Beyond the Wild Blue: A History of the U.S. Air Force, 1947-2007 Review

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(More customer reviews)To anyone wondering what "Beyond the Wild Blue: A History of the U.S. Air Force 1947-1997" is about, I would recommend a careful look at the title. The title tells one exactly what the book is and is not. It is not a history of American Airpower, although the development of the Army Air Corps is briefly presented as background. It is not a history of the Air Force in war, although the war record of the Air Force is given its due. Beyond the Wild Blue is the history of the U.S. Air Force during the first 50 years of its existence. It is, in essence, an organizational history of the Air Force.
Reviewers often report that an historical book "reads like a novel". I would say that Beyond the Wild Blue develops like a novel. At the end of a novel the reader often realizes that it possesses a theme or a point to which the whole book has contributed. That is the case with this book. The ultimate point of "Beyond the Wild Blue" is that the Air Force has been an organization which has constantly striven, through a continuing research and development program, to achieve its mission through the advancement of aerospace technology. Through his telling of the story of the Air Force as it developed from a stripped down force in the years after World War II to the technological marvel which won the Gulf War, Walter Boyne brings us to realize how the organizational strategy of the Air Force has brought it to the point at which it is the power which it is today. He also makes us realize the degree to which the Air Force depends on the technical expertise of its officers and enlisted personnel in achieving its mission.
Throughout this book, Boyne mixes facts with his candid assessments of personnel who have affected the history of the Air Force. Generals, Secretaries of Defense and the Air Force as well as politicians all come in for forthright praise or criticism. Two of Boyne's heroes figure prominently in the story. General of the Air Force Hap Arnold, who had commanded the Army Air Corps in World War II, guided the Air Corps to its birth as an independent service and inspired its quest for technological superiority. General Curtis LeMay, more than any other officer, imprinted his personality and ideals on the Air Force, much to the benefit of the service and the nation.
Through this book we see the Air Force, at its inception, as a force poorly equipped with World War II leftovers. Ill-prepared at the start of the Korean War and handicapped by politically imposed rules of engagement, the Air Force was, nonetheless, able to establish air superiority throughout the peninsula and, thereby, contribute to the United Nations' successes.
Through the Cold War years of the fifties and early sixties, the Air Force preserved the peace largely through its capability to deliver nuclear weapons, both by manned bomber and ICBM.
The Vietnam War was, for the Air Force as well as all of the American military, a frustrating conflict. The handicaps imposed by politically inspired rules of engagement were more serious even than those imposed in Korea. As an example, pilots were forced to risk their lives trying to destroy trucks individually, while being prevented them from destroying freighters full of trucks in North Vietnamese ports.
After Vietnam, the Air Force continued its technological improvement at an uneven pace, varying with the political winds of the day. The ultimate payoff for the Air Force research and development programs would come in the Gulf War. In this war air control was established, not by defeating an enemy challenge in the air, but by preventing the challenge from arising. The destruction of Iraqi radar and communications kept the enemy planes hunkered on the ground. The ability of air power to pick apart Iraqi defenses and destroy and demoralize its ground forces proved the ultimate vindication of the Air Force research and development programs.
Throughout this book, Boyne presents an agreeable blend of narration about individuals, equipment, organizational concepts and war stories, detailed enough to hold the interest without leading to boredom.
This book addresses all aspects of Air Force service. Fighters, Strategic and Tactical bombers Air Lift and refueling all are given proper attention. The recent reorganization of the Air Force Commands was clearly explained. The changing demands of the American public that victory must be swiftly achieved with few casualties, either of friendly or enemy forces or noncombatants, and the Air Force's ability to meet those demands were presented as a logical result of the continuing research and development programs.
I was particularly impressed by the description of the refueling capabilities which can now keep aircraft flying virtually indefinitely. Equally impressive is the story of the B-52, which may have a useful life of 75 years from first flight to final retirement.
At the conclusion we are presented with an Air Force which has the potential to deliver military punch of unprecedented scope and dimensions. In an era in which the availability of overseas bases may be limited, the Air Force has the capability, through refueling, of delivering ordinance to virtually any place on earth through missions originating in the United States. Although beyond the temporal scope of this book, the continuation of the technological advancement was seen in the Bosnian operation in which bombing runs originated and ended in Missouri by warriors who would spend their nights at home with their families .
This book is a fitting tribute to the men and women who have carried the story of the United States Air Force into the Wild Blue and Beyond.

