Second Pacific Crucible. Anything by Toll is bound to be well written and meticulously researched.
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REQUEST: Good aviation/military books
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WEGL12
VT-28
That is a really good book. I read it several years ago then saw the movie which is pretty good as well. Interesting you say it still relevant in current times. Another good one is Sole Survivor, which is based around VT-8 and Ensign George Gay during the Battle of Midway.
Put it this way. Do you remember Biff's Almanac in Back to the Future II?
There's also a book called The Arnheiter Affair...it's a real life Caine Mutiny during the Vietnam War.
When it comes to people and power trips, some things will NEVER change.
Just finishing up reading The Admirals by Walter Borneman. It is about the 4 5-star Admirals in the Navy (Leahy, King, Nimitz, and Halsey) AS part of it, I is the best naval history of WWII that I have read.
WEGL12
VT-28
I see what you are referring to now. But I agree that it is a must read for anyone considering/in the process of becoming a Naval officer (like myself).
BigRed: I'll have to read that book, never heard of it before. Another good one about leadership and involving a mutiny is Troubled Water. It covers a major race riot/attempted mutiny aboard the Kitty Hawk back in the 1970s.
I enjoyed Sea Harrier Over the Falklands written by CDR Nigel 'Sharky' Ward, a Sea Harrier squadron CO during the Falklands War. He has a bit of an axe to grind which is a little distracting but overall an excellent account of the Sea Harrier's part in the war. Another first-hand account is Hostile Skies by an RAF pilot who flew Sea Harriers in the war, it was decent as well but not as good and a little bit more self-centered (I could have done without the pining for his German mistress 
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Great book. Somewhat in a similar vein (though not really), when I was the squadron PAO, I was looking through some old historical "logs" that the JO's had kept from back in the day. One of the entries was "squadron detaches to Nellis AFB for Constant Peg". Was sometime in the mid-1980's, and was totally innocuous but pretty cool knowing the real truth now. There also was a pretty wild entry later on, I'm guessing during the Libya strike that was "CAG shot down, aircraft 3XX lost, ejects into Med". How crazy that must have been.....
I enjoyed Sea Harrier Over the Falklands written by CDR Nigel 'Sharky' Ward, a Sea Harrier squadron CO during the Falklands War. He has a bit of an axe to grind which is a little distracting but overall an excellent account of the Sea Harrier's part in the war. Another first-hand account is Hostile Skies by an RAF pilot who flew Sea Harriers in the war, it was decent as well but not as good and a little bit more self-centered (I could have done without the pining for his German mistress
Just ordered them both - thanks Flash!
It was actually a strike into Lebanon on 4 December 1983, a real goat rope from what I understand but one that actually helped spur the establishment of NSAWC.
wow, that is impressive internet sleuthing sir
I actually thought Lebanon as I typed that, but then I thought.....well it must have been Libya instead. I guess my identity has been outed to AW.....though my AW membership is related to the last two letters of my call sign so I guess that is fitting. Trolling of my AW posts by the JOPA is a favorite bored duty day activity as far as I can tell.
wow, that is impressive internet sleuthing sir
I have a keen interest in recent history, especially aviation, and know the Navy didn't lose anyone to hostile fire during the Libya strikes. I know we did lose an A-6 and an A-7 in the Lebanon strike and with a MODEX of 3XX I figured it was the A-7, after that it wasn't too hard to find some references. While I am a little reluctant to link it due to some inaccuracy and hyperbole, ACIG's summary of the strike (starting halfway down the page where the litho of the F-14 is) shows you a little bit how screwed up the strike was. Not impressed they can't figure out who was flying the A-7 when I found it in 2 mins on Google.......
Sorry I 'outed' you!
I wouldn't normally pony up the Osprey Challenge series but in this case, F-86 vs MiG-15 in the Korean War, this particular book was well done. Very short, only 80 pages but the author did a good job breaking down the admitted losses in air combat by both sides. The three primary players were the Soviets, Chinese and Americans with the North Koreans coming into play as well.
http://www.amazon.com/F-86-Sabre-MiG-15-Korea-1950-53/dp/178096319X
The USAF has for years claimed a 10:1 kill ratio was the Sabre over the Mig-15 but in reality, it was in favor of the Sabre, 5.835:1 over the MiG-15. The Soviets sent their best pilots to the fight from early 1951 to July 1952. Initially they flew the standard MiG-15 but got beat up a bit by the Sabres until they received the MiG-15bis which placed the MiG ahead in performance at altitude over the Sabre. The Soviet 303rd IAD and 324th IAD were made up of experience WWII aviators and aces, a lot like the USAF had many experienced pilots and aces from WWII. Of course these Soviet pilots were called the "Honcho's" and they pulled out of the war in July 1952. The overall result was 49 Soviet MiG's shot down to 35 F-86 Sabre's, a kill ratio of 1.4:1 for the F-86. Though prior to the MiG-15bis arriving, the kill ratio was 8:1 in favor of the F-86A Sabre. Against the Honcho's in the MiG-15bis, the kill ratio fell to 1.2:1 in favor of the Sabre.
