Download or read book Hogs in the Sand A Gulf War A 10 Pilot s Combat Journal written by Buck Wyndham and published by Koehler Books. This book was released on 2020-08-24 with total page 440 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "I am awed by my destructive power. With a small squeeze of the gun trigger under my right index finger, I can rip the turret off a thirty-ton battle tank and throw it 200 feet across the desert, while the rest of the tank burns in an explosion of white-hot, burning phosphorescence. But the cold, morbid reality of it does not exist from where I sit and watch it happen. There's no dramatic chord. No deafening explosion. No screams suddenly stifled. The soundtrack of a pilot's war is mostly silent." The mighty, iconic A-10 Warthog was first thrust into battle in Operation Desert Storm. The men who took it through walls of flak and surface-to-air missiles to help defeat the world's fourth-largest army were as untested as their airplanes, so they relied on personal determination and the amazing A-10 to accomplish their missions, despite the odds. Hogs in the Sand is the gripping journey of one of those pilots as he fights an increasingly terrifying war, all the while attempting to win over a woman and keep control of his internal demons. For anyone who has admired the Warthog, seen it in action, or called upon it to be their salvation, this story will fulfill a desire to virtually strap into the cockpit, while gaining unprecedented understanding of the mind of a modern combat pilot.

Download or read book Hogs in the Sand A Gulf War A 10 Pilot s Combat Journal written by Buck Wyndham and published by Koehler Books. This book was released on 2020-08-24 with total page 440 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "I am awed by my destructive power. With a small squeeze of the gun trigger under my right index finger, I can rip the turret off a thirty-ton battle tank and throw it 200 feet across the desert, while the rest of the tank burns in an explosion of white-hot, burning phosphorescence. But the cold, morbid reality of it does not exist from where I sit and watch it happen. There's no dramatic chord. No deafening explosion. No screams suddenly stifled. The soundtrack of a pilot's war is mostly silent." The mighty, iconic A-10 Warthog was first thrust into battle in Operation Desert Storm. The men who took it through walls of flak and surface-to-air missiles to help defeat the world's fourth-largest army were as untested as their airplanes, so they relied on personal determination and the amazing A-10 to accomplish their missions, despite the odds. Hogs in the Sand is the gripping journey of one of those pilots as he fights an increasingly terrifying war, all the while attempting to win over a woman and keep control of his internal demons. For anyone who has admired the Warthog, seen it in action, or called upon it to be their salvation, this story will fulfill a desire to virtually strap into the cockpit, while gaining unprecedented understanding of the mind of a modern combat pilot.

Download or read book Viper Pilot Enhanced Edition written by Dan Hampton and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2012-10-02 with total page 313 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Get inside the cockpit with Dan Hampton, the military’s most decorated F-16 pilot, in this enhanced e-book edition of Viper Pilot. Exclusive to this edition are 11 video interviews, where Hampton talks candidly about his time as a Wild Weasel and about the fighter jet that kept him alive through so many dangerous skirmishes. In addition, an interactive “first-person” cockpit diagram lets you get deeper into the action, providing a visual companion to the book that leaves you feeling like you’re sitting in the iconic F-16 itself. 151 combat missions 21 hard kills on surface-to-air-missile sites 4 Distinguished Flying Crosses with Valor 1 Purple Heart Sure to rank as one of the greatest aviation memoirs ever written, Viper Pilot is an Air Force legend's thrilling eyewitness account of modern air warfare. From 1986 to 2006, Lt. Col. Dan Hampton was a leading member of the Wild Weasels, the elite Air Force fighter squadrons whose mission is recognized as the most dangerous job in modern air combat. Weasels are the first planes sent into a war zone, flying deep behind enemy lines purposely seeking to draw fire from surface-to-air missiles and artillery. They must skillfully evade being shot down—and then return to destroy the threats, thereby making the skies safe for everyone else to follow. Today these vital missions are more hazardous than direct air-to-air engagement with enemy aircraft. Hampton's record number of strikes on high-value targets make him the most lethal F-16 Wild Weasel pilot in American history. This is his remarkable story. Taught to fly at an early age by his father, Hampton logged twenty years and 608 combat hours in the world's most iconic fighter jet: the F-16 "Fighting Falcon," or "Viper" as its pilots call it. Hampton spearheaded the 2003 invasion of Iraq, leading the first flight of fighters over the border en route to strike Baghdad. In the war that followed, he engaged in a series of brilliantly executed missions that earned him three Distinguished Flying Crosses with Valor; he notably saved a U.S. Marine unit from certain death by taking out the surrounding enemy forces near Nasiriyah. Two years earlier, on 9/11, Hampton's father was inside the Pentagon when it was attacked; with his dad's fate unknown, Hampton was scrambled into American skies and given the unprecedented orders to shoot down any unidentified aircraft. Hampton also flew critical missions in the first Gulf War, served on the Air Combat Command staff during the Kosovo War, and was injured in the 1996 Khobar Towers terrorist attack. With manned missions rapidly giving way to remote-controlled UAV drones, Viper Pilot may be the last memoir by a true hero of the skies. Gripping and irreverently humorous, it is an unforgettable look into the closed world of fighter pilots and modern air combat. Please note that due to the large file size of these special features this enhanced e-book may take longer to download then a standard e-book.