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The second edition of Beyond the Wild Blue, an update of the popular history originally released in 1997, is a fascinating look at sixty turbulent years of Air Force history. From the prop-driven armada of World War II to the most advanced Stealth weaponry, from pioneers like General Henry "Hap" Arnold to glorious conquests in the Gulf War, Beyond the Wild Blue is a high-flying study of the triumphs (and failures) of leadership and technology.

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The Sea Eagle: The Civil War Memoir of LCdr. William B. Cushing, U.S.N. (The American Crisis Series: Books on the Civil War Era) Review

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(More customer reviews)Please do your homework before purchasing this book. Amazon's description of the book led me to believe that this book would primarily be Cushing's memoir. The first 17 pages are introduction, perhaps for the middle school audience that the book was intended, with Cushing's memoir accounting for about 50 pages. I do not know if that was Cushing's original length or if it was condensed for the school audience. The remaining half of the book is filler with period accounts about civil war naval engagements, mostly written by participants, Unlike Cushing's memoirs, those stories can be accessed on Google books. Had I known the true content, I most likely would not have purchased the book. At least I did not pay full price.

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Warfare at Sea, 1500-1650: Maritime Conflicts and the Transformation of Europe (Warfare and History) Review

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(More customer reviews)The author of the remarkable two-volume work "Navies and Nations", Swedish Naval historian Jan Glete, gives us a fine comparative study of Warfare at Sea and its implications for early European states in this accessible, yet solid study. As a naval officer and PhD student in comparative politics, there are in particular two valuable features of the book that I would like to stress. Firstly, Glete has the ability to analyse how navies as organisations were vital aspects of European state formation. This means that he is also able to evaluate macro-sociological theories on state formation. In this way, historical data that have been only partially studied by social scientists are linked to theories that have been created on basis of data on purely territorial modes of violence and sovereignty. Secondly, Glete has a very solid base of empirical data on which to create a comparative macro-analysis. Thus, Glete has managed to avoid tedious narratives, and has rather created a masterful synthesis of historical work. His work on the rise of Nordic sea power, for example, sets the record straight in an area that has been neglected by most scholars of naval history.

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British Battleships: Warrior 1860 to Vanguard 1950 : A History of Design, Construction and Armament Review

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(More customer reviews)Although written for naval buffs, this book will be of interest to anyone involved in the design of systems. With the coming of steam propulsion, naval architects and technologists had to find the right balance between the three elements of speed, gunpower, and armoured protection. It took them a hundred years, and - the common fate of all systems - as soon as they reached perfection the whole conception of the batleship was obselete. This book (huge, 700 pages in 11 x 9inch format) details the successes, the blind alleys, the debates and personalities - and every British battleship ever built, and the designs of the ones that weren't.

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The Naval Institute Guide to Combat Fleets of the World 2002-2003: Their Ships, Aircraft, and Systems Review

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(More customer reviews)The book is large pack full of a very complete and informative data on fleets of the world. I have the 2002-2003 edition, which happens to be A.D. Baker III last go at the helm of this mammoth compilation. The work has since been taken over by Eric Wertheim, who has completed two editions since the one I own (2005-2006 edition,& the latest titled 15th edition). I have not had a chance to peak at these editions but they have strong reviews and appear to be holding with Baker's fine quality.

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Quarterdeck and Bridge: Two Centuries of American Naval Leaders Review

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(More customer reviews)Quarterdeck and Bridge takes the reader through a number of excellent essays that follow the navy from Valcour Island to the Mekong Delta. Though not designed to fully explain the history, Bradford selects essays that deal with specific tactical issues that directly relate to the larger scheme of naval development. One of the most interesting essays involved "War Plan Orange," the plan on how to deal with Japanese aggression. The author asserted that the Navy's planners left the Phillippines to be conquered by the Japanese forces. Overall it is an excellent book, and essential to anyone interested in the study of American seapower.

