Good military/aviation books

[HerkFE]

Saddam's Secrets. Iraqi Air Vice Marshall Georges Sada. This guy was a Christian from northern Iraq and never joined the Baath part. Probably why he wasn't killed by Saddam like so many of his AF compatriots. Not sure if a lack of understanding of something lost in translation caused some interesting comments on U.S. hardware. Like calling the Stealth the "B-117" (this is actually accurate and erroneous at the same time) and cruise missiles launched from carriers. He also claimed that 50+ cargo flights carried WMD materials, documentation, and equipment to Syria prior to the start of the Iraqi Freedom.

Just finished this one as well. I noticed the same "technical" errors and thought the same thing. However, still a very good book.

[sledy]

Anyone know of any books that document or talk about the ADC fighters during the Vietnam era? I've read a bunch of F-105/F-4/F-100 and I've never read much about all the ADC stuff that was going on at the same time. Thanks

[Buddy Spike]

I just published my first book. It's not an autobiography. Just a bit of military aviation-related fiction because, well, I'm no "Viper Pilot" and I haven't done anything cool enough to talk about myself for 300 pages.

Back cover:

After a combat incident in Iraq, Cal “Spectre” Martin was grounded and told he would never fly an F-16 again. Years later, he started a new civilian life with his F-16 pilot fiancée while being haunted by the nightmares of his last deployment.

But when she goes missing on a routine training mission off the South Florida coast, Spectre unwillingly finds himself thrust back onto the frontlines of the war on terror - this time, not in the skies over Iraq, but on the streets of Miami.

While searching for answers, Spectre uncovers a deadly international conspiracy that shakes his beliefs to the core and threatens national security. The stakes have never been higher as Spectre rises to overcome his inner demons, challenge his friendships, and take to the skies once again in a daring final mission.

Here's the Amazon link

https://www.amazon.com/Spectre-Rising-ebook/dp/B00ESF04HW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1379771096&sr=8-1&keywords=Spectre+Rising

Amazon doesn't allow promo codes, but Smashwords does.

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/351948

I've uploaded it there. If you use the promo code GQ25A you can get 50% off the Ebook.

If you do read it, please help a starving reservist out and write a good review on Amazon. Thanks!

[matmacwc]

But is his wife hot?

[Buddy Spike]

But is his wife hot?

The nudes are on page 69.

[Buddy Spike]

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18581127-spectre-rising

GIving away three copies of my book. Ends Friday.

[mp5g]

So I'm sitting here re-watching The Pacific on HBO and wanted to know if anyone had read the two memoirs that it was primarily based on, and if they are worth the read.

With the Old Breed:At Peleliu and Okinawa by Eugene Sledge

Helmet For My Pillow by Robert Leckie

[Breckey]

With the Old Breed is outstanding. It was required reading for a college history class and I kept it for my personal library afterward.

[JarheadBoom]

So I'm sitting here re-watching The Pacific on HBO and wanted to know if anyone had read the two memoirs that it was primarily based on, and if they are worth the read.

With the Old Breed:At Peleliu and Okinawa by Eugene Sledge

Haven't got to them yet, but I did read Islands of The Damned by R.V. Burgin, who served with Sledge. Excellent book as well.

[M2]

In honor of Veteran's Day, Chester Wong has gotten Amazon to offer his outstanding series Yellow Green Beret free for the Kindle for the two days...

Yellow Green Beret: Volume 1

Yellow Green Beret: Volume 2

Yellow Green Beret: Volume 3

Highly recommended!

Cheers! M2

[armoredmoonman]

Thanks for the heads up! Great series...

[nsplayr]

In honor of Veteran's Day, Chester Wong has gotten Amazon to offer his outstanding series Yellow Green Beret free for the Kindle for the two days...

Count it! Loved Vol 1, read it a few months back. You can borrow all three for free if you have Amazon Prime (which I do), but glad to own all 3 for the low low price of $0. Cheers to the author, he's certainly deserving of payment for his funny and memorable writing.

[Royal]

So I'm sitting here re-watching The Pacific on HBO and wanted to know if anyone had read the two memoirs that it was primarily based on, and if they are worth the read.

With regard to WWII, A History of the Second World War by B.H. Liddell Hart should be a staple in every officer's library. It's European-centric, but it has a lot of good information about the Pacific as well. You can get it used on Amazon for $0.70; I guarantee it'll be the best seven tenths of a dollar you'll ever spend.

[Spur38]

"Embers of War" The falling of an empire and the making of America's Vietnam by Fredrik Logevall...

Very well written and a great history lesson for the future....