Download or read book Vipers in the Storm Diary of a Gulf War Fighter Pilot written by Keith Rosenkranz and published by McGraw Hill Professional. This book was released on 2002-05-15 with total page 345 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During Operation Desert Storm, Captain Keith Rosenkranz piloted his F-16 "Viper" in 30 combat missions. Here he recounts these experiences in searing, "you-are-there" detail, giving readers one of the most riveting depictions ever written of man and machine at war.

Download or read book From F 4 Phantom to A 10 Warthog written by Steve Ladd and published by Air World. This book was released on 2020-09-30 with total page 269 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This behind-the-scenes account of a USAF career is “an absorbing read, written with the classic humor fighter pilots seem to have” (Flight Line Book Review). From Baron von Richthofen to Robin Olds, the mystique of the fighter pilot endures. The skill, cunning, and bravery that characterizes this distinctive band of brothers is well known, but there are other dimensions to those who take to the skies to do battle that have not been given the emphasis they deserve—until now. You don’t have to be an aviation aficionado to enjoy Colonel Steve Ladd’s fascinating personal tale, woven around his twenty-eight-year career as a fighter pilot. This extremely engaging account follows a young man from basic pilot training to senior command through narratives that define a unique ethos. From the United States to Southeast Asia, Europe to the Middle East, the amusing and tongue-in-cheek to the deadly serious and poignant, this is the lifelong journey of a fighter pilot. The anecdotes are absorbing, providing an insight into life as an Air Force pilot, but, in this book, as Colonel Ladd stresses, the focus is not on fireworks or stirring tales of derring-do. Instead, this is an articulate and absorbing account of what life is really like among a rare breed of arrogant, cocky, boisterous, and fun-loving young men who readily transform into steely professionals at the controls of a fighter aircraft. “This book will appeal to a variety of readers with its Vietnam War combat stories and accounts of flying the Warthog in Cold War Europe. Fun, flying, international experiences—you won’t want to put it down.” —Aviation News

Download or read book Strike Eagle written by William L. Smallwood and published by Potomac Books. This book was released on 1997 with total page 244 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Inside the cockpit of one of the world's most advanced fighters

Download or read book A 10s Over Kosovo written by Phil M. Haun and published by www.Militarybookshop.CompanyUK. This book was released on 2011 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First published in 2003. The NATO-led Operation Allied Force was fought in 1999 to stop Serb atrocities against ethnic Albanians in Kosovo. This war, as noted by the distinguished military historian John Keegan, "marked a real turning point . . . and proved that a war can be won by airpower alone." Colonels Haave and Haun have organized firsthand accounts of some of the people who provided that airpower-the members of the 40th Expeditionary Operations Group. Their descriptions-a new wingman's first combat sortie, a support officer's view of a fighter squadron relocation during combat, and a Sandy's leadership in finding and rescuing a downed F-117 pilot-provide the reader with a legitimate insight into an air war at the tactical level and the airpower that helped convince the Serbian president, Slobodan Milosevic, to capitulate.

Download or read book Warthog written by William L. Smallwood and published by Potomac Books. This book was released on 2005-03 with total page 241 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Describes the characteristics of the A-10 Warthog, recounts its role in the Persian Gulf War, and shares the impressions and experiences of Gulf War pilots.

