Showing titles in Air Forces

In Marshall's Great Captain, author Kathy Wilson details Andrews's extraordinary life and career. The first biography dedicated to the namesake of Joint Base Andrews, this book sheds a light on Andrews's crucial role in orchestrating US involvement in WWII, as well as the professional relationship between Andrews and Marshall. Wilson raises Andrews's legacy to its legitimate place within the annals of both air power and WWII history and posits that there is a high probability that Andrews was Marshall's first choice for the office of Supreme Allied Commander.

A captivating and inspiring memoir by Canada's first man in space. On October 5th, 1984, Marc Garneau made history. Blasting off from the Kennedy Space Center aboard the U.S. Space Shuttle and reaching a speed of 28,000 km/hour, he became the first Canadian to fly to outer space. That monumental...

Following the First World War, it was expected that the next war would be between Japan and the U.S. for control of the vast Pacific Ocean. Responsibility for conducting surveillance of the Pacific to detect attacks from Japan fell to the Navy. This was a problem for the Navy because surface ships were too slow and the Navy had too few of them, and airplanes lacked the range to conduct the needed reconnaissance.

The inspiring, action-packed tale of VF-15, the elite group of U.S. Navy “top gun” pilots that destroyed more enemy planes than any other Pacific War squadron. David McCampbell ended his tour of duty as the navy’s “ace of aces,” with thirty-four confirmed enemy planes shot down, and...

The untold history of a top-secret operation in the run-up to D-Day in which American flyers and Allied spies carried out some of the most daring cloak-and-dagger operations of World War II. In 1943, the OSS—precursor to the CIA—came up with a plan to increase its support to the French...

The story of the United States Air Force (USAF) stretches back to aerial operations prior to the First World War and looks forward to a new era of airpower in space. Fighting from Above presents a concise account of this history, offering a new perspective on how the air forces of the United States created an independent way of warfare over time.

The remaining US aviation forces, along with the US Air Force and US Navy and Marine aviation assets, would not be easily removed from the battle. For the US forces still in-country, this is an untold story of heroism, dedication, and refusal to yield the battlefield despite being largely considered by US political leaders as "expendable."

The attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, solved the problem for a lot of American kids who wanted to be Army pilots but didn't meet the two years of college requirement for acceptance into the aviation cadet program. In mid-1942, under wartime pressures, the Army Air Corps dropped that requirement and made an exception for applicants who could pass a stiff written test.

Valor in the Skies: Courage and Sacrifice in Aerial Warfare is a riveting exploration of the history of aerial combat, spanning over a century of innovation, challenges, and achievements. From the earliest days of flight to the cutting-edge technologies of the present day, this book delves deep into the fascinating world of aerial warfare, exploring the courage and sacrifice of the men and women who have made it possible.

USS Intrepid's Fighting Squadron 18 (VF-18) was one of the U.S. Navy's highest-scoring carrier units of World War II. Despite having only one combat veteran in its roster, its aviators were credited with shooting down more than 170 planes during their eighty-one-day tour of duty, earning the squadron the nickname "Two-a-Day 18" in newspapers nationwide. How did a novice unit with a comparatively short time in theater accomplish such a feat?

Visual Friendlies, Tally Target: Surges continues the story of the role of forward air controllers (JTACs) and Close Air Support (CAS), picking up in 2006 and continuing through 2013. This volume covers the evolution of Joint Fires through the colloquial "second phase" of the War on Terror—the "surges" of Iraq in 2007 and Afghanistan in 2010–2011. Vol. II recounts the evolution of air power during the rising counterinsurgencies, as well as the psychology and mental makeup of these exclusive tribes.

The inspiration for this brilliant anthology is the "I Learnt About Flying from That" articles that first appeared in the RAF flight safety magazine Air Clues in the 1940s and continue to feature in the magazine to this day. Flying Through the Ranks gets a five-star start with an extraordinary tale from a marshal of the Royal Air Force and continues in the same vein. Men and women of every rank—pilots, navigators, engineers, a RAF regiment officer, and airmen too—reveal similar intriguing experiences in both war and peace.

Brought to life by the personal accounts of six Navy pilots and one British POW, this is the history of the U.S. Navy airstrikes on Japanese-held Hong Kong. Trawling through historic records, Steven K. Bailey discovered that the story of the U.S. Navy airstrikes on Japanese-held Hong Kong during the final year of World War II. Operation Gratitude involved nearly 100 U.S. Navy warships and close to a thousand planes. Target Hong Kong brings this operation down to a human scale by recounting the air raids through the experiences of seven men whose lives intersected at Hong Kong in January 1945.

For 113 terrifying days in 1940, Nazi Germany’s air force, the Luftwaffe, threw everything it had at Great Britain in hopes of early victory in World War II. The task of defending southern England from airborne attack fell to pilots in the Royal Air Force, supplemented in their darkest hour by more than 100 flyers from Canada. These Canadians, some from famous families, some straight off the farm, served in forty-seven different Battle of Britain squadrons.

These letters were discovered in an Army Air Force footlocker after being locked away for almost 80 years. Follow the story of one World War 2 Army Air Force soldier, Glenn Max Whitacre, from Bowling Green Ohio through basic training, schooling, combat prep, and into battle.

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.