H.J. "John" Poole

After almost 28 years as a commissioned or non-commissioned infantry officer, John Poole retired from the United States Marine Corps in 1993. On active duty, he studied small-unit tactics for ten years: six months at the Basic School in Quantico (1966), seven months as a platoon commander in Vietnam (1966-67), three months as a rifle company commander at Camp Pendleton (1967), five months as a regimental headquarters company commander in Vietnam (1968), eight months as a rifle company commander in Vietnam (1968-69), five and a half years as an instructor with the Advanced Infantry Training Company (AITC) at Camp Lejeune (1986-92), and one year as the SNCOIC of the 3rd Marine Division Combat Squad Leaders Course (CSLC) on Okinawa (1992-93).

While at AITC, he developed, taught, and refined courses of instruction on maneuver warfare, land navigation, fire support coordination, call for fire, adjust fire, close air support, M203 grenade launcher, movement to contact, daylight attack, night attack, infiltration, defense, offensive Military Operations in Urban Terrain (MOUT), defensive MOUT, NBC defense, and leadership. While with CSLC, he further refined the same periods of instruction and developed others on patrolling.

He has completed all of the correspondence school requirements for the Marine Corps Command and Staff College, Naval War College (1000-hour curriculum), and Marine Corps Warfighting Skills Program. He is a graduate of the Camp Lejeune Instructional Management Course, the 2nd Marine Division Skill Leaders in Advanced Marksmanship (SLAM) Course, the East-Coast School of Infantry Platoon Sergeants’ Course, the Combat Squad Leader's Course (CSLC) and five trips to the Orient.

Since retirement, he has researched the small-unit tactics of other nations, traveled extensively behind enemy lines, and written eleven tactics-and-intelligence-manual supplements. He has also conducted multi-day training sessions for 40 battalions, eight schools, and five Special Operations units on how to conduct 4th-Generation Warfare at the small-unit level.

• Homeland Siege: Tactics For Police and Military (August 2009)

• Tequila Junction: 4th-Generation Counterinsurgency (August 2008)

• Dragon Days: Time for “Unconventional” Tactics (October 2007)

• Terrorist Trail: Backtracking the Foreign Fighter (October 2006)

• Militant Tricks: Battlefield Ruses of the Islamic Insurgent (October 2005)

• Tactics of the Crescent Moon: Militant Muslim Combat Methods (November 2004)

• The Tiger's Way: A U.S. Private's Best Chance for Survival (October 2003)

• Phantom Soldier: The Enemy's Answer to U.S. Firepower (August 2001)

• One More Bridge to Cross: Lowering the Cost of War (September 1999)

• The Last Hundred Yards: The NCO's Contribution to Warfare (February 1997)