Bing West, Date of Birth, Place of Birth

Bing West

United States Marine Corps officer and American military writer

Date of Birth: 02-May-1940

Place of Birth: Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Profession: military officer

Zodiac Sign: Taurus

Francis J.
"Bing" West (Boston, Massachusetts, May 2, 1940) is an American author, Marine combat veteran and former Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs during the Reagan Administration.
West writes about the military, warfighting, and counterinsurgency.
In the Vietnam War, he fought in major operations and conducted over a hundred combat patrols in 1966–1968.
For the United States Marine Corps, he wrote the training manual Small Unit Action in Vietnam, describing how to fight in close combat.
As an analyst at the RAND Corporation, he wrote a half dozen detailed monographs about fighting against an insurgency.
Later, as Assistant Secretary of Defense, he dealt with the insurgencies in El Salvador.
From 2003 through 2008, he made 16 extended trips to Iraq, going on patrols and writing three books and numerous articles about the war.
From 2007 through 2011, he made numerous trips to embed in Afghanistan.