Customer Reviews

Black Aces High: The Story of a Modern Fighter Squadron at War

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I just finished reading Black Aces High and thought it was outstanding. I read the entire book in one sitting and it was fantastic.
I was an F-18 pilot on that cruise and while the book concentrated more on the Tomcat than the Hornet, it accuratly portrayed the the missions and development of some fairly advanced tactics in SCAR.
The action in Kosovo was much more intese than Iraq.
In addition I was pretty close to most of the guys in the book and he really captured their personalities.
Sometimes the truth needs some embellishment to make an interesting story. However, this book was right on the mark, had no embellishment and was captivating.
Reading about the strikes in which I participated and the antics of squadron life brought back some great memories. Every squadron had a cast of characters that are pretty funny, but the VF-41 had a lot of larger than life personalities.
If you want an accurate portrayal of a squadron at war and the thoughts which pass through pilot's heads during combat, this is a great book.

Sincerely,
Kurt McClung
LCDR USN
VMFAT-101 (exchange F-18 instructor with the Marines)

Robert Wilcox is an extremely talented military aviation writer and Black Aces High is another great effort. This is a story of a rundown squadron with low marks and low moral that is transformed into the top bombing squadron in the US Navy. When a new and determined CO, with the unfortunate call sign, Joey, takes over the squadron, he recruits the best senior pilots he can find and a handful of talented maintenance chiefs. Reminiscent somewhat of the story 12 O'clock High, Joey changes the attitude and commitment of the squadron by keen leadership, attention to detail, and care and concern for the men under him. Flying old F-14A Tomcats, recently configured as bombers, VF-41 heads in harm's way aboard the USS Roosevelt for combat duty over Kosovo. The reader gets the inside story as the pilots learn their trade through trial and plenty of error. The book is candid and reveals the squadron's early failures, frustrations and tension. From launching into storms and rain, dodging SAMs, AAA, mountain peaks, and, sometimes, the rules, to landing low on fuel, scared and exhausted, the reader is in the cockpit for all the action. Based primarily on interviews with the participants, Wilcox does a great job building the tension and developing the story. A super accolade to the author for his recognition that the reader knows what an aircraft carrier is. Understanding that carrier aviation has been around for 80 years now, we do not suffer through a yet another cook's tour of the ship, explaining that different colored shirts on the flight deck do this or that, what an LSO does, how a catapult works, what a mirror landing system is and all the other tedium that most naval writers drag readers through. If you read about baseball, you don't expect an explanation of what a pitcher does, where a batter stands, how many are on the team, etc. Thank you Mr. Wilcox, you rate 5 stars just for this! Without Allied ground forces to call out targets, the Black Aces learn how to use LANTIRN, FLIR, and TARPS systems (and a cool, new IZLID system) to hunt out an elusive Serbian military at night in bad weather. This is not Desert Storm tank plinking, but down and dirty hunting and killing among the trees. We learn these systems are not fool proof and every bomb drop is not a CNN highlight film. Its hard, its dangerous, and it takes a determined effort to get it right. Many pilots are unconvinced they can do the job and the rules of engagement, lack of information sharing among forces, and tonnage drop requirements are uncomfortably reminiscent of Vietnam at its worst. But leadership, determination, courage, and that unique quality of American innovation turn the tide. These guys soon become skilled and terribly efficient in what they do. Both Wings of Fury and Scream of Eagles are excellent. Put Black Aces High on your bookshelf right next to them.

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 thats 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. Theyre 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.

Once in awhile a book comes along that cuts through all the hype and gets to the truth. Robert K. Wilcoxs BLACK ACES HIGH is that kind of book. Shunning adulation and geewhiz approaches to our aviators on carriers, Wilcox takes us into the heart of a modern fighter squadron as it flys and fights over Kosovo, an important but somewhat forgotten conflict for our forces. However, the Black Aces paved the way for what was done in Afghanistan and what will be done in future airwars. The squadron is preparing to fight in Iraq. But in Kosovo, the Black Aces are thrown in to fight a war dictated by other people. The Black Aces have to learn on the job. The dangers are everywhere. They innovate, fight their fears, come up with new ways of hunting and killing. They dont have the benefit of ground spotters so must learn, almost like detectives, how to find their enemy, which is hidden and cunning. They end up being prime factors in the capitulation of the Serbian forces. Most importantly we learn in this book how the members of the squadron relate to each other and function as aerial fighters. It is fascinating to get behind the closed doors of a fighter squadron and see what really goes on. We see the personal lives of the pilots and air crews. There is even a love story. They are Americans to be proud of.

