In Operation Iraqi Freedom, the Marine Corps’ ground campaign up the Tigris and Euphrates was notable for speed and aggressiveness unparalleled in military history. Little has been written, however, of the air support that guaranteed the drive’s success. Paving the way for the rush to Baghdad was “the hammer from above”–in the form of attack helicopters, jet fighters, transport, and other support aircraft. Now a former Marine fighter pilot shares the gripping never-before-told stories of the Marines who helped bring to an end the regime of Saddam Hussein.
As Jay Stout reveals, the air war had actually been in the planning stages ever since the victory of Operation Desert Storm, twelve years earlier. But when Operation Iraqi Freedom officially commenced on March 20, 2003, the Marine Corps entered the fight with an aviation arm at its smallest since before World War II. Still, with the motto “Speed Equals Success,” the separate air and ground units acted as a team to get the job done.
Drawing on exclusive interviews with the men and women who flew the harrowing missions, Hammer from Above reveals how pilots and their machines were tested to the limits of endurance, venturing well beyond what they were trained and designed to do. Stout takes us into the cockpits, revealing what it was like to fly these intense combat operations for up to eighteen hours at a time and to face incredible volumes of fire that literally shredded aircraft in midair during battles like that over An Nasiriyah .
With its dynamic descriptions of perilous flights and bombing runs, Hammer from Above is a worthy tribute to the men and women who flew and maintained the aircraft that so inspired their brothers in arms and terrified the enemy.
Jay A. Stout can be contacted at: jayastout at usa dot net
Jay A. Stout is a retired Marine Corps fighter pilot. An Indiana native and graduate of Purdue University, he was commissioned during June 1981 and was designated a naval aviator on 13 May 1983. His first fleet assignment was to F-4S Phantoms at MCAS Beaufort, South Carolina. Following a stint as an instructor pilot at NAS Chase Field Texas from 1986 to 1989, he transitioned to the F/A-18 Hornet. He flew the Hornet from bases on both coasts and ultimately retired from MCAS Miramar during 2001.
Aside from his flying assignments, he served as the executive officer of 1st Air Naval Gunfire Liaison Company, and in a variety of additional assignments with various staffs around the world. During his twenty-year career he flew more than 4,500 flight hours, including 37 combat missions during Operation Desert Storm.
Following his military career Stout worked for a very short time as an airline pilot before being furloughed after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. He subsequently flew for the Kuwait Air Force for a year before returning to the States where he now works for as a senior analyst for a leading defense contractor.
Lieutenant Colonel Stout's writing has been read on the floor of the U.S. Senate and has been published in various professional journals and newspapers around the nation. Works published while he was on active duty addressed controversial topics (women in the military, the MV-22 Osprey, effectiveness of the AV-8B Harrier, etc.) and took viewpoints that were often at odds with senior military leadership. Nevertheless, his cogent arguments and forthrightness contributed considerably to his credibility. Indeed, his expertise as a tactical aviator is recognized by Fox's national news network, which has hosted him twice as a combat aviation expert.
Read the interview below to learn more about Jay A. Stout and his writing:
WHAT IS YOUR BACKGROUND? WHAT CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF?
"Well, I was born in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1959. My father worked for the FAA and my mom raised my two sisters and I while working as a book keeper for various businesses. When I was younger we moved around quite a bit, including a stint overseas, but ultimately we settled back in Indiana. I graduated from Danville High School in 1977, and Purdue University in 1981."
"For most of my life I wanted to be nothing but a fighter pilot. But while I was at college I was turned down by the Air Force because my major discipline, agronomy, was not considered a technical degree. Still, the Marine Corps didn't care, and one day a Marine Corps recruiter literally grabbed my arm while I was walking through the student union building and asked me what I wanted to do with myself. I pointed at a poster he had of an F-4 Phantom II and said, "I want to fly those!" He indicated that I would have no problem doing just that and had me sign on the dotted line."
