As a combat memoir, Ross Berkoff’s Beyond the Outpost is unique. Rather than reconstructing his experience in Afghanistan from memory and documents, he has published his diary, an unfiltered account written in real time. From his earliest days as a newly commissioned Army officer assigned to Fort Drum through his final return after two combat tours, spanning over two years “in country,” Beyond the Outpost captures his experience as it happened, day by day.
What you read is what he saw and was thinking at the end of long days.
His entries capture what weighed most heavily on his mind: the responsibility of leading soldiers in a demanding environment, the challenge of extended independent patrols as a unit leader, and, later, the complexity of fighting in harsh, mountainous terrain against a relentless and lethal adversary. Most of all, they reflect thoughts of home, the duty of bringing soldiers back safely, and the reality of losing comrades. Throughout, he is honest and reveals vulnera…