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Submarine Stories: Recollections from the Diesel Boats Review

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(More customer reviews)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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Union Jacks: Yankee Sailors in the Civil War (Civil War America) Review

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After reading on the civil war for 40 years or more, one complaint I've had is that no one writes of the Union navy beyond the officers from admirals downward. Since I served in the U.S. Navy from 1961-1967, it isn't strange that I would hold some interest in these earlier shipmates. So I eagerly awaited the University of North Carolina to issue this book. I purchased a copy and was not disappointed.
I feel the book to be well worthwhile if one is interested in the union jack or blue jackets of that era. Some reviewers may have found the book not quite to their liking, but my humble opinion is that with the paucity of books available on this subject, one should be thankful for almost anything that is written on the area.
One of the more interesting items in this book are the pictures and illustrations. What did these men really look like? The appearance of their hats and uniforms? Here and there, some photographic books do give a clue. But I've encountered few that had as their entire subject the blue jacket of that day. It would seem from the pictures, that one need was to have had at least one banjo on board the ship. And curiously the numbers of navy men barefoot on board. And it was also of interest the number of African American sailors serving on board many of these ships. The Navy welcomed their service at least a year before the Union army, and by war's end upwards of 18% of all Union Navy men were African Americans, honorably serving their country.
With the author's notes covering almost the final 100 pages of this book, it appears very well documented. And as with any Civil War America book from Chapel Hill, you know it is solid history. I applaud this attempt by my fellow Ohioian for his efforts to give these mostly ignored and forgotten men an open hearing. Sadly, they too seemed aware their efforts were lost to history, with the combat armies often being remembered at their expense.
For me, this book is a very good first step in the direction of revealing these men and their naval service to our contemporary readers. I await even more of their stories.
Semper Fi.

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Historians have given a great deal of attention to the lives and experiences of Civil War soldiers, but surprisingly little is known about navy sailors who participated in the conflict. Michael J. Bennett remedies the longstanding neglect of Civil War seamen in this comprehensive assessment of the experience of common Union sailors from 1861 to 1865.
To resurrect the voices of the "Union Jacks," Bennett combed sailors' diaries, letters, and journals. He finds that the sailors differed from their counterparts in the army in many ways. They tended to be a rougher bunch of men than the regular soldiers, drinking and fighting excessively. Those who were not foreign-born, escaped slaves, or unemployed at the time they enlisted often hailed from the urban working class rather than from rural farms and towns. In addition, most sailors enlisted for pragmatic rather than ideological reasons.
Bennett's examination provides a look into the everyday lives of sailors and illuminates where they came from, why they enlisted, and how their origins shaped their service. By showing how these Union sailors lived and fought on the sea, Bennett brings an important new perspective to our understanding of the Civil War.

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The Professional Naval Officer: A Course to Steer by (U.S. Naval Institute Blue & Gold Professional Library) Review