"The odds against me getting through all the tests and medical screenings, not to mention flight school, and finally into the cockpit of the F-4 were about 100 to 1, but the right mix of timing, luck, and a little bit of talent worked to my favor."
THEN WHAT HAPPENED?
"I did go on to fly the F-4 just like the recruiter promised. Flying the F-4 was fun, but it was aging and the Marine Corps wasn't spending a lot of money to maintain it. Following my F-4 tour I flight instructed on the T-2C Buckeye. It was one of the ugliest jets around, but I had a blast teaching on it. I then transitioned to the F/A-18 and flew with VMFA-451 during Desert Storm. After that, I didn't get shot at through the rest of my career and finally retired from MCAS Miramar in San Diego during 2001 after 20 years of service. I then started a career with Delta Air Lines but was furloughed immediately following the terrorist attacks of September 11. After flying F/A-18s for a year as a contract instructor with the Kuwait Air Force I came back to the States and now work for a major defense contractor as a senior analyst."
SO HOW DID YOU GET STARTED WITH WRITING? ANY SPECIAL TRAINING?
"I was probably better at writing than most of my peers, but I didn't have any special talent or training. Writing is mostly just hard work. During my freshman year at Purdue I took a semester of advanced composition so that I could test out of English. I busted my backside and got a big, fat 'C.'"
"Anyway, I was like a lot of people: 'I've always wanted to write a book.' Well, after Desert Storm there was no one writing any of the sorts of first-person accounts of the fighting that I had enjoyed reading as a young man. I figured that I had been there and that I could write about it as well as anyone else, so I gave it a shot. I can't imagine writing a book on a typewriter. Agh!"
THIS WAS "HORNETS OVER KUWAIT?"
"Yes, and I did everything wrong. I just wrote it and sent it straight out to about a ga-jillion publishers without an agent or even a proposal or a query letter. Most of the manuscripts came back with notes that essentially said, 'Thanks, but no thanks,' or 'You suck and so does your book,' or 'Don't ever bother us again.' Of course, not exactly in those words. There were a couple of bites though, and eventually after a rewrite or two and some tough editing, Naval Institute Press published it in 1997."
"The Marine Corps hated it. In the book I used some colorful language and I picked on some of the senior generals, and some of the Marine Corps's policies. I slammed the AV-8B Harrier and questioned the role of women in the military. But because of my frankness and honesty I made a lot of friends and sold a few books. I think that the Naval Institute Press was pleased."
"Now, almost a decade later, I sometimes cringe when I pick it up and read bits of it. Not because my stance on any of the controversial issues has changed, but rather some of the writing appears very amateurish. I could write it so much better now. Still, I think the publisher puposely edited it that way in order to keep the book honest--so that there was no doubt it was written by a warrior rather than a professional."
WHAT WAS YOUR NEXT BOOK?
"Eric Hammel of Pacifica Military History asked me to approach Hamilton "Mac" McWhorter and collaborate with him to write about his World War II experiences as a Navy fighter ace. Eric is one of the savviest and best World War II historians around and he understood the value of getting Mac to record his experiences."
"Mac was one of the finest gentlemen I've ever known. He was genuine and modest and understood that war isn't about blowing things up and covering oneself in glory. Instead, he knew it's about dead friends and dead sons, dead brothers, dead husbands and dead fathers. Working with him to help him write his book was a pleasure although sometimes he was so modest I had to really press him for details, otherwise the reader would have had nothing to work with. 'And then I shot him down' just wasn't enough! We made it work though, and I'm pretty proud of what we produced. This is a fine book about one of the best aerial marksmen of all time.
WHAT CAME NEXT?
