Viper Pilot_ A Memoi..

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Author’s Note I WROTE THIS BOOK MYSELF. RECONSTRUCTING THE COMBAT scenes in <strong>Viper</strong> <strong>Pilot</strong> wasn’t difficult—they are forever etched in my memory. However, I confirmed every date, time, and call sign against actual flight data cards, mission reports, and intelligence summaries. These events have all been declassified and can usually be found, in one form or another, in open sources. Classified information is not directly discussed, for obvious security reasons. This includes technical specifications about weapon systems, tactics, and aircraft capabilities. Where essential, real names of pilots do appear, always with the express permission of the individuals involved. Otherwise, pseudonyms or call signs are utilized. Lastly, the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force has conducted its own independent review of this book and approved it for publication as originally written. —D.H.
Page 2 and 3: VIPER PILOT A MEMOIR OF AIR COMBAT
Page 4 and 5: Epigraph There are only two types o
Page 8 and 9: Prologue Angel of Death March 24, 2
Page 10 and 11: forward to snack time. Sort of a re
Page 12 and 13: lined up the steering line on the t
Page 14 and 15: lined up on the road. “ROMAN . .
Page 16 and 17: weapons, and returning to base. But
Page 18 and 19: 1 YGBSM “YOU’VE GOTTA BE SHITTI
Page 20 and 21: when he crossed the Pamir Mountains
Page 22 and 23: spent nine months in Stalag Luft 1,
Page 24 and 25: Pressed for an answer, the Air Forc
Page 26 and 27: underwing hard points capable of a
Page 28 and 29: Air Force. The Weasels were once ag
Page 30 and 31: No contest, really. BY THE SPRING O
Page 32 and 33: initial phase of pilot training was
Page 34 and 35: I loved it. Whereas piloting the Tw
Page 36 and 37: the pilot could remain conscious. S
Page 38 and 39: Following that cheerful interlude,
Page 40 and 41: operations. We had bases in the Far
Page 42 and 43: along. F-86s, F-104s, F-105s, etc.,
Page 44 and 45: throbbing. “Because that’s wher
Page 46 and 47: The next-generation model, called S
Page 48 and 49: art of the briefing. Briefings are
Page 50 and 51: Every few nights, when the flying s
Page 52 and 53: if you’ve managed to keep the sam
Page 54 and 55: 3 The Elephant January 19, 1991 Mos
Page 56 and 57:
was locked by an SA-2 somewhere sou
Page 58 and 59:
I immediately pulled up and away fr
Page 60 and 61:
that he continued pointing at Mosul
Page 62 and 63:
To my astonishment, the radar actua
Page 64 and 65:
during the day or night if the weat
Page 66 and 67:
our paperwork, and were back in the
Page 68 and 69:
attention. Ceiling fans slowly circ
Page 70 and 71:
combination of pool and rugby playe
Page 72 and 73:
and the game. “Did you hear me”
Page 74 and 75:
“When Yesterday” “No sir. The
Page 76 and 77:
Finally, he sort of puffed out his
Page 78 and 79:
4 Fly Like an Egyptian THIRTY MINUT
Page 80 and 81:
ut down. Eyeballing the gauges, I s
Page 82 and 83:
pine, as we say. To help him out, I
Page 84 and 85:
white gallibiyah, an ankle-length r
Page 86 and 87:
parts of the Middle East yet. In re
Page 88 and 89:
the entrance to the Egyptian side o
Page 90 and 91:
them had likely ever visited. They
Page 92 and 93:
English, everything was okay. They
Page 94 and 95:
decided that we were in an F-16 tod
Page 96 and 97:
een off on staffs or in one of the
Page 98 and 99:
A recently assigned pilot, whether
Page 100 and 101:
Assistant Director of Operations (A
Page 102 and 103:
of you. You go out and dogfight eve
Page 104 and 105:
Daily Mirror and a hero’s welcome
Page 106 and 107:
evaluate, and this is another reaso
Page 108 and 109:
udgets. The Navy has aircraft carri
Page 110 and 111:
eckoning with Iraq. The Air Force c
Page 112 and 113:
Last (and most important), there wa
Page 114 and 115:
combat and most of them had no idea
Page 116 and 117:
“declaration of war” aroused fa
Page 118 and 119:
The Texas Instrument marketing folk
Page 120 and 121:
were airborne at the time didn’t
Page 122 and 123:
Then, on the intra-flight Victor ra
Page 124 and 125:
a corner onto the Calle Vida, howev
Page 126 and 127:
Regardless of the political permuta
Page 128 and 129:
TopGun clipping. All fighter wings
Page 130 and 131:
French-built “indestructible” b
Page 132 and 133:
Blood chit. If we were shot down ov
Page 134 and 135:
weapons pylons under the wings. The
Page 136 and 137:
In Kuwait following the Nasiriyah m
Page 138 and 139:
After the SAMbush mission in Baghda
Page 140 and 141:
It’s impossible not to look good
Page 142 and 143:
“STOIC One, multiple SAM launches
Page 144 and 145:
“Fighting wing . . . stay locked.