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(More customer reviews)This book is basically a self-help book for naval officers. As such, I guess the author mostly wants to reach out to:
1) Youngsters considering a naval officer career
2) Cadets
3) Active-duty officers whose careers may not be going as planned
Of course, people may also buy the book for interest value, but I'm hardly the guy he needs to reach out to...
If that's the goal, the author fails miserably. While there are a few interesting factoids on what to expect, they are for the most part predictable and I'm not even in the USN, so I predict there is little new to the serving officer or even cadet. The only somewhat useful discussion is on the merits of going to graduate school vs instructor vs 2nd sea tour. For stuff like Joint Tours and Foreign Tours, the discussion can be summarized as "If you want to promote, take it when you have the chance."
The main message can be summarized as to Work Hard, Be Honest and Take Responsibility. Gee, I need to buy a book to tell me that.
But what sinks the book from Mediocrity to Bad is its handling of "horror story" situations. Common to the 3 categories of readers I mentioned above is that they may have read horror stories about the shortcomings of the USN's centralized personnel system. For the last category, they may already perceive themselves as the protagonist of yet another horror story. One of the major tasks of this book is clearly to refute the horror stories, and it really falls down here.
Except for admitting that some branches (such as amphibious warfare) are indeed disadvantaged in the promotion stakes, plus a symbolic admission that the Bureau of Personnel is not quite perfect, he blames the victim and classifies them as part of the bottom side of the pack. He mentions that their reports are satisfactory or even good by any "absolute standard", but lack "sparkle". He also refers to the "detailing casualties" and claims that the USN goes to extraordinary efforts to accomodate the personal needs of offices.
It may even be true, but when I read that, I recall the horror stories, and cynically think whether the "sparkle" he mentioned is the difference between "Outstanding" & "Excellent" or getting a score below the "98th percentile". And I'm not even a victim. I can only conclude that RADM Winnefeld had not learned, despite long service, that you don't get through to people by blaming them, insisting that they are uninformed, or by telling them to just suck the disappointments up and continue to work hard.
The poor defense is exacerbated by the author's 3 tours in Bureau of Personnel, thus further stripping his defense of credibility. Overall, I won't be surprised if a reader's belief in the horror stories is AFFIRMED through reading the book. As such the book is an utter failure.
Though it almost doesn't matter, it all tops off in a section that marks the author as an arrogant dimwit. Rear Admiral Winnefeld, while I'm willing to buy that USN personnel average better than their Soviet counterparts, there were PLENTY of reasons why the Soviets did not field a carrier battle group, and why US submarines often have an edge - in fact, especially for the 1st case, personnel quality differences probably rank close to last among the reasons. Your attempt to imply it is a primary reason does you no credit, as is your attempts to disparage the upcoming PLA Navy on what seems to be horribly limited information.
In short, it is so bad, it rates as anti-propaganda. The USNI should stop publishing this, to avoid further damage to the USN.

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Cushing: Civil War SEAL (Military Profiles) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is perfect for the reader looking for an off-the-beaten-path subject from the American Civil War. This book takes you well past the familiar commanding generals, and gives you insight into one of the more colorful characters who excelled at the tactical level during the War Between the States.

Commander Will Cushing was a dashing young officer who specialized in unconventional warfare. Four times given commendations from the Secretary of the Navy, he was more frequently chastised by superiors for his reckless actions that contributed little to the overall war effort. Like the Doolittle raid on Tokyo, his missions made a far greater psychological impact on the Confederacy, than the military damage caused by his pin-prick raids. This book highlights his stunning successes, and illustrates how difficult it was for the young officer to get the approval necessary to carry out his bold plans.

"Potomac's Military Profiles" series (formerly "Brassey's Military Profiles") is known for biographies focusing on aspects of an individual's life. This particular book focuses on the greatest accomplishments of Commander Will Cushing, including the destruction of the CSS Albemarle. I found the book to be both readable and enlightening, without the onerous prose normally associated with historical biographies.

This book was my first experience relating to the exploits of Commander Cushing. Robert Schneller used original source material such as personal letters and the published memoirs of Cushing for the basis of his book. I complement Schneller for recognizing the more thorough biographies in existence, but I found his book to be the perfect length for my desired level of knowledge regarding Cushing.
This book would be a welcome complement to any avid Civil War reader's library.

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Dismissed from the U.S. Naval Academy in early 1861, William Barker Cushing nonetheless emerged from the Civil War as one of the Navy's greatest heroes. Cushing transformed his reputation from a rabblerouser into a living legend, because he embodied the special qualities that the Navy demands of the men in whom it entrusts its most hazardous and secret tasks: a readiness to volunteer for dangerous assignments, an unflagging devotion to duty, and more than a fair share of good fortune. As Robert J. Schneller observes, "He was patriotic, aggressive, tough, and recklessly bold." Before embarking on his most daring mission-his celebrated destruction of the Confederate ironclad Albemarle-he bragged that he would "come out victorious or ‘toes up.'" By the end of the war he had amassed four commendations from the Navy Department and the thanks of Congress and President Lincoln. "All this for a man," Schneller writes, "who was only twenty-two years old when Lee surrendered at Appomattox." Employing his customary readable and entertaining style, Schneller focuses on Cushing's naval career and those aspects of his personality that affected it.

