Watchman at the Gates

Gen. George Joulwan built his 36-year military career during one of the most tumultuous eras in US history—the 1960s. Raised in a small Pennsylvania coal mining town, Joulwan would be present at the rise and fall of the Berlin wall, fight in Vietnam, play a part in university debates on the Vietnam War, and command over twenty operations in the Balkans, Africa, and the Middle East. He ended his career as the supreme commander of NATO forces in Europe (SACEUR).

In his memoir, Watchman at the Gates: A Soldier's Journey from Berlin to Bosnia, Gen. Joulwan chronicles his accomplished career in the upper echelons of the armed forces. A reflection on the US military's role in history at a time when moral leadership was regarded as paramount to America's global mission, Joulwan's memoir merges memory and lessons in leadership. He pays tribute to his teachers and colleagues and explains the significance of their influence on his personal approach to leadership. As a commander of combat troops in Vietnam, he appealed to his subordinates on a man-to-man basis, taking time to build relationships that proved vital to the unit's capability to execute their mission. He also reveals how similar relationships of mutual understanding were crucial in his peaceful and productive dealings with both allies and enemies.

Watchman at the Gates is, as the author himself claims, a "soldier's story." Drawing upon firsthand experience and his time as a military history professor, Joulwan provides an insightful analysis of the Army's conduct and development from the early 1960s to the 1990s.