This is a must read for anyone who wants to see and understand how a carrier fighter squadron functions today in this Age of Terror. This is the new right stuff.

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.

Robert Wilcox follows the aviatiors of VF-41, a navy F-14 fighter squadron, as they learn a new brand of war in the skies over Kosovo in the spring air war of 1999. Though much of "Black Aces" (the title refers to VF-41's nickname) tells the same legends of naval aviation that I've read since about 1987, it does cover an important moment in the history of the F-14. Though the plane is on its way out (the Navy has already begun phasing out the earliest models, with the plane to completely exit operations by 2010), F-14's were given a late-in-life new mission of ground attack, probably meant to fill the gap between the already phased out A-6 Intruder and the not-yet-ready for primetime F/A-18E/F "Super Hornet". Equipped with laser and infra-red sensors, and armed with laser-glide bombs, Tomcat crews - pilots and radar-intercept officers - scour the hilly, forested terrain of the former Yugoslavia for Serb forces. Flying from the USS Roosevelt, Tomcats pass the mouth of the Adriatic (off the "heel" of Italy) and into Kosovo. Unfortunately, not fighting a true war, Serb forces don't attack or hide out in the open before they sweep into Kosovar-Albanian enclaves, forcing the American fliers to rely on their sensors and no-small degree of detective work to locate the enemy. For Tomcat crews, their eventual success is bittersweet: their ability adapting Tomcats to strike roles (for decades, the F-14 was a dedicated interceptor, more singular in that role than F-16 or F-15 fighters that were equipped with ground attack weapons) will do less to earn the aging fighter a reprieve than validate and pave the way for the plane that will replace it. Wilcox doesn't hint much at the "Supre Hornet" and doesn't begin to approach the controversy that the F-14 v. F/A-18E debate has reportedly ignited among naval aviation professionals. (On the last page, Wilcox mentions Super Hornet in glowing words - it's the plane of the future.)

In telling his story, Wilcox follows the planes and pilots of VF-41 - from the "Hinges" (senior pilots) to the "Nuggets" (untested and sometimes not quite proficient new guys). Wilcox reveals the pressures that nearly crush the senior pilots - who must battle the poor weather and the F-14's poor serviceability as much the enemy. He also reveals the faults (and strengths) of the nuggets - at least one of whom appear to be using regulations as an excuse for their less-than-aggressive flying. Wilcox gets very close to his pilots - quoting them almost word for word. You get a sense, as he recalls individual statements - that
there's more going on then even he understands, even if he gets enough to encapsulate some thoughts in brackets. The writing is also embarassingly bad in spots - with Wilcox often summarizing a paragraph or completing a thought with a single-sentence paragraph that makes the book sound less like a history of war than a first-grade reader. Organization could also have been improved - Wilcox starts describing the faults and strengths of a Nugget - only to tangent into another pilot before giving closure to the initial assessment of the first. We also learn fairly late in the story that one of the F-14 pilots had transitioned from the A-6, the vintage carrier-strike jet whose role the F-14 was now trying to fill. You'd think that pilot's experience would have made him a prominent member of the squadron - but not to Wilcox.

"Aces" has the feeling of a rush job. Wilcox accompanied the Roosevelt doubtlessly knowing as much as the rest of us that the 9/11 attacks would reduce the Kosovo war to a blip on the minds of many Americans. He reminds us that the F-14 can be a trying plane or that landing on aircraft carriers at night or in poor weather can be an ordeal rivaling combat, but he doesn't take us inside the minds of those pilots. Wilcox likely thought that he had already done as much to humanize his pilots by showing them lose their temper, miss targets, get chewed out by superiors or by displaying questionably unagressive tendancies for a fighter pilot - and had to "balance" things to stay in the Navy's good graces. The result is that we a get a sense that it's a challenge to fly the F-14, but not
why.

This is the best book I've read about cutting-edge American airpower; tactics; strategy; day-to-day operations; and the makeup of good people who make the whole thing fly.

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.

Wilcox does a yoeman's job of presenting the inside details of a Navy fighter squadron's operations and culture, but to a fault.

I found the book a "page turner" in a manner of speaking. By about halfway through, I started scanning and turning pages to find some aspect of squadron life that hadn't already been covered several times before. They fly a mission; they get shot at; they drop bombs; they talk to each other with funny call signs; they return to the ready room and yell at each other. Over and over again. The author's repeated details of each mission, and use of inscrutible call signs made the reading ponderous.

What I took away from the book was the impression that Navy pilots are largely thrill seekers with big egos who don't like to be disagreed with; an impression not consistent with my own three years aboard a carrier.

If you want to read this book, buy a used copy. It's not one that will live long in your reference library.

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.