Customer Reviews

MAGNUM! THE WILD WEASELS IN DESERT STORM: The Elimination of Iraq's Air Defence

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you want to know what it was like dueling with surface to air missiles in the skies above Iraq, this is a book for you.

Brick Eisel and Jim Schreiner did a great job describing what it was like fighting to gain and maintain air supremacy in Desert Storm. Magnum introduces you to the people and puts you in the cockpit of the venerable F-4G Wild Weasel where you will experience the hours of boredom frequently interrupted by moments of sheer terror while engaging SAMs, AAA, enemy fighters, and scuds. You will experience the Wild Weasel challenges - planning a campaign using theoretical employment concepts while trying to convince the non believers that it would really work; then, evolving airpower tactics and ultimately revising air power doctrine as they executed an intense campaign. They say that all good war stories start out with, "There I was..." and this one does just that through Jim Schreiner's first hand accounts. From someone who has "been there and done that" this is a must read!

"Victor" Ballanco

More than interesting! We believe we live with these crews, manning the last of the true Weasels. Technically interesting, but very spirited as far of the conditions of this war are discribed. Recommanded!

I am merely a general reader; not a pilot. I enjoy reading about clever air tactics because the tactics must consider all directons of sight and fast speed. Two famous super-class air tactics are the wild weasels vs sams, and the "mig trap" devised by Robin Olds and the wolfpack. This is a large, comprehensive book about a pilot's wild weasel service during the first Iraq war. Not only do we have the actual pilot's first person story, but there are many informative asides, excellent colour and black and white photos, and even appendices. The book is worth its price for anyone who enjoys studying tactics, the F4, or the actual pilot's very interesting and well-written story. Another excellent book is First In, Last Out: Stories by The Wild Weasels.

I really enjoyed this book. I flew as a Navy EA-6B Prowler crewman in the 2003 invasion of Iraq, tasked with suppression of air defenses. Though a different aircraft, service, and conflict, I found this account very similar to my own experience, capturing perfectly many of the emotions and considerations involved in that type of mission, one not often written about. On top of that, the narrative flow is excellent, making the book a great read. Not only are the descriptions of combat vivid, but the brief descriptions of expeditionary living conditions back at base are also enjoyable. One more factor that makes this book a gem is that it represents an account of the last major combat employment of the legendary F-4 Phantom.
Highly recommended for any reader interested in modern air power at war, and any reader who appreciates a vivid, personal narrative that puts you in the moment. When my sons are old enough, I will encourage them to read this book to get a feel for my own wartime flying experiences.

This is a great read - not only for the military historian but for the casual reader. It gives great insight to everthing involved as USAF pilots pilots as fly into harm's way hunting for radar and anti-aircraft sites during Desert Storm!

As the title suggests, Magnum chronicles the exploits of the US Air Force's F-4G Wild Weasels over Iraq and Kuwait during the 1991 Gulf War.

The book, which is 274 pages long including three excellent appendices and well-referenced index, is largely based on the contemporaneous diary entries of F-4G pilot Schreiner, with co-author Eisel blending the stories together with background information and additional anecdotes from other Wild Weasel aircrew. Although the book deals exclusively with the F-4G, the authors acknowledge up front that the US Navy and Royal Air Force also contributed greatly to the destruction of Iraq's integrated defence system.

Schreiner's diary extracts take the reader through his journey from waiting for orders to deploy in 1990, to returning home in March 1991. In doing so, they provide a glimpse into the challenges of going to war, and the challenges of staying alive in the face of a barrage of guided surface to air missiles and unguided anti aircraft artillery. These are complemented by the recollections of other Weasels who fought alongside him, adding an additional perspective and insight to the reader's understanding of the Wild Weasels' exploits. Linking the anecdotes and diary entries together, Eisel backfills the political and military story, allowing the reader to place the diary entries within the overall context of Operation Desert Storm, and ensuring that a reader unfamiliar with the flow of the conflict is kept abreast of how the F-4G fitted in. The text is well-written, and I found only two factual errors in the book - a testament to the authors and their proof readers.

At the back of the book, three valuable appendices give the reader additional information on the types of threats the Wild Weasels were up against (the Iraqi Integrated Air Defence Order of Battle); a potted briefing on Wild Weasel types past and present; and CENTAF's Wild Weasel HARM 'shot log'. The IADS order of battle gives the reader much more information about the threats (their ranges, altitude capabilities, etc.), and serves as a useful reference to those wanting to know more about the threat. The inclusion of the HARM shot log was a surprise, and it once again is a credit to the authors that they were able to include it. While the shot log may be a little dry for the average reader (hence its inclusion as an appendix, and not in the main body text) it is certainly a valuable document for those with a more serious interest in Wild Weasels and ODS.

From an illustration perspective, there are some very rare photographs and illustrations taken straight from the F-4G `Dash-34 Weapons Delivery Manual', and mission maps are included that have not been published before (to my knowledge). There are also a number of excellent photographs of the Weasels on the ramp at Shaikh Isa. However, there were a few too many generic F-4G photographs that could have been replaced by much better examples kept on file by the Office of The Secretary of Defense, and I although reproduction quality was undeniably high, I was a little disappointed that only the 15 centre pages are in colour.

I have two gripes about Magnum that have led to a four-star rating:

The first is that, overall, the text lacks the level of excitement that it could - and should - have contained. While the opening few weeks of the war were perilous in the extreme, the remainder were far less so. As such, the book is a true reflection of the way things were. But I couldn't help but feel that a little more thought could have gone into how the text was written to offset this, and that the continued reliance on uninteresting diary extracts to tell the story when a greater percentage of inter-weaved prose would have been better, was a letdown. I would have liked to have been given a greater appreciation of just how dangerous the Weasel mission was, and this could easily have been woven into the main body text with a little more thought. When Schreiner talks about being targeted by an SA-2 for example, it would have helped elevate the reader's appreciation of what he was up against if there had been some mention of how far out that missile could reach him; or when he talks about hitting an SA-6, it would have been nice to have known how capable this system was and how much the crews respected it as a threat. Naturally, the diary entries should be preserved in their original format for the sake of authenticity, but they could have been gently broken up into smaller chunks between which Schreiner added retrospective narrative detailing his emotions and thoughts. It is a minor complaint, but doing so could have added an extra dimension and transformed this book into a real page-turner.

My second, and most pressing, gripe is the hefty price tag. This book is almost double the price of comparable, text-led military aviation books, and I would have to conclude that an RRP of $50 is exorbitant. Even at its current price on Amazon (discounted 37%), I would still have expected at least 30 per cent more pages, and for all the photographs to be reproduced in colour. I just don't believe that the book represents good value for money, and if money is tight you may want to wait for it to be discounted further or brought out in paperback.

In summary, it is the best book available about F-4G Wild Weasel operations in ODS at time of writing and will provide Weasel fans with a rare insight into F-4G operations in ODS. But, despite being heavily discounted at Amazon to $31.50, it still represents an expensive purchase for something that does not quite reach its full potential.

Book arrived within a few days and was in the condition that it was described or better, very happy with there service.