Marine Forces Reserve Operational History –
Global War on Terror, 2004-2007

Mr. Watters is a 28-year veteran of the Marine Corps and Marine Corps Reserve, serving in Bosnia, Qatar-Kuwait-Iraq, and Africa.  He was a Field Historian for the Marine Corps for five years, which led to the Marine Corps Reserve asking him to write its operational history for the period from 2004 to 2007.

The 121-page book, published in 2009, provides a battalion- and squadron-level view of Iraq and Afghanistan from several Marine units.  Research for the book included 300 face-to-face interviews with Marines and Sailors returning from overseas as well as reviews of hundreds of unclassified after action reports.

Marines have praised the book as an accurate description of the gritty environments they operated in during a difficult period of the Global War on Terror.  As Mr. Watters noted in the Preface, “This generation of Marines, both active duty and Reserve, has earned a proud place in Marine Corps history.”