"At Eric Hammel's suggestion I wrote 'Fortress Ploesti.' Although a gob of books have been written about the big low-level raid of August 1, 1943, no one had ever covered that story and the subsequent campaign the next year that turned the place into rubble. I really spent a great deal of time researching this work which was published by Casemate in 2003. It's a one-of-a-kind effort and I've never had anyone say anything negative about it. Instead, I've gotten a ton of responses from veterans who are genuinely happy that someone put what they were doing so long ago into context. The Fifteenth Air Force in Italy did a lot of tremendous work but never got the publicity that the Eighth Air Force in England got. I still love reading it and feel that it's one of my best books."
HOW ABOUT "TO BE A U.S. NAVAL AVIATOR?"
"Again, Eric Hammel played a role. He steered Motor Books International at me. They were looking for someone to write their naval aviator title for their "To Be a...." series. It's different than anything I'd done before: Large, soft-cover format with lots of photographs and descriptive text and captions. I thought it would be a no-brainer; after all, I'd been through the training, albeit twenty-some years ago. As it turned out, it was a lot of work. After all, although I'd been through jet training I had no idea about how the helicopter or multi-engine training pipelines worked. And although I considered myself a pretty good self-taught photographer, I was a bit worried that I might have gotten in over my head. But, things went well. I traveled a bit and talked to a lot of the kids who were going through training. And I took a lot of photographs. The book has turned out great."
AND THAT BRINGS US TO THE IRAQ BOOK.
"Yes, 'Hammer from Above--Marine Air Combat over Iraq.' An agent, E.J. McCarthy of The E.J. McCarthy Agency, called me up out of the blue. He asked what I had in mind for my next book and I told him that I was fiddling around with doing something about Marine Aviation in Iraq. This was just after Saddam had been driven from power. Anyway, E.J. was encouraging and signed me aboard. After I'd done a few sample chapters he sold the book to Random House. It was published by Ballantine under the Presidio imprint."
"The book follows the Iraq campaign in early 2003 up to Baghdad and it does so through the eyes of different types of Marine aviators, and all in the context of the ground campaign. For instance, on one day we might fly a mission with a UH-1N crew, and the next day go flying with the Cobras, and then perhaps an F/A-18 or CH-46E crew. There's been nothing like it done before--certainly not for the Marine Corps. This is a big book by a big publisher. I'm very pleased with it. It's been well-received critically and by my Marine Corps brethren."
TELL US ABOUT "SLAUGHTER AT GOLIAD--THE MEXICAN MASSACRE OF 400 TEXAS VOLUNTEERS"
"Two weeks after the fall of Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie and the rest of the men at the Alamo, the only other standing force on the side of the revolution was the garrison at Goliad. Those men fought a courageous battle but surrendered to a much larger Mexican army under terms that were supposed to see them returned to the United States. Instead, they were betrayed. A week later, Palm Sunday, March 27, 1836, on orders from Santa Anna, they were brutally shot, bayoneted and clubbed to death The number killed was likely double the number killed at the Alamo."
"As a young jet instructor I was stationed not far from Goliad. The more I learned about what happened to these men...their horrible deaths...the more frustrated I got that their story was unknown--certainly outside of Texas. So, I wrote the first comprehensive account of this tragedy; the book has done real well, even winning a couple of awards."
AND "THE MEN WHO KILLED THE LUFTWAFFE?"
"This was a book that I'd always dreamed of writing. I grew up reading exciting accounts of air combat, and when I got older I studied the strategies and tactics behind the air war against Germany. But rarely were the two ever combined in a single work. I've done that in this book; I take the strategies that the USAAF leadership crafted to win the war and shape them around the crown jewels of the book--the personal accounts of air combat. It works really well while making the case that it was the USAAF that defeated the Nazi air force and set the conditions the Allies needed to win the war."
HOW ABOUT PROFESSIONAL ARTICLES?
