Listening To Ghosts Review

Listening To Ghosts
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Life in the navy is more than being on a boat for a few months. "Listening to Ghosts" is a memoir from Bob Stockton as he ponders his time in the United States Navy and provides a snapshot of different time and he comes to readers with much conventional wisdom and thought, seeking to entertain as well as educate. "Listening to Ghosts" is an excellent pick for memoir collections.

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Under Ice: Waldo Lyon and the Development of the Arctic Submarine (Williams-Ford Texas A&M University Military History Series) Review

Under Ice: Waldo Lyon and the Development of the Arctic Submarine (Williams-Ford Texas AandM University Military History Series)
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Reviewed by Capt. Gordon I. Peterson, USN (Ret.), Senior Editor, Sea Power Magazine, Navy League of the United States
It has been said that you can usually determine the caliber of a man by the amount of opposition it takes to discourage him. By this measure, William M. Leary's biography of Dr. Waldo Lyon provides an inspiring account of how one man's lifelong tenacity in the face of bureaucratic lethargy and skepticism can make a difference in translating a vision to reality.
During the early years of World War II, Lyon began his quest for the U.S. Navy to develop an Arctic submarine fully capable of operating in one of the most challenging operational environments-beneath the frozen surface of the Arctic Ocean. For 55 years, he championed--at times single-handedly--a research effort to provide the Navy with the information it would need to design a submarine that could operate safely and effectively in the world's most poorly understood ocean.
In the words of retired Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Frank B. Kelso II, "The nuclear submarine made Arctic operations possible, but without the knowledge of Waldo Lyon I doubt our Navy would have ventured under the sea ice to the [North] Pole." Lyon's painstaking efforts to acquire this knowledge are meticulously detailed by reference to numerous interviews with Navy submarine commanders, declassified patrol reports, and the scientific journal that Lyon compiled for more than five decades. As a result, Under Ice provides an authoritative and comprehensive account of the U.S. Navy's under-ice operations and Lyon's pioneering role in making it possible-recognized by the President's Medal for Distinguished Federal Service during the Kennedy administration.
It is noteworthy that prior to the USS Hawkbill's under-ice expedition to the Arctic in 1999, the submarine's commanding officer required every officer on board to read chapter seven of Leary's book--a description of USS Sargo's hazardous 1960 Arctic cruise.
With the design of the Sturgeon-class during the 1960s, the Navy finally constructed nuclear-powered attack submarines with greatly improved under-ice capabilities. Recognition of the strategic importance of the Arctic Ocean had reached new levels during the height of the Cold War-because, as Lyon wrote, "The Arctic Ocean is the submariner's private sea, hence, his sole capability to exploit and control."
In his foreword to Under Ice, Vice Adm. John H. Nicholson writes that the Navy would do well to heed Lyon's warning concerning the need to maintain a robust under-ice capability and not lose its hard-earned expertise. Unfortunately, with the retirement of the Sturgeon class of attack submarines and the reduction of the submarine force to 50 boats by 2003, the Navy's Arctic submarine operations will unavoidably decline in the face of higher priority warfighting and intelligence commitments.
As the number of sophisticated, high-endurance conventional submarines continue to proliferate around the world, it remains to be seen if the Department of Defense and U.S. political leadership will heed Lyon's counsel and restore the submarine force to the numbers required to meet current and projected operational requirements-and sustain the U.S. Navy's Arctic preeminence.

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Female Tars: Women Aboard Ship in the Age of Sail Review

Female Tars: Women Aboard Ship in the Age of Sail
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This book is quite a fascinating look at the roles women have played in the British Navy before this century. However, there does seem to be a lack of in-depth study of the women profiled. I found myself wanting to know much more than the author was willing to offer me. I felt too much time was taken re-iterating the social and economic standpoint of prostitutes in this era rather than focusing on the women's contributions to the Royal British Navy. I was mildly insulted when Ms. Stark suggested the reason these women were willing to be "transvestites," or dress as men to serve onboard naval vessels, was basically Freud's "penis envy" theory. This book did sharpen my appetite to find more books on the subject of Women in the Maritime Military.

