Black Hearts is a great example of the reality of how severe, bad leadership skills can spread through a unit and impact its overall mission. This book serves as a guide for America's future leaders and will set an example of what not to do in leadership positions. The lessons we can learn from these soldiers can help us as potential leaders become more competent and effective. The fact that this book focuses on the hardships, poor decisions, and good judgment of the soldiers helped highlight what wasn't the best choice of action and gives you as the audience a moment to think about how you would have done better. So, right or wrong, there was a lesson to be learned and the book did a good job of engaging the reader. This book puts you in the shoes of a small group of Soldiers from the 502nd Infantry Regiment and gives you an up close and personal approach to the Soldiers' experience, from the bottom of the ranks up to the commander. The first platoon of the 502nd Company Bravo deployed in the fall of 2005 to one of Iraq's most dangerous battle zones, known as the "Triangle of Death." Thrown into the heart of a growing insurgency, with undefined objectives and manpower shortages, Bravo Company began accumulating casualties at an alarming rate. They have suffered many losses, as well as mental suffering. Due to the long and tragic deployment, a leadership collapse began to occur, resulting in one of the most tragic, brutal, and infamous deployments in the history of the U.S. Army. There were many reasons that caused the deconstruction of the leadership, and ultimately, the actions of the soldiers, accompanied by the lack of control, led to the rape and murder of an innocent Iraqi girl and her family. This is a story about character… middle of paper… effectively and efficiently. It's definitely a bad trait for someone to have a short fuse like LTC. Kunk, he would have been put in a position like that in the first place. What I didn't understand was why Konk was able to understand and communicate with Iraqi civilians on missions, but for some reason felt he didn't have to pay the same respect to his own soldiers. Impeccable. Considering that I specialize in communication, I can't help but underline how important communication is. Therefore I consider this feature to be the most valuable and the main result of the downward spiral of events in the 1st Platoon. I wouldn't even agree that my negative characteristic is the same. I could be a more effective communicator, but it's not because I shout out the issue but rather because I just need to better organize my speech and what I'm trying to convey.