When the Tempest Gathers

A US marine and Special Ops Commander recounts his combat experiences through Iraq and beyond in this "powerful and beautifully written memoir" (The Washington Times).
These are the combat experiences of the first Marine to command a special operations task force. Andrew Milburn takes readers on his journey from Second Lieutenant to Colonel and Task Force Commander; from leading Marines through the streets of Mogadishu, Baghdad, Fallujah and Mosul to directing multi-national special operations forces in the fight against ISIS. Through it all, he shares the hard-won lessons he learned, and shows how he put them to use in a complex fight against a formidable foe.
Very few personal accounts of war cover such a wide breadth of experience. Milburn tells his extraordinary story with humility and candor, describing his personal struggles with the isolation of command, post-combat trauma and family tragedy. And with the skill and insight of a natural storyteller, he makes the reader experience what it's like to lead those who fight America's wars.
"Simply the finest war memoir to emerge from the last two decades of constant fighting." -New York Times bestselling author Bing West

COL. ANDREW MILBURN was born in Hong Kong and grew up in the United Kingdom where he attended St Paul's School and University College London. After graduating from law school, he enlisted in the US Marine Corps as a private. He was commissioned from the ranks, and as a Marine infantry and special operations officer, has commanded in combat at every grade. As the commanding officer of the Marine Corps' special operations regiment, he was selected to lead a multi-national task force given the mission of defeating ISIS in Iraq. He retired in 2019 as the Chief of Staff of Special Operations Command, Central (SOCCENT), the headquarters responsible for the conduct of all US special operations throughout the Middle East. He and his wife Jessica live in Tampa, Florida with their two children and a coterie of rescued dogs.