Air Force Memoirs

Mark chose to enlist in the Air Force as a Special Operations Combat Controller after he received his Bachelor’s degree from The University of Alabama. Because of his above average grades and near-photographic memory, his Business Finance degree would have done him well. But, he felt a higher calling; one that put him between us and the enemies bent on our destruction.

The Mosquito was probably World War II's most versatile combat aircraft. This book contains hundreds of firsthand accounts from many of the two-man crews who flew in them; pilots and navigators. It portrays the dramatic experiences of flying in its many roles as pathfinder, night fighter, reconnaissance aircraft, precision bombing, and low-level ground attack aircraft. It describes many of the RAF's most audacious raids on prime, but difficult, targets where carpet bombing by heavy bombers was likely to be ineffective and cause unnecessary casualties to civilians.

There were no mission limits for a pilot in the Pacific during World War II; unlike in Europe, you flew until it was time to go home. So it was for James "Jug" Curran, all the way from New Guinea to the Philippines with the 348th Fighter Group, the first P-47 Thunderbolt outfit in the Pacific. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, Curran volunteered to try flying in the blue yonder and trained as an Army fighter pilot. He got his wish to fly the P-47 in the Pacific, going into combat in August 1943, in New Guinea, and later helping start the "Black Rams" fighter squadron.

Sherman Lead is the gripping story of a year flying the F-4 in combat during the Vietnam War, told through the eyes of a fighter pilot. Operating out of Ubon Royal Thai Air Base, Thailand in 1968-69, Gail Peck and his squadronmates in the 433rd Tactical Fighter Squadron of the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing were tasked with flying combat missions into North Vietnam and Laos. The F-4 was heavily involved in the air-to-ground mission at this time, with targets being well defended by enemy anti-aircraft artillery and surface-to-air missiles.

A country boy joins the army in 1942… A natural storyteller, Bud shares tales of his experiences in the Army Air Corps during World War II. From receiving his draft notice to enduring boot camp to serving as a cook and mess steward, Bud recounts the drudgery and absurdity of life in the army. Although Bud never sees combat, he puts his civilian life on hold to serve his country. During his service in California, first at Hammer Field then Lemoore Field, he always tries to do his best with his can-do attitude and determination to succeed. From loading garbage to escorting military ...

Discover the extraordinary life of M.K. Devidasan, a man who rose from humble beginnings to become a celebrated officer and technocrat in the Indian Air Force. This inspiring biography chronicles his journey from joining the IAF as an airman in 1959 to his remarkable achievements as an officer and missile systems expert. With unwavering determination, Devidasan excelled in training, pursued higher education, and earned an engineering degree while juggling demanding responsibilities. From actively serving in the 1971 Indo-Pak war to mastering the complexities of SAM2 and SAM3 missile systems...

The General’s dysfunctional home life drove him to apply to the Air Force Academy almost 40 years ago, where he was provided with a new family and sense of worth he had never gotten from his own father. This purpose has driven the General throughout his remarkable career, taking him to Alaska, the Pentagon, and Germany; to Florida during Hurricane Opal, and has also allowed him to work alongside Presidents Bush and Obama and Secretaries of Defense Leon Panetta and Ashton Carter. Journey is a book about leadership. It is packed with the General’s lessons from life in the military.

When Ian Fritz joined the Air Force at eighteen, he did so out of necessity. He hadn’t been accepted into colleges thanks to an indifferent high school career. He’d too often slept through his classes as he worked long hours at a Chinese restaurant to help pay the bills for his trailer-dwelling family in Lake City, Florida. But the Air Force recognizes his potential and sends him to the elite Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California, to learn Dari and Pashto, the main languages of Afghanistan.

On December 15, 1944, Maj. Alton Glenn Miller, commanding officer of the Army Air Force Band (Special), boarded a plane in England bound for France with Lt. Col. Norman Francis Baessell. Somewhere over the English Channel the plane vanished. No trace of the aircraft or its occupants has ever been found. To this day Miller, Baessell, and the pilot, John Robert Stuart Morgan, are classified as missing in action. Weaving together cultural and military history, Glenn Miller Declassified tells the story of the musical legend Miller and his military career.

This book is Volume 1 of my memoir and is edited for Large Print and audiobook format. Memoir of an Aviator – My Journey from factory worker to Airline Captain, Volume 1: The Air Force Years is the description of the first half of my professional life and contains details of my enlistment in the Air Force, mechanic training, detailed descriptions of my mechanic days, my choice to become a USAF boom operator, descriptions of training, trips, conversion to the KC-10, more trips, marriage, divorce, joy and heartache. Fly with me as I describe the details that you won't get in other memoirs. ...

