Air Force War

Less than a month after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the US Army formed its first air force designated to operate overseas, the Eighth. Within four months they had set up base in England. Three months later they were bombing German targets in occupied Europe. The Eighth was the first bomber command on either side to commit to strategic daylight bombing. It was a major change in tactics - and the men of the Eighth paid the price in both lives and blood.

The Vietnam War is one of the most misunderstood military conflicts in 20th-century America. Showcasing 72 true stories told by American servicemen who fought from the skies, this unique and historically significant collection is a stunning record of the air war in Southeast Asia during the 1960s and 1970s.

In 1944 and 1945, Tom Faulkner was a B-24 pilot flying out of San Giovanni airfield in Italy as a member of the 15th Air Force of the US Army Air Forces. Only 19 years old when he completed his 28th and last mission, Tom was one of the youngest bomber pilots to serve in the US Army Air Forces during World War II. Between September 1944 and the end of February 1945, he flew against targets in Hungary, Germany, Italy, Austria, and Yugoslavia.

1941. A talented flier, Jessie Lovelace yearns for a career in aviation. When the civilian flight school in her small Texas town begins to clandestinely train British pilots for the RAF, she fights to become an instructor. But the task isn’t without its perils of near-misses and death. Faced with the weight of her responsibilities, she finds solace with a British officer who knows firsthand the heavy price paid in war . . . until he returns to the battles he never truly left behind.

This powerful and inspirational story is as much of a self-help book as it is an edge of your seat military memoir. Warrior's Creed reveals a motivating and mindful approach to overcoming the odds, facing the impossible, and finding mercy and grace in the aftermath.

A born daredevil, John Homan joined the Army Air Forces after the Pearl Harbor attack. By 1944, he was co-piloting a B-24 Liberator over Nazi Germany, raining death and destruction on the enemy. This first-person account of his harrowing missions—chronicling deadly flights through skies of red-hot flak bursts and airmen bailing out with parachutes aflame—will leave listeners staggered by the determination and grit of World War II aviators.

A World War II Military Thriller Inspired by True Events of the Winter War In the frozen skies of 1939 Finland, death doesn’t come from above—it hunts in formation. As the Soviet invasion begins, Finnish fighter ace Lieutenant Veikko Niemi takes to the air in his outclassed Fokker D.XXI, battling overwhelming numbers in defense of his homeland. But something is different this time. The Soviet pilots aren't flying blind bombing runs—they’re coordinated, precise, and deadly. Led by the enigmatic Major Grigori Chernyavin, a disgraced stunt pilot returned from Stalin’s purges, the ...

President Nathaniel "Dutch" McAdams saves his family from the apocalypse, but drops his sacred duty in the process. With the nation destroyed, he retreats into a brutal regimen of physical fitness and combat training, resolving to fight to the death as a partisan for the country he failed. Dutch and his family settle among the Paiute Indians, where two months later, a Russian Spetsnaz unit comes searching for the nuclear missile control briefcase in the wreckage of Air Force One.

Learn about the roles of airmen and their training, as well as the advanced equipment, aircraft, and weapons the Air Force uses.

Because its enemies never stop trying to undermine the United States’ security, the men and women who serve to protect America must always be vigilant. Few know this better than warriors Brad McLanahan and Nadia Rozek. Newly married, the two are just beginning to settle into their new life together when they are called back into action. Though the Russians were badly defeated by Brad and the Iron Wolf Squadron in their previous bid for world dominance, they are back and doubling down on their quest for control of outer space.

The involvement of the US Air Force in the Southeast Asian Wars began in 1962 with crews sent to train Vietnamese pilots, and with conflict in Laos, and finally ended in 1972 with the B-52 bombing of Hanoi, though there were Air Force pilots unofficially flying combat in Laos up to the end in 1975. The missions flown by USAF aircrews during those years in Southeast Asia differed widely, from attacking the Ho Chi Minh Trail at night with modified T-28 trainers, to missions “Downtown,” the name aircrew gave Hanoi, the central target of the war.

