo soldiers carry on.The vignettes of infantry firefights are well-crafted. Supplied and trained in Pakistan, the Afghan fighters are more than a match for the US soldiers. As the Afghans can select their battles in difficult terrain, the soldiers in the Humvees are in an uncomfortable position. Parnell's platoon quickly takes large casualties. Inflicting punishment on the Afghans offers little compensation as the region isn't short in supplying angry young men. The millions spent in killing a few hundred Taliban should have been used to rebuild bridges or improve US education. Pounding the Afghan mountains with America's arsenal only helps fill the coffers of the arms dealers and their lobbyists. The book could be easily turned into an updated remake of the movie Platoon.