Black Aces High: The Story of a Modern Fighter Squadron at War 
Product Description: - In 1999, when Serbia attacked the small country of Kosovo, the USS Roosevelt was steaming through the Mediterranean. In a matter of days, thirty pilots-veterans and rookies alike-were about to become the lethal tip of a fast, furious, high-tech knife. And the Black Aces Squadron VF-41-a team of mechanics, technicians, electronic warfare specialists-would plunge their weapon into the heart of the enemy...
This extraordinary book takes us into the world of Naval aviation in action: the training, launching, dog-fighting and the feeling of a multi-million dollar F-14A Tomcat pushed literally to its breaking point. From a harrowing account of a pilot s ejection from an exploding plane to the deadly cat-and-mouse games the F-14s played with deadly enemy forces on the ground, BLACK ACES HIGH straps us into the cockpit, hurtles us through SAM-laced night skies, and goes behind the scenes to meet the flesh-and-blood men and women whose skill and courage reinvented warfare-just when we needed it most...
Customer Ratings: - Bosnia s Bombcat s.
A really good account of the use of the Bombcat in Bosnia, with the added bonus of knowing what s going on in the minds and souls of the flight crews, and the obstacles and challenges they face in day to day situations
and for the price is much more that I expected to get. - Uncommon look at a frontline naval squadron. Former Air Force public affairs officer Robert Wilcox was given a unique opportunity to write about the combat experiences of a frontline naval squadron flying the rapidly retiring F-14 Tomcat. VF-41 s time in the Tomcat was usually personified with their shootdown of two Libyan MiGs in the early 80s, but their resurgence in the later 90s earned them strong praise after their conversion to the strike fighter role.
Lots of attention is given to the turnaround that the skipper effected with his squadron after a few years of decline. The turnaround led to the squadron s tasking in the skies over Kosovo against the Serbs in 1999. The development of a new way to fight, and the need to train the newer, junior pilots into lethal warriors while dodging enemy fire takes up the majority of the book, and readers will come to know the members of the squadron well after Wilcox treatment.
While not as crisply written as Angles of Attack (by a former A-6 attack pilot from Desert Storm, since he was the author), the book is an uncommon opportunity to get a feel for they way that the Navy operates its squadrons, and the challenges that come with added responsibility and rank. Overall, the book makes a strong case for the Navy s ability to train and mold its leaders with a new generation of challenges, while making tis subjects all too human. - Exellent and compeling story. This book brings out the dangers to todays military, and also talks about a war that took back seat to less important things. If you want to read a book of valor and courage in the cockpit of a F-14 tomcat you found the right book.
- Lose sight,lose fight..
An excellent account of what it is to fly modern fighter bombers such as Tomcats and Hornets in wartime theatres.This book is quite similar to the movie Top Gun. Following a recent showing of the movie on The History Channel,Ann Medina (sp) interviewed a Top Gun pilot.He said that the movie was very factual.I believe this book is also very factual.As powerful,complicated and expensive that these modern war planes are,they are very difficult to fly and have their limitations.As well as that,they are easily damaged and take a great deal of expensive maintenance.
The men who become Top Guns are the cream of the crop in every way.They are smart,leaders,brave,competitive,excellent physically and at the same time imaginative,free thinkers and extremely disciplined.They know that they can die at any moment but are still able to perform.The teamwork,love, trust, and respect that must exist in order for them to do this work is well described in this book.
WE all owe a great debt of gratitude to these fine men and pilots. - Revealing Account of a Modern Fighter Squadron. Black Aces High is an unusual book but a terrific one. Usually books about fighter squadrons give a lot of technical detail about airplanes and how they fight. Well this one does too. But that�s not the emphasis here. The emphasis is on the flyers, who they are and what they go through in a modern fighter squadron. The Black Aces fly off the USS Roosevelt. Their fighter is the aging F-14 Tomcat, still pound-for-pound one of the greatest fighters ever made. Their assignment was Kosovo, a precurser to Afghanistan and Iraq. We meet them, learn the problems they are facing, and then go to war with them. War is scary and the Aces are full of trepidation. But the core of officers mustered by and including skipper Joey Aucoin leads by example. There is a great group of younger aviators too. This is a war diary. It shows you what really goes on in a navy fighter squadron. They�re not all flag-waving heroes. But they get the job done. And its a tough dangerous job. Even the reluctant step up, which is the true definition of a hero. This story is a credit to the fighting men America produces.While there is a lot of shouting about how to do it, they are not going to be denied. The Black Aces subsequently led the bombing in Afghanistan and were later deployed to Iraq. Buffs as well as novices will enjoy this
realistic view - Barry Pitts, So Cal.
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Black Aces High: The Story of a Modern Fighter Squadron at War (ID: 0312997086)