Page 146 and 147:
to the same heading, so we were run
Page 148 and 149:
EARLY THIS VERY MORNING, THE CIA HA
Page 150 and 151:
looked like a Scrabble board. I too
Page 152 and 153:
In any event, the war was rolling.
Page 154 and 155:
Nothing. This really wasn’t my da
Page 156 and 157:
KC-135’s right wing. Without look
Page 158 and 159:
would you pass them on Victor 130.2
Page 160 and 161:
intentions.” Say intentions How a
Page 162 and 163:
WARDOG, and DERBY. I jotted it all
Page 164 and 165:
approach.” Assuming I can find th
Page 166 and 167:
I knew nine other sets of eyes were
Page 168 and 169:
simulator scenario that had gone ap
Page 170 and 171:
each other after each flight to kee
Page 172 and 173:
When we eventually returned to Prin
Page 174 and 175:
enemy threat. The F-15Es were unabl
Page 176 and 177:
9 The Valley of the Shadow March 26
Page 178 and 179:
never seemed to grasp that we could
Page 180 and 181:
500 knots, the jet was bouncing and
Page 182 and 183:
cues suddenly vanish. For an eterna
Page 184 and 185:
A flash caught my eyes and I looked
Page 186 and 187:
Arabia and I actually started to re
Page 188 and 189:
west, while the military threw up d
Page 190 and 191:
his wingtips as he dropped into for
Page 192 and 193:
“ELI Three, attacking.” With my
Page 194 and 195:
ack and sliced back toward the farm
Page 196 and 197:
Of course it is. “LUGER, ELI Thre
Page 198 and 199:
At eight miles, I nosed over slight
Page 200 and 201:
“ELI Four, Magnum SA-3 . . . Bull
Page 202 and 203:
Tiny gray puffs of chaff popped out
Page 204 and 205:
There were three revetments in the
Page 206 and 207:
important, it wouldn’t be threate
Page 208 and 209:
with the horizon crazily spinning b
Page 210 and 211:
Little fuckers, I swore to myself.
Page 212 and 213:
The deadly shape of another missile
Page 214 and 215:
Attacking a target in a modern figh
Page 216 and 217:
Zing’s reply was immediate. “EL
Page 218 and 219:
came back to the right. The hangar
Page 220 and 221:
een a SAM, after all. That was a ch
Page 222 and 223:
ig part of a Weasel attack. Like ov
Page 224 and 225:
first six-pack that morning, and I
Page 226 and 227:
clear frequency, because it was eas
Page 228 and 229:
“FABLE One . . . Rifle.” Holdin
Page 230 and 231:
solve whatever problems had come up
Page 232 and 233:
information. “Copy that. We’re
Page 234 and 235:
snapshot of the location and snappe
Page 236 and 237:
his belly as Juice racked the jet u
Page 238 and 239:
defense components with hard bombs,
Page 240 and 241:
Not too long ago, a Predator “pil
Page 242 and 243:
news today, and I see the pods and
Page 244 and 245:
Glossary ACC: Air Combat Command. T
Page 246 and 247:
NO JOY: Lost visual. Should be used
Page 248 and 249:
F-16CJ Schematic
Page 250 and 251:
Index The pagination of this electr
Page 252 and 253:
antiwar protests, in Spain, 165-66
Page 254 and 255:
Carlson, Major, Hampton’s confron
Page 256 and 257:
Dhahran Air Base (Saudi Arabia) bui
Page 258 and 259:
Iraq War and, 172, 214, 216 9/11 at
Page 260 and 261:
difficulty of, 139 duration of, 133
Page 262 and 263:
Two Dogs name of, 62-63 HARM missil
Page 264 and 265:
military morale in, 147 no-fly zone
Page 266 and 267:
LAPEL (Iraq War call sign), 232, 23
Page 268 and 269:
TAC, 39 “Naming” ceremony, 61-6
Page 270 and 271:
Iraq War and, 166-67, 182-84, 191-9
Page 272 and 273:
mobile, 54, 72, 146, 235, 281, 305
Page 274 and 275:
STRAIGHT FLUSH radar, 54 “sucker
Page 276 and 277:
eturn from Mosul flight and, 76-80
Page 278 and 279:
importance of, 29, 304-5 Maverick m
Page 280 and 281:
Credits Map courtesy of the UN Cart
Page 282 and 283:
About the Publisher Australia Harpe
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