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A Army Combat Chaplain's Deployment to Afghanistan with the 173rd Airborne Brigade

We Went to War takes readers inside a nine-month combat deployment to Afghanistan with the paratroopers of the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment—"The Rock"—of the 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team. Tom Latham deployed with them as their battalion chaplain, moving between forward operating bases and remote combat outposts during one of the most dangerous periods of the war. The deployment brought small-arms fire, rockets, mortars, IEDs, suicide attacks, casualties, and the constant knowledge that the next mission could change everything. But this is more than a story about combat. It is about the men who fought the war, the friendships formed between them, the families waiting at home, and a chaplain trying to care for soldiers while living through the same dangers they faced. Written largely from memories and material recorded during the deployment itself, We Went to War is a firsthand account of courage, brotherhood, faith, loss, and what daily life was really like inside America's war in Afghanistan.

9 Characteristics of Personal Success

What makes one person succeed while another gives up? In SUCCESS: 9 Characteristics of Personal Success, Tom Latham draws from a lifetime of military service, leadership, ministry, business, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, travel, and personal experience to identify nine characteristics that can increase your chances of success. Using the word SUCCESS as his framework, Latham explores Surpassing, Unity, Character, Competence, Commitment, Emotional Energy, Sagacity, Service, and Opportunity. Through personal stories, practical lessons, historical examples, and biblical principles, he examines how these characteristics work together when pursuing meaningful goals. SUCCESS isn't about becoming someone else's definition of successful. It is about recognizing opportunity, overcoming obstacles, building competence, developing strong relationships, controlling your emotional energy, gaining wisdom, serving others, and staying committed long enough to accomplish something worthwhile. You define what success means to you. This book gives you a framework for pursuing it.

A bilingual collection

Two languages. Two countries. One life expressed through poetry. Tom's Anthology of American and Brazilian Portuguese Poetry brings together poems written in English and Portuguese and shaped by a life lived between the United States and Brazil—and by experiences that stretch from war and military service to motorcycles, travel, relationships, nature, healing, love, and faith. The collection unfolds through eight acts, moving from conflict toward resolution: War & Politics, Nature & Objects, Survival & Healing, Motorcycles & Travel, Inspiration & Exploration, Craft, Love & Friendship, and Worship. Some poems are hard and abrupt. Others are intimate, reflective, spiritual, or filled with wonder. Together they reveal the different worlds that have influenced Tom Latham's writing: soldier and traveler, American and Brazilian resident, husband, believer, motorcyclist, and poet. This is poetry meant to be felt as much as read—a bilingual journey through conflict, healing, love, faith, and the experiences that leave their marks on a life.

A Military Thriller

Afghanistan. The middle of the Global War on Terror. Sergeant First Class John Shield arrives at Forward Operating Base Wright as an experienced paratrooper and platoon sergeant leading his men into another combat deployment. Almost immediately, the war begins taking its toll. His lieutenant is killed. Then Shield loses something else: his platoon. Removed from the position that has defined him as a soldier, Shield is reassigned as the FOB mayor—the man responsible for keeping a remote American base functioning while everyone else fights the war outside the wire. Shield is furious, isolated, and carrying a mission of his own. He wants revenge for his lieutenant. From behind the HESCO barriers, T-walls, plywood B-huts, guard towers, and bureaucracy of an American forward operating base, Shield discovers that a war is being fought inside the wire as well as outside it. Soldiers, contractors, commanders, personalities, regulations, and the absurdities of military life collide while the Taliban waits beyond the perimeter. Shield wants back into the fight. But first, he has to survive The FOB.