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Anchors and Eagles Review

Anchors and Eagles
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Paul Adkisson has for the first time to my knowledge placed in print the way it was in a Navy defending the Republic in the 50's, 60's and 70's. It is hard hitting and pulls no punches. He writes from the perspective of a steam engineer. Totally believable. Early on in Adkissons book I could smell the stack gas and fuel oil, hear the scream of forced draft blowers, feel the unbearable heat in the main engineering spaces that was borne by all, the heaving/rolling deck of a '2100' FLETCHER class destroyer and the feeling of no privacy in cramped/close living quarters. In a way that no other author for me has been able to, Adkisson describes life in the Navy as experienced by all who put to sea for foreign shore in those three decades. I said all!
Did I say totally believable? Well,.....I was reading about myself, I lived it! I salute a fellow engineer and a brother Chief. 4.0! BRAVO ZULU! On a scale of one to ten; 9.95.
Master Chief Adkissons book, Anchors and Eagles; is about a Navy that I married and came to love. A Navy, a sailor and an era that will never exist again in the annals of future naval history.

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Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (Volume IV, Historical Sketches, Letters R through S) Review

Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (Volume IV, Historical Sketches, Letters R through S)
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I was researching the heroic story of the loss of the USS Aaron Ward (sunk off the Solomon Islands towards the end of WW2) when I came across this item advertised on one of the Amazon websites. Unaware I was looking at an eight-volume set of books, I baulked at the price and decided to search on. Nevertheless, I kept coming back to this item and decided to take a closer look. I am so glad I did.
Set out in alphabetical order and written without fear or favour, the United States Department of Defence have provided one of the most important research tools of modern years and I congratulate them for an excellent job of work. The entry for each ship commences with a note about the origin of the name. For example, the USS Missouri is named after an American state - enough said. The Aaron Ward, however, was named after Admiral Aaron Ward and that particular section commences with a most reasonable biography of the man.
Each ship to bear a particular name is covered in varying degrees of detail - largely dependant on what historical information was available to the compilers. Famous ships and, naturally, more recent vessels, get excellent coverage although it must be said that if the information was available on those much older vessels, then their full story is told here.
Watch out for single volumes being sold separately - when you are either looking for a complete set or perhaps a different volume.
Altogether, one of the best additions to my library for a very long time.
NM


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Weather forecasting; Illustrated by Diagrams, Charts and Photographs Review

Weather forecasting; Illustrated by Diagrams, Charts and Photographs
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Commander Pack was in the ROYAL Navy. Each chapter covers a subject like air masses, fronts, instruments, pressure systems. etc. Many diagrams and photos. Very scientific, and detailed like a textbook.
"This book presents the science of weather forecasting in a practical, elementary and up-to-date manner. Great attention has been paid to the value of visual aids in explanation...Subjects such as long range forecasting, upper level charts and radar windfinding have been brought up to date with information which until recently was confidential."
Nice vintage rare book. Great deal, recommended.

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Corsairs and Flattops: Marine Carrier Air Warfare, 1944-1945 Review

Corsairs and Flattops: Marine Carrier Air Warfare, 1944-1945
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This slim little volume would have made it better as a couple of magazine articles, and is really only 118 pages if you don't count the appendices. A considerable use of of not very interesting photos, white space and charts enhance the impression that you've bought a bunch of fluff. To make matters worse, the text of the card catalog insert is both inaccurate and misleading. In summary, spend your money on a volume with higher value. I guarantee you can do better with a random choice from the booklist.

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The Golden Age Remembered: U.S. Naval Aviation, 1919-1941 Review

The Golden Age Remembered: U.S. Naval Aviation, 1919-1941
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My dad saw this book in a Naval Institute magazine. I was able to buy a very nice used copy through Amazon for about half price. He is very happy with the book--and I'm happy to have saved some money.

