REQUEST: Good aviation/military books

[HeyJoe]

Robert Wilcox

In "Scream of Eagles" Robert Wilcox [URL="http://www.robertkwilcox.com/ [/URL] captures the spirit of the Navy Fighter Community in mid to late sixties when the need for and idea of a Fighter Weapons School was born. Told in "Right Stuff" dramatic narrative (he is a Hollywood screen writer and it shows). He interviewed the right folks and captured all the pertinent events.

He then moved on to the Fighter Community post creation of Topgun and profiled stories of many of the top sticks in "Wings of Fury" which brings the story into late eighties and early nineties. He followed that up with a profile of VF-41 in their epic Kosovo combat deployment in 99 flying the F-14A on missions scarely imagined in the early days of the Tomcat. All are worth a read and ideally in sequence.

 

[2c_stars_at_noo]

A Lonley Kind of War by Marshall Harrison

About a forward air controller in Vietnam flying the OV-10 Bronco. Its by far one of my favorite flying books. The writing is vivid and the story is absolutely incredible.

 

[HeyJoe]

A Lonley Kind of War by Marshall Harrison

About a forward air controller in Vietnam flying the OV-10 Bronco. Its by far one of my favorite flying books. The writing is vivid and the story is absolutely incredible.

Speaking of lonely wars or cockpits...

My Secret War by Richard Drury is a true JO's book about flying the A-1 Skyraider in Laos for the USAF and hanging it all out in the cockpit while railing against USAF bureaucracy. Awesome flying story of little known activities. Sorry, no cover photo found.

Another one that was a surpiser sleeper hit is "To War in a Stringbag". I got this by accident from the book of the month club and was about to send it back, but opened it up and thumbed through it and got hooked. Charles Lamb flew the antiquated Swordfish biplane in World War II off British Carriers and ashore. Amazing stories of real flying throughout the book.

 

[HeyJoe]

Steve Ewing has given Naval Aviation a trilogy of three lions of leadership from the early days of World War II. The first effort was on the eventful, but tragically short career of Butch O'Hare; the Medal of Honor winner who was downed by his own air wing while developing night intercept tactics as a youthful CAG. Steve has also chronicled the lives of both Jimmy Flatley and Jimmie Thach who were the leading tactical thinkers in the fighter community at the time of Pearl Harbor. They were instrumental in developing appropriate tactics to meet the threat of the higher performance Japanese Zero. Thach's experiments with matchsticks on a kitchen table and then airborne experiments with his leading JO, O'Hare, led to what became known as the "Thach Weave", a tactic still in use decades later after proving its validity at the Battle of Midway. Recommend reading with both of John Lundstrom's awesome books on "The First Team" (see earlier post by A4s for that recommendation that I heartily endorse).

 

[Sundown]

Making The Corps By Thomas E. Ricks. Story of young men going through boot camp and then their experiences for a few years afterwords. Also has very good comparisons of Army v. Marine Corps. The author is the man who ispired Nathaniel Fick, who was a Marine Force Recon Captain during the Iraq invasion (2003) and is now an author of an equally intresting book that has already been listed above called One Bullet Away: The Making Of A Marine Officer

Also every book from this list: http://www.usna.edu/Library/Marineread.html

 

[webmaster]

Appreciate everyone taking the time, I am compiling the list now, and will have a link to it off the front page shortly.

John

 

[Schnugg]

"Battle-Tested...Carrier Aviation in Afghanistan and Iraq"

By Dr. Rebecca Grant, (c) 2005, Iris Press

Rebecca Grant is the author of a meticulously documented, comprehensive study of U.S. carrier-based aviation during operations in Afghanistan and Iraq (Battle Tested: Carrier Aviation in Afghanistan and Iraq). Contrary to the recent claim by two liberal think tanks in Washington, D.C. that the Navy was "underemployed" in Afghanistan and Iraq, Grant describes how, from the time that carrier-based aircraft flew their first strikes during the commencement of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) in October 2001, Naval Aviation set new standards for weight of effort, persistence, precision, and joint integration during combat operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

 

[DanMa1156]

My first addition(s):

James Webb - A Sense of Honor - follows several stories from plebe to upperclass to Company Officer at the Naval Academy in the late 60's during Vietnam and the era the Academy was reforming its policies, especially regarding plebes... brings up good questions.

on the same theme, not so much military related but again, on military academies, especially for those looking at The Citadel, VMI, or other traditionally "southern" military institutions, Pat Conroys - Lords of Discipline

Both books made great reads, accurate or not.

 

[othromas]

Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War by Robert Coram

I second and third that. Though Coram does go over the top a little in his effusive praise of Boyd.

Incidentally, Mr. Miller who teaches the IFS ground school at Eglin knew Boyd.