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Cold War at Sea: High-Seas Confrontation Between the United States and the Soviet Union Review

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(More customer reviews)I found this book quite fascinating, as it touches on a facet of the Cold War very rarely mentioned in the mainstream of history -- the practices of limited (though still dangerous) engagement between the U.S. and Soviet high-seas fleets. Furthermore, it details not only the incidents, but the effect that seemingly remote occurences had on both the Soviet and U.S. leadership. That effect, ultimately led to the establishment of a number of agreements, also detailed in this volume. Interestingly enough, Winkler makes it quite apparent that many of the Soviet diplomats and military officials were quite mindful of the impending failure of the Soviet Union, even in the early 1970s. I would definitely reccomend it if you are interested in Naval or Cold War history, or if for some reason, you want a detailed history of collisions at sea, as found in one of the appendixes.

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Free to patrol the skies and surface of the high seas under international law, U.S. and Soviet naval and air forces made daily direct contact during the Cold War. Often confrontational and occasionally violent, air-to-air contacts alone killed over one hundred Soviet and American aviators during the Truman and Eisenhower years.Diplomacy to curtail the hostility produced mixed results. In the 1960s the Soviet Navy challenged worldwide U.S. naval dominance, and collisions and charges of harassment became common. In 1972 the two nations signed an Incidents at Sea Agreement (INCSEA) that established navy-to-navy channels to resolve issues. This agreement is the focus of David Winkler's study. He argues that in contrast to conventional diplomatic channels, Soviet and American naval officers, sharing bonds inherent in seamen, could put ideology aside and speak frankly.Working together, they limited incidents that could have had unfortunate consequences. Drawing on previously unavailable State Department files and recently declassified papers held at the Naval Historical Center as well as discussions with former top naval officials, diplomats, and others, Winkler details U.S.-Soviet incidents at sea, analyzes the changes in U.S. policy and naval strategy, and evaluates the effects of various events on U.S.-Soviet maritime relations, helping readers to fully appreciate the agreement's significance in establishing a direct military-to-military contact and as a venue to discuss other issues during the 1970s and 1980s.

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The Naval Aviation Guide Review

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(More customer reviews)For anyone going into Naval aviation or interested in it, this book is a must have. It can probably serve as a good reference book if you are wondering where certain Naval bases and training facilities are, names of squadrons, training pipelines, structure, timelines and also all designations related to aviation.
By reading this I'm sure you can learn something new.

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The Naval Institute Guide to World Naval Weapon Systems (Naval Institute Guide to World Naval Weapons Systems) Review

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(More customer reviews)This is a little bit dated now, but not horribly so. The cold war ending has slowed down new naval weapon systems. Some of the "new" systems in here never did appear, and other older systems are gone as well. Using this guidebook plus some judicious web surfing is pretty good naval research for the non-specialist. Of course if you need the expensive current editions, you already know that...

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Long recognized as the most comprehensive reference work available on the subject, this guide remains the only complete reference to the weapons currently in service in ships, submarines, and naval aircraft around the world. It is the only book of its type to explain the transformation of the U.S. Navy into a network-centric force, a transformation that has had immense consequences for choices of tactics, weapons, services, and the systems coordinating them. This guide also offers unparalleled coverage of the weapons, sensors, and command systems of the world's navies, both those the U.S. Navy works with and those it may have to fight. Written by one of the world's leading naval analysts, the book describes the weapons and systems in detail and examines the crucial relationship between them. Completely rewritten and newly illustrated, this edition makes a special effort to provide a clear and precise account of how weapon technology has changed to meet the new tactical and strategic challenges facing international naval forces today. Cutting-edge information is found throughout, enhanced by many new and rarely seen photographs and drawings.For example, this volume offers an unusually full account of the "system of systems" under development by the U.S. Navy and the other services to fight future limited regional wars. That initiative includes the changing role of space resources as they affect war on, over, and under the sea. This edition also benefits from the flood of material from Russia, whose weapons and systems are now owned and operated by numerous countries and are likely to be sold to many more. The guide provides uniquely detailed coverage of weapons developed and deployed in the Far East, an area that promises to be the liveliest scene of naval action in the future. Extensive sections are devoted to explaining the intricate workings of sensors and command systems. No other book, or even set of books, offers this sort of material in such accessible form. Its detail and completeness are backed by the authority of a long established professional expert. For the most complete and up-to-date information about weapons in every navy in the world, this is the essential resource - a work that, in effect, can serve as a textbook of modern naval technology.

