Dogwood

A National Guard unit's war in Iraq

Andrew Wiest

$50

Hardback

Forthcoming
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English

Osprey Publishing
08 May 2025

Military history; Military history: post WW2 conflicts; Iraq War

This is an unsparing account of the sharp end of war written by one of the finest military historians of his generation.

Andrew Wiest, author of the bestselling Boys of ’67, traces the experience of the 150th Combat Engineers of the Mississippi National Guard in their 2005 tour of duty in Iraq, centered on the forward operating base Dogwood. Comprising youth hoping to attain a way out of grinding poverty, women seeking to break barriers, and patriots answering their nation’s call after 9/11, the 150th represented nearly all of what America had to offer in 2005.

Amid the transformation of the US military in the 21st century, no longer were they destined to be weekend warriors tasked mainly with local disaster relief. The new Guard was a sharp weapon of war. Soldiers grew up in the same communities, played sports and served together. As Dogwood reveals, this provides a singular advantage, but also intensifies loss. Defying poor equipment, lack of specialist training and heart-breaking losses, the 150th endured combat. They also implemented their own homespun counterinsurgency policy that turned an insurgency hotbed into a thriving community – one of the war’s few success stories. But all was forgotten.

Set within the context of a changing military, an evolving strategic situation and an unpopular war, Dogwood is an unflinching history which lays bare the harsh reality of combat through countless first-hand accounts.

By: Andrew Wiest
Imprint: Osprey Publishing
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 236mm, Width: 156mm, Spine: 34mm
Weight: 581g
ISBN: 9781472863188
ISBN 10: 1472863186
Pages: 336
Publication Date: 08 May 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

SUBJECT TO CONFIRMATION Prologue Introduction Chapter 1: Who was the 150th? Chapter 2: Training Chapter 3: Welcome to the sandbox Chapter 4: Getting the lay of the land Chapter 5: No more doors left on the hinges Chapter 6: On the offensive Chapter 7: Everything changes Chapter 8: Aftermaths Epilogue Bibliography

Dr Andrew Wiest is University Distinguished Professor of History and founding director of the Dale Center for the Study of War & Society at the University of Southern Mississippi. Specializing in the study of World War I and Vietnam, his titles include Vietnam's Forgotten Army, which won the Society for Military History's Distinguished Book Award, and The Boys of '67, the basis for the Emmy-nominated National Geographic Channel Documentary Brothers in War. He is based in Hattiesbury, MS.

Reviews for Dogwood: A National Guard unit's war in Iraq

Dogwood does an amazing job of capturing the full story of the Citizen Soldiers of the 150th in Anbar Province in Iraq in 2005. * Brigadier General J. Roy Robinson, former commander of the 150th and former President of the National Guard Association of the United States * Anyone who wants to understand America’s militia tradition and the changing relation of the Guard to the nation’s regular army should read this book. * Beth Bailey, author of 'An Army Afire' * ...It is an inspiring story. But it is also a necessary one, because 20 years later America has been so eager to forget it. In Dogwood, Andrew Wiest doesn’t just tell the story; he reminds us of it, without flinching. * Tom Junod, award-winning journalist *