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The Emperor's Sword; Japan vs Russia in the Battle of Tsushima Review

The Emperor's Sword; Japan vs Russia in the Battle of Tsushima
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This a nice short book about the Battle of Tsushima and the Russian defeat in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-05. There have been other books out there on this war, but the author of this 1969 book actually interviewed some of the survivors of this battle to get a clear picture of what happened during this battle.
Busch lays out the beginning of this war and why Japan decided to go to battle against the Russian Empire. Japan was treated like a child with all the other European empires. She went to war to get some of the spoils of Korea and the Chinese Empire. Russia was arrogant against this upstart nation. When Japan pulled a sneak attack on Port Arthur and bottled up the Russian Pacific Fleet, the stage was set for Russian naval reinforcements for Port Arthur. The relief fleet was huge and outgunned the Japanese, but as the Japanese Admiral Togo said, 100 shots and hits is greater than 100 shots and 1 hit. So the Japanese concentrated on the shots making a hit, and the Russians did not hit much with their guns. The Russians Admirals were humane and brave people, but their people were not experienced enough to score hits.
A nice tale of brave men battling the elements in a battle of two empires. This is a nice book if you can find it.

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Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (Volumes 1 - 8) Review

Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (Volumes 1 - 8)
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I was researching the heroic story of the loss of the USS Aaron Ward (sunk off the Solomon Islands towards the end of WW2) when I came across this item advertised on one of the Amazon websites. Unaware I was looking at an eight-volume set of books, I baulked at the price and decided to search on. Nevertheless, I kept coming back to this item and decided to take a closer look. I am so glad I did.
Set out in alphabetical order and written without fear or favour, the United States Department of Defence have provided one of the most important research tools of modern years and I congratulate them for an excellent job of work. The entry for each ship commences with a note about the origin of the name. For example, the USS Missouri is named after an American state - enough said. The Aaron Ward, however, was named after Admiral Aaron Ward and that particular section commences with a most reasonable biography of the man.
Each ship to bear a particular name is covered in varying degrees of detail - largely dependant on what historical information was available to the compilers. Famous ships and, naturally, more recent vessels, get excellent coverage although it must be said that if the information was available on those much older vessels, then their full story is told here.
Watch out for single volumes being sold separately - when you are either looking for a complete set or perhaps a different volume.
Altogether, one of the best additions to my library for a very long time.
NM


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Dictionary of Naval Abbreviations (Blue and Gold Professional Library) Review

Dictionary of Naval Abbreviations (Blue and Gold Professional Library)
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Consider this sentence: "UNODIR, COMDESRON 9 will COMEX 300700Z AUG using VTF and BD AMMO for all WEPSYS unless CASREP."
Clearly you understand that this means: "Unless otherwise directed, the commander of destroyer squadron nine will commence the exercise at 7 o'clock in the morning on 30 August using variable time fuze and base detonating ammunition for all weapons systems unless they have been reported as nonfunctioning on a standard Navy casualty report."
All you need to know is contained in these 469 pages. There are so many definitions here, that I doubt even the most seasoned sailor knows them all. It makes fascinating reading.
Some of the abbreviations are pretty confusing in their own right.
SAR can mean:
Sea-Air Rescue
Search and Rescue
Selected Acquisition Reports
Selected Air Reserve
Special Aeronautical Requirements
Standard Average and Range
Substance Abuse Report
Supply Activity Report
Synthetic Aperture Radar.