How can you fight an enemy when you don’t know who they are? Medics Paul Adams and Lizzie Jarman are back at home, recovering from two brutal tours of Afghanistan. They’re in the process of getting on an even keel when, in an attempt to escape the horrific memories of combat, Lizzie decides to take a sabbatical in Sierra Leone. Back in the United Kingdom aspiring investigative journalist, Eleanor Vickers, has uncovered something unusual about the local bio-technology institute that is sponsoring Lizzie’s sabbatical. She risks everything to uncover the truth about the secretive ...

Great Britain, summer 1940. The Battle of France is over. The Battle of Britain is about to begin. Adolf Hitler’s powerful armies control Europe. England stands alone against this juggernaut, the whole world knowing it is only a matter of time before Nazi Germany unleashes its military might on the island nation. And in London, a new prime minister named Winston Churchill is determined to defeat the Nazi menace, no matter the costs. Luckily for Churchill, one quirky Englishman has seen the future.

Embark on an extraordinary journey through the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) as Chief Master Sergeant (Retired) Bob Vásquez, opens his heart and shares a collection of poignant stories. This captivating book is intended to inform, inspire, and ignite introspection for USAFA Grads, USAFA Staff, parents, and family members alike. Picture yourself sitting with Chief, savoring a cup of coffee at Arnold Hall or strolling across the iconic Terrazzo, as he masterfully recounts unforgettable anecdotes. With every turn of the page, readers are beckoned to reflect on their own ...

World War II Begins... It's September of nineteen-thirty-nine, and King George of England has just announced to his people that he has declared war on Germany due to their invasion of the Allied country of Poland. This ghastly news immediately falls on the ears of Simon Bentley while he sits enjoying himself at his younger brother George's wedding. Being a Squadron Leader in the Royal Air Force, he knows he must act immediately, so without any hesitation, Simon flees the church basement reception and heads straight for his air base. It is time for all the years of his pilot training to be ...

Normally transport squadrons aren't in the front line, but during Operation Market Garden No. 437 Squadron RCAF found themselves over Arnhem delivering supplies to the British 1st Airborne Division. This is their story.

Wayne K. Blickenstaff, known as "Blick," was a stalwart of the 350th Fighter Squadron of the 353rd Fighter Group based at Goxhill, Metfield, and Raydon, England, as part of the Eighth Air Force prosecuting the strategic air campaign against Germany. As an original cadre member, he rose steadily through the ranks to a Lieutenant Colonel and Group Operations Officer. His double "ace" status included a Me262 jet fighter and the destruction of five aircraft in one mission—giving him rare "ace in a day" status.

In the dark days after the devastating Pearl Harbor attacks during the spring of 1942, the United States was determined to show the world that the Axis was not invincible. Their bold plan? Bomb Tokyo. On April 18, 1942, sixteen B-25s, known as the Doolittle Raiders, hit targets across Japan before escaping to China. The eighth plane, however, did not follow the other raiders. Instead, Plane 8's pilots, Captain Edward "Ski" York and Lieutenant Bob Emmens, never attacked Tokyo, but headed across Japan to the Soviet Union, supposedly due to low fuel.

For decades, the soldiers who served in Vietnam were shunned by the American public and ignored by their government. Many were vilified or had their struggles to reintegrate into society magnified by distorted depictions of veterans as dangerous or demented. Even today, Vietnam veterans have not received their due. Until now. These profiles are touching and courageous, and often startling.

You don't have to be killed in action to be a casualty of war. Medics Paul Adams and Lizzie Jarman are one of the most welcome sights to injured soldiers in the war-torn poppy fields of Afghanistan. With red crosses on their arms and medical equipment strapped to their backs, they thunder into battle in a Chinook helicopter – straight into areas everyone else is desperate to get away from. In the middle of the fiercest fighting British troops have seen since the Falklands War, the medics are the last defence from death on the ground in some corner of a foreign field. But in Afghanistan, ...