The story of the Black Hearts Brigade, as told by Jim Frederick, begins with the 1st Battalion of the 502nd Infantry Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division in the summer of 2005. The author begins with a short chapter of the events that occurred when four soldiers of this battalion entered a house, raped a girl and killed her and her family. In the first part of the book Frederick explains the grand strategy the United States was adopting in Iraq at the time, the history of the area called the Triangle of Death, and how the 1-502nd performed in pre-deployment training. The main objective in Iraq at the time was to keep southern Baghdad under control. Southern Baghdad, otherwise known as the Triangle of Death, has had a very rich history due to its location (right between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers). The current issue discussed in the book was the growing insurgency of both Sunni and Shiite groups in that area. The pre-deployment portion of the book shows where many of the future problems the unit would face came from. During 1-502's time at the Joint Readiness Training Center (JRTC) and the National Training Center, both locations designed to simulate war situations), we see the relationship LTC Tom Kunk develops with his company commanders and their primes sergeants. Kunk was a difficult leader to deal with, and mostly all of his commanders disagreed with how he treated them or fostered their development. In the next section of the book Frederick explains the area of ​​operation, the 1st Battalion's occupation of the Triangle of Death, and first contact with the enemy. A major impact on the AO and the occupation of the Triangle of Death was the transition the 1-502nd made with the unit it was replacing, the 48th Infantry Brigade (a...... middle of paper . .... A good plan from the start. The soldiers weren't conducting a counterinsurgency at the start of their deployment, which is why they were hit pretty hard. Doesn't fit into any of the LDRSHIP values, but it's good just to satisfy the KNOW part of leadership His best leadership trait shown in the book comes not from the seven army values ​​but from the warrior ethic I will never give up pushing them back and bringing them back into line One of his worst leadership traits was the his selfless service. He wasn't a present leader. He didn't go on patrol with the guys, I think that really stopped him from getting the platoon back on track earlier. If he had shown them that he was willing to go through the same things, maybe he would they would have respected more from the beginning.