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His Majesty's Frigate Review

His Majesty's Frigate
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This is the 3rd novel in the Penhaligon series. It tends to be an overlooked series dealing with the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic era. It seems to be set roughly in 1800. Captain Penhaligon was a favorite of Admiral Nelson, but Nelson has been called back to England, and the newly married Penhaligon is sent off with his frigate to convoy a small fleet of East Indiamen carrying treasure from India to England.
There are really two plots, the first being the protection of the Indiamen from French and Spanish warships, and the second being Penhaligon's tendencies to chase after women, in this case attempting to seduce a young woman who turns out to be a friend of his new wife. Similar plot material has been used by other authors, and it is hard to say who came up with the original ideas. C. Northcote Parkinson had Delancey taking a frigate to Asia where he, among other things, defended a convoy of East Indiamen. Patrick O'Brien had Captain Aubrey involved in a similar action, essentially expanding on the incident in Parkinson's novel.
There is a lot of naval action in the novel, and a lot of technical details on repairing ships at sea. The hero, Penhaligon, perhaps comes across a little too big for life, defeating one enemy ship after another. Events seem a little unlikely, but the story moves on and the action is interesting.

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Submarine Stories: Recollections from the Diesel Boats Review

Submarine Stories: Recollections from the Diesel Boats
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This book consists of 58 short chapters, each describing some event or advance in the development of US Navy conventional submarines. It covers the entire period of US diesel boat operation, from the early pre-WWI days up to the last of the "B-girls", USS Blueback, decommisioned in the late 1980's, and the Dolphin, lasting into the 21st century. The individual chapters can be read in 10-15 minutes, but each is a careful vignette of some interesting aspect of submarine life onboard these boats. The author list is spectacular: Slade Cutter, Lawson Ramage, Eugene Wilkinson, Edward Beach, Roy Benson, Paul Schratz, Robert Dornin, John Alden, Robert McNitt, Richard Laning, Waldo Lyon, and Joe Williams, among others.
One of the earliest chapters is a letter written by Theordore Roosevelt (yes, the president), in which he describes his reaction to a trip in the USS Plunger, and gives the order that granted submarine duty pay. The WWI L-boats get a chapter, and the operations in conjunction with the British subs are discussed. The S-boats, O-boats, Far East Service, and inter-war submarine losses are covered in their own chapters. Designing the fleet submarine as well as the Torpedo Data Computer get their own chapters, as does submarine detailing in the era before computers tracking of assignments existed. The Squalus rescue is covered from the standpoint of one of the divers.
The bulk of the chapters cover incidents and stories from WWII. Along the way, we hear from Slade Cutter about life under Lew Parks on Pompano, and what it taught him about submarine command. These chapters also include such notable actions as the exploits of USS Drum, in which the author, Adm Maurice Rindskopf, describes his duty as decoding officer of the ULTRA broadcasts. Told that a Japanese ship will appear at a particular location, he dons a garish yellow Hawaiian shirt. They subsequently find and sink the ship. On the next patrol, the codes come in again, and he again puts on the shirt in anticipation. The crew, figuring it is a good luck charm, immediately put on their own yellow Hawaiian shirts they have all purchased. There are tales of wolfpack operations with Parche, Hammerhead and Steelhead, as told by "Red" Ramage. The USS Darter runs aground after the Battle of Leyte Gulf, and all efforts to free her fail. She is finally abandoned, with the crew rescued by the Dace. Balancing these war incidents, are insights into life during that period: reservists at submarine school, crossing the equator, sub sailor's liberty and the experience of being a black submariner. Limited to the mess steward role during WWII, black submariner Hosey Mays stays with the Navy after the war, and eventually becomes rated as an electrician and makes chief.
The post war- Cold War era also gets coverage. Operations under the ice from diesels explorations up to Nautilus are covered by Dr. Waldo Lyons, the visionary scientist who foresaw submarine arctic operations. The experiences with the converted Guppy submarines, with a competition to see who can surface at the steepest angles (72 degrees was captured on film). Regulus missiles at sea are covered in two chapters, with one detailing operations during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The disastrous GM "pancake" rotary diesel engines of the Tang class get a chapter, complete with a nice picture of the offensive engines. The design and performance of the amazing Albacore, with its Body of Revolution hull have a place in the book. There are numerous other chapters all with fascinating stories to tell.