Download or read book The Hunter Killers written by Dan Hampton and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2015-06-02 with total page 507 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At the height of the Cold War, America's most elite aviators bravely volunteered for a covert program aimed at eliminating an impossible new threat. Half never returned. All became legends. From New York Times bestselling author Dan Hampton comes one of the most extraordinary untold stories of aviation history. Vietnam, 1965: On July 24 a USAF F-4 Phantom jet was suddenly blown from the sky by a mysterious and lethal weapon—a Soviet SA-2 surface-to-air missile (SAM), launched by Russian "advisors" to North Vietnam. Three days later, six F-105 Thunderchiefs were brought down trying to avenge the Phantom. More tragic losses followed, establishing the enemy's SAMs as the deadliest anti-aircraft threat in history and dramatically turning the tables of Cold War air superiority in favor of Soviet technology. Stunned and desperately searching for answers, the Pentagon ordered a top secret program called Wild Weasel I to counter the SAM problem—fast. So it came to be that a small group of maverick fighter pilots and Electronic Warfare Officers volunteered to fly behind enemy lines and into the teeth of the threat. To most it seemed a suicide mission—but they beat the door down to join. Those who survived the 50 percent casualty rate would revolutionize warfare forever. "You gotta be sh*#@ing me!" This immortal phrase was uttered by Captain Jack Donovan when the Wild Weasel concept was first explained to him. "You want me to fly in the back of a little tiny fighter aircraft with a crazy fighter pilot who thinks he's invincible, home in on a SAM site in North Vietnam, and shoot it before it shoots me?" Based on unprecedented firsthand interviews with Wild Weasel veterans and previously unseen personal papers and declassified documents from both sides of the conflict, as well as Dan Hampton's own experience as a highly decorated F-16 Wild Weasel pilot, The Hunter Killers is a gripping, cockpit-level chronicle of the first-generation Weasels, the remarkable band of aviators who faced head-on the advanced Soviet missile technology that was decimating fellow American pilots over the skies of Vietnam.

Download or read book The Praetorian STARShip the untold story of the Combat Talon written by and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2001 with total page 507 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jerry Thigpen's study on the history of the Combat Talon is the first effort to tell the story of this wonderfully capable machine. This weapons system has performed virtually every imaginable tactical event in the spectrum of conflict and by any measure is the most versatile C-130 derivative ever produced. First modified and sent to Southeast Asia (SEA) in 1966 to replace theater unconventional warfare (UW) assets that were limited in both lift capability and speed the Talon I quickly adapted to theater UW tasking including infiltration and resupply and psychological warfare operations into North Vietnam. After spending four years in SEA and maturing into a highly respected UW weapons system the Joint Chief of Staff (JCS) chose the Combat Talon to lead the night low-level raid on the North Vietnamese prison camp at Son Tay. Despite the outcome of the operation the Talon I cemented its reputation as the weapons system of choice for long-range clandestine operations. In the period following the Vietnam War United States Air Force (USAF) special operations gradually lost its political and financial support which was graphically demonstrated in the failed Desert One mission into Iran. Thanks to congressional supporters like Earl Hutto of Florida and Dan Daniel of Virginia funds for aircraft upgrades and military construction projects materialized to meet the ever-increasing threat to our nation. Under the leadership of such committed hard-driven officers as Brenci Uttaro Ferkes Meller and Thigpen the crew force became the most disciplined in our Air Force. It was capable of penetrating hostile airspace at night in a low-level mountainous environment covertly to execute any number of unconventional warfare missions.

Download or read book Sierra Hotel flying Air Force fighters in the decade after Vietnam written by and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2001 with total page 228 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In February 1999, only a few weeks before the U.S. Air Force spearheaded NATO's Allied Force air campaign against Serbia, Col. C.R. Anderegg, USAF (Ret.), visited the commander of the U.S. Air Forces in Europe. Colonel Anderegg had known Gen. John Jumper since they had served together as jet forward air controllers in Southeast Asia nearly thirty years earlier. From the vantage point of 1999, they looked back to the day in February 1970, when they first controlled a laser-guided bomb strike. In this book Anderegg takes us from "glimmers of hope" like that one through other major improvements in the Air Force that came between the Vietnam War and the Gulf War. Always central in Anderegg's account of those changes are the people who made them. This is a very personal book by an officer who participated in the transformation he describes so vividly. Much of his story revolves around the Fighter Weapons School at Nellis Air Force Base (AFB), Nevada, where he served two tours as an instructor pilot specializing in guided munitions.

Download or read book Apollo s Warriors written by Michael E. Haas and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 1998-05 with total page 388 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Presenting a fascinating insider's view of U.S.A.F. special operations, this volume brings to life the critical contributions these forces have made to the exercise of air & space power. Focusing in particular on the period between the Korean War & the Indochina wars of 1950-1979, the accounts of numerous missions are profusely illustrated with photos & maps. Includes a discussion of AF operations in Europe during WWII, as well as profiles of Air Commandos who performed above & beyond the call of duty. Reflects on the need for financial & political support for restoration of the forces. Bibliography. Extensive photos & maps. Charts & tables.

