Pittsboro author brings unique perspective with book on U.S. war against ISIS

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PITTSBORO — In their soon-to-be-published book, “Hunting the Caliphate,” co-authors Dana J.H. Pittard and Wes J. Bryant tell the story of front line action in America’s war against the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, told from the unique perspectives of the authors — a general and his senior enlisted man — who were there from the beginning, and central to the fight.

Available Aug. 27, “Hunting the Caliphate” blends military history with the authors’ first-person accounts of their roles in the war on terror; Pittard, the commanding general who initiated and led the campaign against ISIS in Iraq, and Bryant — a Pittsboro resident — the senior special operations Joint Terminal Attack Controller who coordinated and controlled the first airstrikes against ISIS in Baghdad, and later continued the hunt against the Islamic extremist group across Afghanistan and Syria.

In advance of publication of “Hunting the Caliphate,” co-author Bryant discussed the upcoming book; his role in the U.S.’s war on terror waged in Iraq, Afghanistan and Syria; future writing projects the now-retired U.S. Air Force master sergeant is planning; and other aspects of his life, including teaching martial arts through Pittsboro’s YMCA and how Bryant, a California native, came to move to Pittsboro eight years ago.

“I came here,” Bryant said of his home in Chatham County, “being stationed at Fort Bragg, in 2011. I finished out my career at Fort Bragg.”

Pittsboro was a half-way point between his work at Fort Bragg and his wife Katie’s employment in Durham, so they chose here to live.

Bryant retired from the U.S. Air Force in 2018 at the rank of master sergeant after 20 years of active duty service.

Embedded with Special Forces teams under a Navy SEAL task force, Bryant was the tactical lead for a contingent of special operations JTACs who were the first to set foot in Iraq to halt ISIS. Bryant coordinated and controlled the first airstrikes against ISIS in the Baghdad region. He later deployed as the senior Special Tactics JTAC for special operations task forces, continuing the hunt for ISIS in Syria and Afghanistan.

In the summer of 2014, Gen. Pittard and Bryant infilled into Baghdad as a part of the small task force sent by President Obama to protect the U.S. Embassy and other facilities from the threat of ISIS and, if needed, evacuate thousands of American citizens from Iraq.

Though they didn’t know it at the time, the mission would soon evolve into an intense military campaign against ISIS, the militant organization that formed as an offshoot of al Qaeda in 2014, comprised largely of Sunni militants from Iraq and Syria.

Four years ago, Bryant and Pittard began working on their book, which Bryant said is “about the initiation of the war against ISIS, from the ground perspective, and the first few years that followed in that war right up to 2018 when we, for all intents and purposes, could finally declare the caliphate, ISIS as a state entity, was defeated.”

Although only now able to add “published author” to his resume, Bryant, 42, has been writing since his early teens.

“As a kid, I wrote,” he said. “And throughout my military career, I was writing. It was a lot of legal and technical documents for the military.”

He launched a blog of his more personal writing — Bryant said he’s also an “amateur philosopher” — as a “pet project, just an outlet for me to get some writing out there.”

His writing took a more concentrated turn about four years ago after now-retired Major General Pittard, who had been selected in 2014 to lead the initial U.S. response to halt the spread of ISIS in Iraq, contacted Bryant about collaborating on a book about their military experiences in the Middle East.

The result is “Hunting the Caliphate,” published by Post Hill Press, and Bryant said he is “ecstatic” about the volume.

The 352-page book has already been met with much praise. Four months ago, the U.S. Army Center for Military History “reached out to us and requested an advance copy,” Bryant said.

Senior Army Historian Mark J. Reardon “loved the material,” Bryant said, adding that “aspects of [the book] have been incorporated since into the official U.S. history of the war against ISIS.”

Praising the upcoming volume, Reardon called it “simply excellent,” and declared it “the first account to give sustained insights into the events and personalities shaping the war on ISIS that academics and journalists have been unable to capture except in snapshots.”

Contributing the book’s forward is retired U.S. Army General David Petraeus, a 37-year veteran of the U.S. Army and, from Sept. 2011 to November 2012, director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

“He gave it a great forward,” Bryant said. “And to his credit, some of my portion of the book, on Afghanistan, I actually was critical of some of what we were doing there, and he was part of that and he didn’t hold it against me. He was very objective.”

Bryant notes the book is aimed at a wide readership, not just military historians.

“As I neared the end of my career, I realized the public often is very unaware of the totality of what’s going on with our combat operations, as well as how and why we’re conducting combat operations,” he said. “We just get snippets. We get things from politicians who often are jaded or a little bit off because they’re disconnected themselves. So Dana and I thought we should write something, not just some stories, but a history and a real in-depth look at what was happening, and we shaped it for a general audience.”

Bryant has lined up a couple of promotional appearances for the new book, including a Sept. 7 (from 11 a.m. to noon) appearance at McIntyre’s Books, 2000 Fearrington Village Center, Pittsboro, to discuss and sign copies of the book.

He’s also writing another memoir about his experiences in the military.

“I view all of this writing and speaking that I’m doing with the book and my media contribution as ways that I can contribute positively to our society,” said Bryant, “as well as influence our international policy. Locally, I have other ways that I strive to contribute. Part of that is in teaching martial arts. I’m especially impassioned about reaching youth, because the martial arts turned me around as a kid. I began as a volunteer for the YMCA a few years ago, and that evolved into being a part-time employee with them as a professional instructor.”

Bryant currently teaches adult Tai Chi once a week at the Pittsboro YMCA, “and I’ve created and taught both after-school and summer camp workshops in Kung Fu, self-defense, and anti-bullying for kids aged Pre-K through 5th grade for all Chatham County schools for the past two years,” he said.

“Most recently,” said Bryant, “I am in process of becoming certified through the YMCA’s Livestrong program. This is a program that is run through the YMCA in partnership with Bluecross/Blueshield to help adult cancer survivors with physical and emotional rehabilitation. I am proud to be helping the Pittsboro Y’s Wellness Director — Sarah Wright — run this location’s very first Livestrong program starting this fall. And it will only be Sarah and I running this first program. I will be giving classes in Tai Chi/Kung Fu, martial stretching, and body-weight strength training for the cancer survivors enrolled in the program. I’m really looking forward to it.”

“Hunting the Caliphate” will be available at bookstores, and on-line outlets including Amazon and Barnes and Noble, on August 27 and may be pre-ordered online.