I found that the pacing of the book was excellent, with different stories and viewpoints interwoven among the varied chapters. A sparse but careful selection of black and white photos accompanies each chapter; some of the men and some of the machines. All in all, an excellent book with "bite-sized" stories that all add up to a superb history of the diesel submarine force.


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Culled from many never-before-published narratives and oral histories conducted under the auspices of the U.S. Naval Institute, Submarine Stories presents nearly five dozen first-person accounts from men who were involved with gasoline- and diesel-powered submarines during the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The story of these boats, their technological evolution and tactical value, is also the story of the men who went to sea in them. The accounts illustrate the human aspects of serving in diesel boats:the training, operations in peacetime and war, liberty exploits, humorous sidelights, and special feelings of bonding and camaraderie that grew among shipmates.Included here are some familiar names.Slade Cutter, who earned four Navy Crosses as a skipper in World War II, describes the process that made him a capable submariner. Dennis Wilkinson, first skipper of the nuclear-powered Nautilus in the 1950s, tells of being in the first missile-firing submarine in the 1940s. Robert McNitt recalls his experiences as executive officer to Medal of Honor skipper Gene Fluckey. Among the other submariners who present their personal memories are Jerry Beckley, contemplating the possibility of firing nuclear missiles during the 1962 Cuban crisis; Hosey Mays, describing what it was like to be a black man in a boat with a nearly all-white crew; Paul Foster, discussing the sinking a German U-boat in World War I; and Wayne Miller, explaining the enormous satisfaction he felt when he earned his silver dolphins.

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Captains Contentious: The Dysfunctional Sons of the Brine (Studies in Maritime History) Review

Captains Contentious: The Dysfunctional Sons of the Brine (Studies in Maritime History)
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CAPTAINS CONTENTIOUS: THE DYSFUNCTIONAL SONS OF THE BRINE comes from a maritime historian who offers a survey and analysis of five captains in the Continental Navy, considering how their personality flaws hindered their careers and enhanced their actions in the Revolutionary War. Perfect for college-level American history libraries, this uses primary and secondary sources alike to present biographical sketches that illustrate the nature and impact of their actions on world history and local events alike.

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Missile Inbound: The Attack on the Stark in the Persian Gulf Review

Missile Inbound: The Attack on the Stark in the Persian Gulf
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A post-attack crewmember from 1993-1997, I served as CS-3 (Ordnance) Division Leading Petty Officer and Weapons Control Officer. The report of investigation headed by Admiral Sharp was much more interesting reading, and seems to have been largely overlooked by the authors, as well as any interviews with surviving crewmembers other than the officers.
It overlooked the heroic damage control efforts of the crew under the most adverse of circumstances. With fires raging near the missile magazine, 20% of the crew dead in the initial moments, lack of firemain pressure and communications, and one-third of the repair lockers out of commission, the crewmembers literally almost sank their ship to save it.
It was largely a whitewash of the entire affair, seemingly written for the purpose of justifying Captain Brindell's refusal to accept responsibility for the attack and hanging his junior officers out to dry. It was a coldly analytical look at an overall unrelated sequence of events that couldn't have been pieced together in any other circumstances than a tragic aftermath. Necessary reading for any USS STARK (FFG-31) crewmember prior or subsequent to May 17, 1987...maybe we can get together and tell the true story of that dreadful night.