"I've had a few articles published in various professional journals and newspapers--mostly about aviation and military topics. Some of them have just been scholarly discussions. Others challenged the military leadership. One of them was read on the senate floor. A couple of them had me standing tall on the wrong side of a big desk. A combination of them cost me the opportunity to advance any further in the Marine Corps. I don't regret a single word. Particularly since I was right. Still, I do have a sense of self-preservation and there are a couple of articles that I did not publish because the kitchen got way too hot. Even now, in the civilian world. Nevertheless, I think that it's important to get the right word out. It's easier to sleep that way."
ANY RECOMMENDATIONS FOR WOULD-BE WRITERS?
"Start. A person can think of a thousand reasons not to begin a work. Bottom line: 'It ain't gonna get wrote if you don't start it.' And then, don't give up. Finish it. And if it gets rejected, keep fixing it and sending it out. Don't stop until it's published. I have not one shred of doubt that the top 20 American classics never got published because their writers gave up. Those manuscripts are sitting in an attic or garage somewhere and will never see the light of day because the writers didn't have the energy and guts to see them get to print."
This review is from: Hammer from Above: Marine Air Combat Over Iraq (Hardcover)
"Hammer from Above" is a highly readable book about the U.S. Marine Corps aviation support of the march on Baghdad in the spring of 2003. Ex-fighter jock, previous author of three aviation books, and retired USMC LtCol Jay "Guinness" Stout artfully weaves personal tales from the cockpits. Marine grunts have their own air force, from transport helicopters to Cobra gunships, all the way to F/A-18 all-weather fighter/attack jets.
Without air support, the Marines would not have as nearly as effective and efficient. To put it bluntly, U.S. soldiers and Marines have not gone into battle without air support since World War II. Air power is a uniquely American military luxury and an overwhelmingly inequitable advantage. Stout deftly opens the book with a primer on Marine Air. I must say the Introduction by Gen. "Buzz" Moseley, USAF, the overall air component commander, was distracting and read like a...general's pep talk or his retirement speech.
This book, "Hammer," the only one of its kind, provides insights into how our Marine air-ground team fights, and specifically, about battlefield preparation in advance of ground troop movement. It contains perspectives that are missing or barely touched upon in the oodles of Iraq War narratives from grunts and journalists that have been published. In a CASEVAC (casualty evacuation) scenario with two CH-46s racing toward Baghdad, Stout put me back into my own "PHROG" 15 years earlier as my flight closed in on Kuwait International Airport to medevac Marines. Except mine wasn't even close to being as hairy as the aerial action over Iraq in 2003, including An Nasiriyah (site of Jessica Lynch's capture), as written by Stout. He will strap readers onto a "Hornet" as it takes a rocket shoot and sprays its 20-mm cannon on a group of Fedayeens: "The pattern of projectiles tore into the running men; only three of the enemy fighters emerged from the cloud of smoke and dust." Whoever said war had to be fair?
Grunts are not the only ones in the military who can write; aviators, like Stout, can wriggle the "stick" and keyboard with the best. Strap in with Stout. Go on a night hop over the sand-stormy Iraqi desert. Check on your wingmen within feet of your wingtips or rotors. Experience the fog of battle in the air, radio chatter, equipment failures, identifying friend or foe, bombs on target, a Cobra gunshoot or medevacing fellow Marines. Finally, after a long night over Iraq, land on a rocking amphibious carrier in bad weather with low fuel. By the way, you're on the flight schedule the next day...after crew rest, of course. Semper fi!
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This review is from: Hammer from Above: Marine Air Combat Over Iraq (Hardcover)
I hate to use a cliché, but for a person who has "been there" this book is as accurate and real as it gets. If you are an aviation enthusiast or just very interested in military history this book is a must in your library. This is a piece of history that is still being written right now over there in Iraq. Highly recommended.
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This review is from: Hammer from Above: Marine Air Combat Over Iraq (Hardcover)
Mr. Stout's book HAMMER FROM ABOVE gave life the air war in Iraq. It showed what went on behind the scenes to win the offensive. It brought home what it was like for the Marines flying and those that supported them from the ground. This book was exciting from beginning to end, I read it in one day!!
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