Download or read book Da Nang Diary written by Tom Yarborough and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2002-09-16 with total page 366 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: THEY FLEW LOW, SLOW, AND INTO THE FACE OF ENEMY FIRE... In Vietnam, an elite group of air force pilots fought a secret air war in Cessna 0-2 and OV-10 Bronco prop planes-flying as low as they could get. The eyes and ears of the fast-moving jets who rained death and destruction down on enemy positions, the forward air controller made an art form out of an air strike-knowing the targets, knowing where friendly troops were, and reacting with split-second, life and death decisions as a battle unfolded. For Tom Yarborough, the risk was constant, intense, electrifying. A member of the super secret Prairie Fire unit, Yarborough became one of the most frequently shot-up pilots flying out of Da Nang-engaging in a series of dangerous secret missions in Laos. This is Yarborough's adrenaline-pumping chronicle of heroism, danger, and brotherhood in Vietnam. From the rescuing of downed pilots to taking out enemy positions, to the most harrowing day-long missions, here is the dedication, courage, and skill of the fliers who took the war into the enemy's backyard...

Download or read book Skybreak written by Mike Guardia and published by . This book was released on 2021-07 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The top MiG-killing aces of Operation Desert Storm.

Download or read book Tanker Pilot written by Mark Hasara and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2017-11-07 with total page 374 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From a veteran air-refueling expert who flew missions for over two decades during the Cold War, Gulf War, and Iraq War comes a thrilling eyewitness account of modern warfare, with inspirational stories and crucial lessons for people on the battlefield, in boardrooms, and in their everyday lives. Get a glimpse of life in the pilot’s seat and experience modern air warfare directly from a true American hero. Lt. Col Mark Hasara—who has twenty-four years’ experience in flying missions around the world—provides keen and eye-opening insights on success and failure, and emphasizes the importance of always being willing to learn. He provides twelve essential lessons based on his wartime experience and his own personal photographs from his missions during the Cold War, Gulf War, and Iraq War. With a foreword by #1 New York Times bestselling author and radio host Rush Limbaugh, this is a military memoir not to be missed.

Download or read book Five Nickels written by Jim “Boots” Demarest and published by Permuted Press. This book was released on 2022-02-15 with total page 221 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On February 15, 1991, Captain Steve Phillis was leading his wingman, Lieutenant Rob Sweet, on their thirtieth combat mission of Desert Storm flying the A-10 Warthog. They were tasked with attacking Iraq’s vaunted Medina Division of the Republican Guards—by far their most dangerous mission of the war. Near the end of their attacks, Rob was forced to eject from his aircraft and began a five-minute parachute ride down to the troops he and Steve had just finished bombing. Steve, an experienced combat search and rescue pilot and distinguished graduate of the Air Force Fighter Weapons School, immediately sprang into action to save the life of his wingman. After spending three minutes and forty-five seconds circling Sweet, Steve’s A-10 was hit by an enemy surface-to-air missile. Five Nickels: True Story of the Desert Storm Heroics and Sacrifice of Air Force Captain Steve Phillis, is a love story. Steve loved his family, fiancée, fellow fighter pilots, country, wingman, and life. Yet he was willing to risk them all to fight—and if necessary, die—for what he believed in. Steve’s story—from Rock Island, Illinois to the Air Force Academy, to his life as an A-10 fighter pilot—is the stuff of heroes. As Steve’s Academy classmate and boxing partner, fellow fighter pilot and “Top Gun” graduate, Jim “Boots” Demarest is uniquely qualified to tell Steve’s story. A gifted storyteller, Boots shares his experience with Steve from the Academy Boxing Team to paint a complete picture of the man who had so much to live for, yet was willing to risk it all to do the right thing. Five Nickels is filled with the details of Steve’s life and loves that will capture, enchant, and pull readers in. His story of combat heroics in the face of incredible danger will captivate and inspire all who read it.

Download or read book Low and Fast written by Charles Banks and published by . This book was released on 2020-07-22 with total page 185 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: (Color Version) Many people have approached me asking what it felt like to fly jet fighters. In fact, most people have never flown in a small plane. They truly are missing the most incredible feeling of being airborne alone, among the clouds, looking down at the ground and feeling amazingly free. All takeoffs and landings are thrilling. These feelings are more or less intense for each type of plane flown.As you look back through our history, various conflicts dictated different missions and types of aircraft. Industry changed designs of airframes and weapons based on the mission, cost, and time to manufacture. In the 1970's and 80's, during the tensions of the Cold War, numerous borders around the world were being contested, sometimes using military force. Communist and Socialist dictators were taking over many countries. There was a worldwide feeling that it could all explode into World War III at any moment.In that climate, military pilots worldwide constantly prepared for the worst, hoping that being fully prepared would deter political and military action. This is the story of one of the pilots who flew the F-4, the F-105, the F-111, and the O-2 in defense of his country.This pilot prepared for fighting at high or low speed and high or low altitude with most of the missiles, rockets, and bombs that a fighter aircraft could carry. His missions in Vietnam steeled him for deadly combat. This combat experience prepared him to protect our country and our allies in the Far East and in Europe throughout a loyal career.