After July 1952, the Soviets still sent squadrons but they were mainly inexperienced pilots. The book talks about the average Soviet MiG-15 pilot had a total of 50 hours when they arrived in theater. The average American USAF Sabre pilot had around 330 hours, 80 of which were in the Sabre. The Chinese and North Koreans were just as bad. In addition, the improved versions of the Sabre came onto line, with the F-86F finally matching or beating the MiG-15bis in most performance categories. The ROE's changed a bit too, allowing US pilots to chase Mig's into China and blast them from the pattern.
The end result was: the Chinese admitted 224 Mig's lost to Sabre's; the Soviets admit 309 Soviet MiG's lost to Sabre's and approximately 33 NK MiG-15's shot down by the F-86. Our losses show 224 F-86's losses to all causes, 92 of which were lost to MiG-15's, including 78 shot down in battle and 14 lost to fuel starvation or damage caused by the Mig-15. The post Honcho kill ratio was 9:1 in favor of the Soviets but the overall kill ratio including the combat and losses by the 324th and 303rd was the 5.8:1 kill ratio. A victory but it shows when pilots are evenly matched, with similar aircraft, the results were not one sided but a near draw.
The results also show that our pilots exaggerated their kills by approximately 30% while the Soviets exaggerated their kills by approximately 600%!!! They claimed 640 F-86's shot down!!
http://www.amazon.com/F-86-Sabre-MiG-15-Korea-1950-53/dp/178096319X
The USAF has for years claimed a 10:1 kill ratio was the Sabre over the Mig-15 but in reality, it was in favor of the Sabre, 5.835:1 over the MiG-15. The Soviets sent their best pilots to the fight from early 1951 to July 1952. Initially they flew the standard MiG-15 but got beat up a bit by the Sabres until they received the MiG-15bis which placed the MiG ahead in performance at altitude over the Sabre. The Soviet 303rd IAD and 324th IAD were made up of experience WWII aviators and aces, a lot like the USAF had many experienced pilots and aces from WWII. Of course these Soviet pilots were called the "Honcho's" and they pulled out of the war in July 1952. The overall result was 49 Soviet MiG's shot down to 35 F-86 Sabre's, a kill ratio of 1.4:1 for the F-86. Though prior to the MiG-15bis arriving, the kill ratio was 8:1 in favor of the F-86A Sabre. Against the Honcho's in the MiG-15bis, the kill ratio fell to 1.2:1 in favor of the Sabre.
After July 1952, the Soviets still sent squadrons but they were mainly inexperienced pilots. The book talks about the average Soviet MiG-15 pilot had a total of 50 hours when they arrived in theater. The average American USAF Sabre pilot had around 330 hours, 80 of which were in the Sabre. The Chinese and North Koreans were just as bad. In addition, the improved versions of the Sabre came onto line, with the F-86F finally matching or beating the MiG-15bis in most performance categories. The ROE's changed a bit too, allowing US pilots to chase Mig's into China and blast them from the pattern.
The end result was: the Chinese admitted 224 Mig's lost to Sabre's; the Soviets admit 309 Soviet MiG's lost to Sabre's and approximately 33 NK MiG-15's shot down by the F-86. Our losses show 224 F-86's losses to all causes, 92 of which were lost to MiG-15's, including 78 shot down in battle and 14 lost to fuel starvation or damage caused by the Mig-15. The post Honcho kill ratio was 9:1 in favor of the Soviets but the overall kill ratio including the combat and losses by the 324th and 303rd was the 5.8:1 kill ratio. A victory but it shows when pilots are evenly matched, with similar aircraft, the results were not one sided but a near draw.
The results also show that our pilots exaggerated their kills by approximately 30% while the Soviets exaggerated their kills by approximately 600%!!! They claimed 640 F-86's shot down!!
Sorry I 'outed' you!
No worries, like I said, I was outed a long time ago in my squadron, so I guess it is only fair that I am outed on AW as well