[Azimuth]

In honor of Veteran's Day, Chester Wong has gotten Amazon to offer his outstanding series Yellow Green Beret free for the Kindle for the two days...

Yellow Green Beret: Volume 1

Yellow Green Beret: Volume 2

Yellow Green Beret: Volume 3

Highly recommended!

Cheers! M2

I confirmed his SERE story with a SF guy I was carrying Space A.

"Oh yeah, the pizza guy, we all know him!"

[M2]

I confirmed his SERE story with a SF guy I was carrying Space A.

"Oh yeah, the pizza guy, we all know him!"

Having read all three (and planning to re-read all of them again), I have no doubts whatsoever about his telling the truth. His are some of the best insights into the SF world that I have ever read...

[Vice]

You guys need to calm down with all these books. I'm only on page 10 and buying all these books is getting expensive. Stop reading for a year or two please

[JS]

"The 11 Days of Christmas"

B-52s, Linebacker 2, SAC

Nuff said

Just wanted to bump this recommendation up because I finally read it, after buying it on amazon about two years ago. Very good book - B-52s, Linebacker II, and SAC. Enough said again.

[LJDRVR]

Rupert Red Two.

Colonel Jack Broughton got around to writing his autobiography. The same guy who wrote Thud Ridge and Going Downtown. Courts martialled by chickenshit 7th AF commander for Protecting his troops after they strafed a Russian freighter in Haiphong harbor.

Badass.

[Sketch]

Just finished "Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years of Lockheed" by Ben Rich and Leo Janos. Absolutely incredible book that gives an extremely in-depth look at the years of blood, sweat, & tears it took to get our most secretive aircraft off the ground. Rich talks a lot about the extraordinary technological breakthroughs they made during the Cold War and how he couldn't go home and tell his wife about them. He also gives great insight into the AF Acquisition process, specifically some of the problems associated with limited budgets, extensive oversight, Pentagon bureaucracy, and maintaining a cloak and dagger over such massive top secret projects like the SR-71 and the F-117. Highly recommend.

https://www.amazon.com/Skunk-Works-Personal-Memoir-Lockheed/dp/0316743003

[Milchstrasse]

Just finished "Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years of Lockheed" by Ben Rich and Leo Janos. Absolutely incredible book that gives an extremely in-depth look at the years of blood, sweat, & tears it took to get our most secretive aircraft off the ground. Rich talks a lot about the extraordinary technological breakthroughs they made during the Cold War and how he couldn't go home and tell his wife about them. He also gives great insight into the AF Acquisition process, specifically some of the problems associated with limited budgets, extensive oversight, Pentagon bureaucracy, and maintaining a cloak and dagger over such massive top secret projects like the SR-71 and the F-117. Highly recommend.

https://www.amazon.com/Skunk-Works-Personal-Memoir-Lockheed/dp/0316743003

This one looks good, I'm going to check it out.

[SurelySerious]

also gives great insight into the AF Acquisition process, specifically some of the problems associated with limited budgets, extensive oversight, Pentagon bureaucracy, and maintaining a cloak and dagger over such massive top secret projects like the SR-71 and the F-117.

One of the cardinal rules: don't work with the Navy. Not that it's been a problem lately or anything.

[JarheadBoom]

Just finished "Skunk Works: A Personal Memoir of My Years of Lockheed" by Ben Rich and Leo Janos.

Read it a couple years ago, excellent book. The stories of the interlocking, interwoven layers of bureaucracy and security laid on the Skunk Works, by the AF, during the Have Blue/F-117 development made me wonder how the hell we actually ended up with hardware on the flightline.

[Sketch]

Read it a couple years ago, excellent book. The stories of the interlocking, interwoven layers of bureaucracy and security laid on the Skunk Works, by the AF, during the Have Blue/F-117 development made me wonder how the hell we actually ended up with hardware on the flightline.

I thought the same thing when I read that part. He said those years of developing the nighthawk were some of the worst of his life, but in the end they pulled it off largely because of how extraordinary the stealth turned out to be in defeating radar. In the last 2 chapters he also talks about how much of a mess the B-2 program was because of bureaucracy (it was supposed to cost 400 mil per jet, not 2.2 bil). I bet if he saw the JSF program today he'd probably have a brain aneurysm.

I'm re-reading Red Eagles right now and I'm not surprised that Steve mentions some of the same issues in dealing with AF brass.

[M2]

Here's a good excerpt from Robert Gates' new book, Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War, that the White House has been whining about all day...

The Quiet Fury of Robert Gates

Based on this preview and the bullshit Obama's talking dog has been shoveling all day on CNN in response to the book's release, it appears it might be an interesting read!