First Platoon

A Story of Modern War in the Age of Identity Dominance

By: Annie Jacobsen

Narrated by: Annie Jacobsen

A powerful story of war in our time, of love of country, the experience of tragedy, and a platoon at the center of it all.

This is a story that starts off close and goes very big. The initial part of the story might sound familiar at first: it is about a platoon of mostly 19-year-old boys sent to Afghanistan, and an experience that ends abruptly in catastrophe. Their part of the story folds into the next: inexorably linked to those soldiers and never comprehensively reported before is the US Department of Defense’s quest to build the world’s most powerful biometrics database, with the ability to identify, monitor, catalog, and police people all over the world.

First Platoon is an American saga that illuminates a transformation of society made possible by this new technology. Part war story, part legal drama, it is about identity in the age of identification. About humanity - physical bravery, trauma, PTSD, a yearning to do right and good - in the age of biometrics, which reduce people to iris scans, fingerprint scans, voice patterning, detection by odor, gait, and more. And about the power of point of view in a burgeoning surveillance state.

Based on hundreds of formerly classified documents, FOIA requests, and exclusive interviews, First Platoon is an investigative exposé by a master chronicler of government secrets. First Platoon reveals a post-9/11 Pentagon whose identification machines have grown more capable than the humans who must make sense of them. A Pentagon so powerful it can cover up its own internal mistakes in pursuit of endless wars. And a people at its mercy, in its last moments before a fundamental change so complete it might be impossible to take back.

©2021 Annie Jacobsen (P)2021 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

One of Houston Chronicle's "10 Books That Brought a Little Magic to Their Genres" in 2021

One of Science for the People's "Best Science Books of the Year"

On The Octavian's 2021 Book List

“Jacobsen brings empathy, compassion, compelling writing and some truly dogged reporting.” (The Washington Post)

“Jacobsen follows the lives of Americans told to gather that data in Afghanistan - and she questions what the U.S. government means to do with it all.” (NPR)

“A deeply researched book about modern warfare. A startling prompt to stop worrying about fabricated conspiracy theories and to consider for a moment actual threats to privacy.” (Houston Chronicle)

Narration

I thought the writer narrating he own work would be better than average. In this case, not so much. She pauses in the middle of sentences, as you do, but the places she choses to stop are weird. Right from the beginning of the book, her speech patterns took me right out of the story. The material is compelling, and I enjoyed it immensely. Just wish I had not done this book as "audio".

Her knowledge

Very interesting and will make you think (perhaps worry) about the current state of technological

Incredible Journalism

Annie paints a picture of a dystopian future driven by DNA, future crime prediction, and the reduction of a human to a digital, probabilistic value. Incredible research and storytelling has this prescient book sitting extraordinarily well in the spirit of the age.

Great listen

It was really interesting hearing the story. Since I was on the same deployment as First platoon. 2012 was a crazy year.

Big brother is already stalking us

A fascinating story of broken promises and broken lives on both sides of the Afghan conflict. A troubling view into emerging biometric and data analysis technologies that imply our government is close to achieving some of the goals the goals of Total Information Awareness through persistent surveillance systems. A warning we should heed!

Great connection with the author and her passion on biometrics.

I valued the sad stories about veterans who killed themselves. It’s difficult to hear about but I’m glad Annie Jacobson shared their stories in an honorable way.

very interesting overall

excellent narrator. story is very intertwined and pertinent to the direction of military. raises important points about surveillance

THIS IS NON-FICTION

All I have to say is this is more scary than science fiction. Everyone should understand the gravity of the situation that Annie is reporting on. This is the kind of reporting and book writing we need more of. I highly recommend you read this book if you consider it. Laws cannot keep up with technology, and we need help regulating the people that are supposed to be writing the laws. Feels more like 1984 after reading this book.

Another great investigative book by Annie Jacobson

Annie brings a complete history and story to organizations and systems that are not well known or documented. This is an enlightening book an American should read and know about it.

Eye opening

Wasnt sure about this book at first but had read or listened to everything else Annie Jacobsen has out… like the other books this did not disappoint. Completely underestimated the capabilities of some of these systems. Hard to believe its not in play here at home.