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Big Gun Monitors: Design, Construction and Operations, 1914-1945 Review

Big Gun Monitors: Design, Construction and Operations, 1914-1945
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Speaking as someone who spends his entire day immersed in research, research and even more research, I am instantly able to recognise a kindred spirit. From the moment I opened this book and began to scan through it's 250 pages, I knew I was in possession of an item of considerable quality which had been thoroughly researched by the author.
This is a large coffee-table size book laid out in the best way possible. For those who are not quite sure of exactly what is a "Big Gun Monitor," what better than to commence with it's origins. This is followed by sections devoted to the 14 in., 12 in., First 15 in., Ex Brazilian River Monitors, Ex-Norwegian vessels, Small Monitors, Second 15 in., Last 15 in. and the guns they used before the author offers a retrospective view. Altogether, I view this book as a most complete and competent work.
Not only does the overall standard of photography do the author and publisher much credit, we are largely treated to a large collection of images not previously published alongside a few which might be familiar to some. Alongside these, throughout the book, we also have the technical pleasure of line drawings and blueprints of a type of vessel of which there are no surviving examples anywhere in the world!
Whilst most readers will enjoy the complete history of this type of ship, I have no doubt that others will doubtless buy the book in order to make models of these intriguing vessels,
Whilst I cannot claim to have read every single word (yet!), I have cross-referenced a great deal of the material found within this book with other learned sources and have found no errors or omissions.
This is a lot of book. It contains a lot of history, a lot of information, a lot of line drawing and a lot of photography for the asking price.
Worth every penny.
NM


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Little more than huge gun mountings fitted on simple, self-propelled rafts, the Royal Navy's big gun monitors were designed and built rapidly to fulfill an urgent need for heavy shore bombardment during World War I. They were largely forgotten when this short-lived requirement was over until Buxton produced the first edition of this book in 1978. Now completely revised, expanded, and redesigned to a larger format, the book provides a top-notch technical and operational history, supported by more than 200 illustrations of the ship.

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Feet Wet: Reflections of a Carrier Pilot (Schiffer Military History) Review

Feet Wet: Reflections of a Carrier Pilot (Schiffer Military History)
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Rear Admiral Paul Gillcrist, USN (Retired), gives an account of his 33-year Navy career from training in a radial engined SNJ to combat in Vietnam to his final carrier trap in a supersonic F-14A Tomcat. The book is presented in an anectodal form, like an old salt spinning his yarns for a fascinated audience.
Gillcrist's memoir has several high points. One of the most interesting parts of the book is how the Navy transitioned from a propeller-driven fleet to a jet-plane, supersonic navy. He gives a good layman's discussion of the three important advances required for jet carrier aviation: the angled carrier deck, the powerful steam catapult, and the optical landing system (aka "the meatball" or "the ball").
His accounts of two ejections (one of which left him in recovery for sixteen months) are harrowing. Some stories are laugh-out-loud funny, like the one about a pilot landing on the wrong carrier and his grace and humor dealing with the inevitable ribbing. It's easy to devour this book, and wish you had a story of your own that was half as good as only one of Gillcrist's!
What impresses me most is Gillcrist's complete lack of egotism. It's hard to write one's memoirs and not come across as at least a little self-promoting, but he pulls it off in grand style. Gillcrist is humble, and loves naval aviation enough to make it the star of the book. His account of his last trap on a carrier is Gillcrist at his most humble; it's a sad goodbye indeed.
The biggest fault of the book is its episodic format. That format worked wonderfully in Gillcrist's book "Tomcat! The Grumman F-14 Story," which was heavy on the pictures but the text was effective and authoritative as well. In "Feet Wet" the stories don't have the narrow-subject connection that "Tomcat!" does so it feels disjointed and jumpy at times; mere vignettes instead of threads in a grand story. It's easy to get the feeling that these are stories that Gillcrist would tell you over a few beers--you'd love the stories but not have too much of an idea about the man or the hows and whys of his profession.
But then again, how many times do you get to have a few beers with a man who's "been there, done that" like Admiral Gillcrist?

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Paul Gillcrist was a navy carrier pilot for almost thirty years, from the early days, of flying propeller planes from straight deck carriers, to the days of high-tech, lethal ""teen"" jets and supercarriers. In his remarkable career - from ""nugget"", to comp

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