 

[batman527]

This is a book on politics, the judiciary specifically. If it is considered inappropriate for this thread, please delete it. I think it's worth reading, I wouldn't put it up here otherwise.

Men In Black: How the Supreme Court Is Ruining America
Author: Mark R. Levin
About judicial irresponsibility in the Supreme Court, and how it has affected America adversely. Also discusses interest groups and the Presidency attempting to use the courts to set policy that would never make it into law through Congress. Well Researched and excellently Written.

Men In Black on Amazon.com

*edit* The book also discusses the Criminal/Enemy combatant situation in Gitmo. This is in the chapter titled "Al Qaeda Gets A Lawyer". Levin is the President of the Landmark Legal Foundation. He has worked as an attorney in the private sector and as a top adviser and administrator to several members of President Reagan’s cabinet. Levin served as chief of staff to U.S. Attorney General, Edwin Meese; deputy assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education at the U.S. Department of Education; and deputy solicitor of the U.S. Department of Interior.

 

[Brett327]

I recently read "Jawbreaker" by Gary Berntsen. This guy was the CIA paramilitary officer who was among the first on the ground in Afghanistan and pretty much ran the initial phase of OEF before our ground forces showed up. Fascinating story of the complex pol/mil situation on the ground as well as some amazing first hand accounts of how our air power decimated Al Qaeda and Taliban forces. The book shows the frustrations of an operator having to deal with the constraints of the bureaucracy and how we managed to let the "Big One" get away.

Good read,

Brett

 

[MIDNAdmiral]

Fast Movers : Jet Pilots and the Vietnam Experience by John Sherwood -Talks about Air Force, Navy, and Marine experience in Vietnam. I found it a good non-fiction read. Gets into the culture of aviation by the stories it tells.
The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk -I just got done reading this book and I really enjoyed it. Ya, its about a WWII destroyer, but its a good read about leadership as it follows a guy going from a midshipman to the captain of the destroyer and the experience he had under a very demanding captain.
Faith of My Fathersby John McCain-I've read the book a few times, which I could easily relate to as a Navy brat. Talks about his life starting with his family history and growing up through his POW experience. Made me not want to be in a Vietnamese POW camp. I've great respect for Senator McCain.

 

[kanakAttack]

Nam-A-Rama
Phillip Jennings (Marine Helo pilot in nam and Air Am. pilot in Laos)

Satire about Vietnam War. I'm a civ so I think that a lot of the jokes I can't appreciate as much as some of you guys but 60 pages into it I'm LMAO.

Excerpt: Hopefully this doesn't violate copyright laws

He [the President] stepped to the podium and looked out at the sea of faces, the green utilities of the Army, the sharp white uniforms of the Navy, the camouflaged battle dress of the Marines, and the blue-striped robes over light blue pajamas of the Air Force. Having the most airplanes, the Air Force had arrived early and were down front in lawn chairs holding coffee cups, which they raised in tribute to the President as he swept his scowl by them...

"I have called you here today to give you some good news. I have decided and asked the pussies in -- I mean the Congress to grant me those powers to do what I have to do. Which is to send you boys over to Veetman to kick some ass! What do you say?"...

Luckily, Naval Intelligence had figured out that the President had meant Vietnam, not Veetman, and passed the word to the swabbies to start cheering, knowing that the Vietnamese had sh*t for a navy and that they were not in much danger from any retaliation for sitting off the coast and lobbing Volkswagen-sized shells at native huts two or three miles away. The Army started cheering, probably because the Navy started cheering, and the Marines started yelling for the Army to shut the f**k up, but it sounded like cheering anyway, and it woke most of the Air Force officers and made them spill their coffee. Those with burns were immediately passed Air Medals and Purple Hearts by the administrative staff set up under the stage.

On another note this is also a great one but maybe relatively unknown

The Young Lions
Irwin Shaw

novel (not a satire) made into a movie (1958) Follows 3 soldiers in WWII, 2 US and 1 german. This book should be considered a classic but for whatever reason isn't that well known (Oprah, you better recognize!). If you like Hemmingway you'll like this, if you don't he shares some of the style of E.H. but I think it is a smoother read. Shaw is a great writer and if you haven't read his short story 'The Girls in their Summer Dresses' google it and take 10 minutes to do so.

 

[LoneSailor]

.. Warrior Soul by Chuck Pfarrer...

I agree. I read this book about 2 years ago and it really draws you into the experience. Great insight on an otherwise enclosed community. Very intruiging stories, like the one he tells about his experience during a HALO jump exercise from a civillian airliner.

 

[usnphoenix]

"Stick and Rudder: An Explanation of the Art of Flying" by Wolfgang Langewiesche.

This book was recommended to me by a Helo guy right after I got picked up for SNA. It's great for people who are going into IFS and have never had any stick time. It not only explains what pilots do when they fly, how they do it, and why.