John Humphreys was just a boy soldier in the Royal Engineers when war was declared in 1939. By the war's end he had jumped into Arnhem with the Parachute Regiment to spearhead the attack on the bridge. For days Humphreys and the rest of his squad held on, outnumbered and outgunned by the German army fighting to the last bullet and refusing to surrender. But the Bridge Too Far is only the climax of Humphreys’ remarkable war. Twice captured as a prisoner of war, he twice escaped from the enemy to make his way back to Allied lines in order to rejoin the fight.

Packed with breathtaking air battles and ground tactics, this new addition to the Great Generals series features the controversial command and strategies of the former Air Force Chief of Staff. Curtis LeMay was a terrifying, complex, and brilliant general. In World War II, he ordered the firebombing of Tokyo and was in charge when atomic bombs were dropped on Japan.

Diana Jean Schemo covered the Air Force Academy's sexual assault scandal in 2003, one of a series of academy embarrassments that have included drug use, rape complaints, and charges of evangelical officers pushing Christianity on cadets of all faiths. Today, the institution is in flux - a fascinating time to look at the changes being made and the experience of today's cadets. Schemo followed a handful of academy cadets through the school year. From the admissions process and basic training to graduation.

In 1965, war was on simmer, and buddies were getting drafted or going into the safer Air Force, Navy, or Coast Guard rather than the more combatant Army and Marine Corps. I'm 75. Had I had the opportunity to do it again, I'd go as a noncombatant combat photographer or broadcaster for AFN wherever in the world I was sent. That's another story.

From the highly successful author of Lightning Boys and Lightning Boys 2, Richard Pike, comes a welcome addition to the Boys series, Hunter Boys. A fascinating insight into the experiences and affections of those who flew the iconic Hawker Hunter. Fifteen aircrew relate their individual recollections of the highs and lows, the dramas and demands of this incredible aircraft, which came into service in July 1951 and changed the future of fighter development.

In 1948, Stan Andrews left a comfortable postwar life in Los Angeles to travel to the war-torn Middle East, where a four-front Arab invasion threatened to destroy the newly-declared State of Israel. There he joined the Israeli Air Force and became one of its first fighter pilots. Andrews was an unexpected volunteer for the fight for a Jewish state. He had previously been aloof from the struggle for Jewish independence but found himself so roused by the anti-Semitism of 1940s America that he decided to go to Israel and risk everything.

Graham Pitchfork has built on these reminiscences to trace the roles of Beaufighter squadrons spread across all the theaters of World War Two operations. From home bases, through north-west Europe, North Africa, Malta, and the Mediterranean to the far Far East and south-west Pacific, the Beaufighter served far and wide as did the crews of the RAF, RAAF, SAAF, and New Zealand and Canadian squadrons. All are covered in this quite unique book to be savored by all those interested in the war in the air from 1939-1945.

When Cheryl Dietrich joined the US Air Force, she began a transformation from overweight introvert and military neophyte into one of the key personnel redesigning the structure of the Air Force within the Pentagon. In this stirring and revelatory memoir, Cheryl - one of only a hundred female officers of colonel rank or higher - explains what it takes to stay the course, overcome male domination issues, break the glass ceiling more than once, and deal with the political issues facing the Pentagon.

Ready For Takeoff–Stories from an Air Force Pilot recounts the extraordinary events of my ordinary Air Force career. From B-52 Cold War nuclear alert as a navigator, to wartime aerial refueling missions during Desert Storm and the Bosnian War, to flying General Tommy Franks after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, my career intersected many moments in history. I began as a quiet navigator and rose to command an Air Force squadron tasked with flying our nation's commanding four-star generals and admirals. These stories represent the exploits of many proud Air Force servicemen and women.

When Lyndon Baines Johnson wanted to go somewhere, there was no stopping him. This dynamic president called for Air Force One as others summon a taxi - at a moment's notice, whatever the hour or the weather. And the man who made sure that LBJ got his ride was General James U. Cross, the president's hand-picked pilot, top military assistant, and personal confidante. The only Air Force One pilot to have a position, simultaneously, in the White House, General Cross is also the only member of LBJ's inner circle who has not publicly offered his recollections of the president. Until now.