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F/A-18 Hornet: A Navy Success Story Review

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(More customer reviews)This book tells you the history about the F/A-18 Hornet, the book tells you the story of the start of the lightweight fighter competition between the F-16 & YF-17 but the USAF rejected the YF-17. Later on, the USN wanted a lightweight fighter to replace the F-4 & A-6, so the USN & McDonnell Douglas(Now Boeing) went on to design a new plane. The F/A-18 went into services with the USN in the late 70s & early 80s & also shows the Hornet's first sting at Libya. The early production of the Hornet was the A/B model but was replaced by the more improved C/D model. The book also tells you about the Hornets during the Desert Storm which has the highest survivalbility among others jet fighter & how flexible the plane is, eg. like the Hornet shot down 2 enemy MIG-21s when it was on its way on a bombing mission without having to jettision their bomb load & shows how maneuveble the Hornet is. Let us not forget that USN & USMC Hornets participated in Operation Allied Force in 1999. This book also include foreign countries that operate the F/A-18 Hornet & the new devolopment on the E/F model which is call the Super Hornet. Finally, it also shows you all the electronic systems on board the Hornet & the sensors & weapons that are in use with the Hornet. This book also contain good pictures also but it is in black & white but the amazing story will make you like the book.

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From Air Force lightweight to Navy champion strike aircrat, here's the pulse-racing, electrifying story of the F/A hornetIncludes a special beneath-the-surface look at the Hornet's laser-guided weapons and sophisticated electronic countermeasuresPresents profiles of the Hornet's overseas success as an export item, in coutries such as Switzerland, Australia, Spain, and Malaysia

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Command at Sea Review

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(More customer reviews)A text for naval officers, with chapters on taking command, commissioning a ship or submarine, organization and administration of the command, and roles of various officers. Other subjects include maintenance and logistics, safety, training and inspections, independent operations, and forward operations and combat philosophy. Includes a glossary, and appendices of sample plans and orders. This edition incorporates changes in the field since 1982, and discusses lessons learned from the Persian Gulf, Bosnia, and Haiti.
Command at Sea is an unusual degree of responsibility & accountability that is placed on the shoulders of one individual. There is an excert on page four of the book that defines that degree of responsibility. It reads;
"In each ship there is one man alone who in the hour of emergency or peril at sea can turn to no other man. There is one man alone who is ultimately responsbile for the safe navigation, enigineering performance, accurate gunfire and morale of his ship. He is the Commanding Officer, He is the ship".
If ever there was situation where the Comamnding Officer experienced the paramount of this statement, it was Commander Paul Rinn, skipper of the USS Samuel B. Roberts, on April 14, 1988. The ship was escorting Kuwati tankers in the Persian Gulf when it entered a mine field.CDR Rinn ordered his crew to general Quarters. Then the ship began backing down and following it's wake. A mine exploded, blowing one of the ships's engines off it's mount and into the overhead. CDR Rinn knew that the survival of his crew depended on his actions, the crew watched every move he made. Throughout the night the crew fought fires, controlled flooding, treated the injured and saved their ship. In the predawn hours of April 15, 1988 CDR Rinn walked through his ship. He saw his crew, some exhausted, some sleeping, some talking quietly. The fought to save their ship, a ship that was sinking and they won. All the training, all the hours of drills had paid off. At 0503 the Quartermater of the Watch, QM2 Nicholson made the deck log entry, "Observed Sunrise".
This is job of the Commanding Officer, this is Command at Sea. You can delegate the responsibility, not the accountability. Can you take the challenge?

