The unsentimental education of an idealistic, brilliant
American naval officer.
It begins in 2001. Christopher Brownfield is a na?ve young
midshipman. His heroes at the time: Oliver North and John
McCain.
In My Nuclear Family, Brownfield writes about how he loved the
navy for its “rigidity and its clarity in separating right from
wrong”; how he cut his teeth there on the principles of energy and
violence, strategy and thermodynamics, on war doctrine and weapons
systems. The question was never if he was capable of killing; it
was simply about methods and rationales.
He writes about his years serving on a nuclear submarine, with
its hundred-ton back-up battery—the first hybrid vehicle capable of
sustaining its environment and mission independent of oil.
We see Lieutenant Brownfield making his way, receiving his
advanced nuclear supervisory certification from the departments of
defense and energy, and, after years of training to become a
nuclear submariner, being able to supervise an entire reactor plant
aboard a nuclear warship.
He writes about his ship’s secret missions in the global war on
terror and how he begins to experience his own eroding faith in the
entire operation . . .
He describes his decision to leave the navy to attend graduate
school at Yale, as his colleagues in the submarine force are faced
with a new morbid reality—an involuntary lottery for service in
Iraq. And how, for the sake of his country, his naval forefathers,
and his mother who believed in cleaning up after one’s own
messes, Brownfield is determined to do something good in the name
of the United States.
With one foot in the door at Yale, Brownfield jumps on the hand
grenade and volunteers to fill a one-year tour of duty in Baghdad,
working in the strategic headquarters, reporting to the top general
on matters of oil and electricity.
Brownfield, a submariner in the sands of the desert, writes about
how he finds himself better equipped to handle the energy problem
than his much more senior colleagues, many of whom had no prior
experience in energy or management. With the arrival in Iraq of
General Petraeus, and with policy changes and an overhaul in
strategy, Brownfield is put center stage in the unit, supervising
the colonel who was his former superior in rank; briefing cabinet
ministers, ambassadors, and generals, who endorse his
groundbreaking plans for energy efficiency, development, and
counterinsurgency . . .
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