The Combat Studies Institute has enhanced the well-known work entitled "Wanat: Combat Action in Afghanistan, 2008" with the iBook format. This updated version incorporates digital 3-D terrain views, video from both U.S. and insurgent perspectives, infographics and other interactive features.
"The multimedia elements lend a deeper sense of understand of the challenges facing the platoon in the valley before, during and after the battle," said Dr. Donald Wright, deputy director of the Army Press. "In a traditional book you can quote a Soldier, but to watch and hear him talk about the situation brings home what happened in this battle."
CSI created the Wanat iBook entirely on Fort Leavenworth with the help of Dave Armstrong at the post television station and contractor Dale Cordes, graphic artist/EPUB and iBook developer for BMA. Cordes has worked with the CSI for seven years and helped them develop three of the five iBooks the institute has developed thus far. He found this particular iBook provided challenges and rewards.
"One challenge that proved to be rewarding was being individually tasked to complete the design, layout, 3-D animations, illustrations and HTML5 development for the Wanat iBook," Cordes said. "My favorite feature is the Soldier's perspective on the events that occurred at Wanat. Reading words on a page is one thing, but hearing the Soldier's voice and the emotion behind it reveals the humanity behind the battles."
"Wanat: Combat Action in Afghanistan, 2008" was originally produced as a traditional book in 2011. The publication discusses the setting in which the battle occurred, the preparations, who the enemy was, what the friendly force looked like and the actual course of the battle.
The Battle of Wanat was fought on July 13, 2008, when roughly 200 Taliban and al-Qaeda insurgents attacked NATO troops in the Waygal district of Afghanistan. The position was defended primarily by U.S. Army Soldiers of the 2nd Platoon, Chosen Company, 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment (Airborne), 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team. Nine Soldiers were killed in the attack, which was the highest death toll for American troops in Afghanistan since Operation Red Wings three years earlier.
Due to the high number of losses, multiple investigations were launched into the events leading up to the battle. These investigation gave historians at the CSI a plethora of information from which to draft "Wanat: Combat Action in Afghanistan, 2008."
"There has been a lot of research into this battle," Wright said. "I would argue that it is the best known, most researched battle in entire Afghan campaign. We know more about that battle than we do any of the others because the documentation and interviews."
CSI has existed since 1979 as an organization that creates and provides staff rides, instruction and traditional books, which is what is mostly what CSI published for the first 25 to 30 years of its existence. That said, the CSI is excited to continue using emerging technology to bring the story of these battles to life.
"This is the way publishing's going -- whether it is textbooks or combat study guides such as these," Cordes said. "We think we can strengthen the story -- as well as the analysis of what happened in battles -- by adding these multimedia elements. The younger generation of Soldiers are more used to working through information on digital devices, so; we will continue making products that help readers gain a better appreciation for what is in the text."
To access a free download of this book for iPad, visit https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/wanat/id1031728372?ls=1d9e3a87a11fdaf32a4d648f4d6b3c849ce602360b679843b842ca099ad940db9bcd578ce558a2be5846f533b8a4bedd1d72ba3a49f93e20660976d9775bfa814mt=11. CSI is looking into bringing these interactive books to Android and Windows devices in the future but do not currently have a timeline for those releases.
For more information on the CSI, visit http://usacac.army.mil/organizations/cace/csi.
Related Links:
U.S. Army Combined Arms Center
Social Sharing