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When Computers Went to Sea: The Digitization of the United States Navy Review

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(More customer reviews)Today's high bandwidth technologists have nothing over the NTDS architects who masterminded the solution to the very complex engineering problems presented by warfare: real time data acquisition and weapons assignment. (The penalty for error is death of comrades in battle.)
The story is told with all the warts and struggles, which ring true: inter-departments squabbles, jousting with Congress and contractors, resistance of the fleet commanders. It's all there.
The complexity of engineering project management with multiple contractors, tough cost and schedule constraints remain the same in the new millennium. A good addition to the reading list for any business school.
I confess to being biased. My father, Captain Joseph Stoutenburgh, USN Ret., is a principal in the book. When I was 6 years old I did not understand why Dad was gone for weeks at a time. Now I know he was altering forever the nature of tactical warfare and in turn the geopolitical reach of the United States.

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When Computers Went to Sea explores the history of the United States Navy's secret development of code-breaking computers and their adaptation to solve a critical fleet radar data handling problem in the Navy's first seaborne digital computer system - that went to sea in 1962. This is the only book written on the United States Navy's initial application of shipboard digital computers to naval warfare.Considered one of the most successful projects ever undertaken by the US Navy, the Naval Tactical Data System (NTDS) was the subject of numerous studies attempting to pinpoint the reason for the systems inordinate success in the face of seemingly impossible technical challenges and stiff resistance from some in the military. The system's success precipitated a digital revolution in naval warfare systems.Dave Boslaugh details the innovations developed by the NTDS project managers including: project management techniques, modular digital hardware for ship systems, top-down modular computer programming techniques, innovative computer program documentation, and other novel real-time computer system concepts.Automated military systems users and developers, real-time process control systems designers, automated system project managers, and digital technology history students will find this account of a United States military organization's initial foray into computerization interesting and thought provoking.

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Flying Black Ponies: The Navy's Close Air Support Squadron in Vietnam Review

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(More customer reviews)This is the story of Navy Light Attack Squadron Four. It began in the very late 60's and was decommissioned in mid 1972. It's mission was close air support and protection of the US and Viet Namese Navy's riverine forces/brown water navy, including the SEALS. It was started with odd looking but agile light aircraft borrowed from the Marines to fill a mission that jet aircraft and helicopters could not. The Navy had eliminated in the mid 60s the only aircraft that had been able to support these forces on the ground.
It provides historical data with foot notes that makes it valuable for students of the era and scholars. It has interspersed personal information and stories - funny and sad - from the author's recollection, interviews with persons involved, copies and originals of official documents, private letters, scripts and casette recordings done at the time by some of the subjects.
Some of the characters- real people- include the brave and the foolish, the disturbed, the failed, the reborn. One commanding officer is as classical a martinet as any in literature or history.
It reads well and the technical and military allusions always are accompanied by a subtle/parallel plain language description which makes it enjoyable for non-military readers.
For craft and reading pleasure it's remininscent of Flight of the Intruder and Hunt for Red October.

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Foreword by Stephen Coonts. The tragic, the comic, the terrifying, the poignant are all part of the story of the Black Pony pilots who distinguished themselves in the Mekong Delta between 1969 and 1972. Flying their Broncos "down and dirty, low and slow," they destroyed more enemies and saved more allied lives with close-air support than all the other naval squadrons combined during the three years they saw action. Author Kit Lavell was part of this squadron of "black sheep" given a chance to make something of themselves. The U.S. Navy's only land-based attack squadron, Light Attack Squadron Four (VAL-4) flew support missions for the riverine forces, SEALs, and allied units in borrowed, propeller-driven OV-10s. For fixed-wing aircraft they were dangerous, unorthodox missions, a fact readers quickly come to appreciate.After two years of research, Lavell has been able to match many of the air operations to those on the ground and tell the dramatic story from both perspectives. One of several offered in the book is the bringing together of SEAL Barry Enoch, a Navy Cross recipient, and Black Pony pilot Larry Hone, a Distinguished Flying Cross recipient, whose encounter is stunningly described in chapter 14. Lavell also provides vivid scenes of life and love away from combat and gives a concise history of the squadron along with details of its unique use of the OV-10.

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