8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
How global peace is preserved., May 28, 2001
For one interested in modern Naval Aviation, Commander Carroll has written a fascinating volume for your information and pleasure.
The book is a novel about aircraft carrier operations in the post Desert Storm era, enforcing the no-fly zone over southern Iraq.
Here the reader is treated to an insider's look at the workings of an aircraft carrier at sea; launching and recovering jets, night flights, and living conditions aboard ship. But more importantly, Commander Carroll pulls back the cover of glitz and glamor of jet fighter pilots to reveal the inner workings of the mirad of inter-personal relationships that exist in a modern jet fighter squadron, aboard a nuclear aircraft carrier, and ashore in the Pentagon and other command-and-control headquarters that supervise and manage Naval Aviation.
The reader is shown how the decisions of one man in a pressure situation can affect the delicate balance that exists between war and peace.
But there's more. Commander Carroll has also entertwined throughout the entire 224 pages of this story the stuggle of character that is present at all levels of leadership. We see the difficult tension that always exists between honesty and deception, between integrity and pragmatism. There are many valuable lessons about ethics and leadership in these pages.
Don't let the title fool you; this nations needs men like Punk. May his tribe increase!
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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Punk's War, February 21, 2002
Punk's War
By Ward Carroll
Naval Institute Press
"Punk's War" is by far and away the best book I have ever read about day to day life in a Navy fighter squadron.
It's near 100% accurate, extremely well written, engaging, amusing, insightful and even thrilling in places.
The author, a Naval Academy graduate and victim of several tours as the Radar Intercept Officer in an F-14 squadron at sea, is currently an English and ethics teacher at the Academy in Annapolis, so he speaks with authority about life on the boat and in a squadron. The fact that he sat in back while the hero, a Tomcat driver with the callsign of "Punk," (having to do with his musical tastes and not his attitude) is a pilot seems to have no adverse effect on the legitimacy of the story.
(For some reasons, backseaters write the best books; pilots fly the best loops.)
Only 224 pages, the hardbound novel grabs the reader from page one and won't let go.
The story begins with the ex-Blue Angel, ego-driven squadron skipper ousting his ready alert five crew - Punk and his backseater - so he can take over the presumed MiG interdiction mission. It won't give away too much to confide that the engagement goes to hell in a hurry.
As the story unfolds, Carroll does a masterful job of combining the day to day minutiae of life on the boat while simultaneously weaving a well-told tale that's said to be fiction but one wonders ...
You'll meet the surface warfare admiral who has no idea how to handle those pesky flyboys, the air wing commander who'd rather be behind a Pentagon desk, the squadron skipper who has let his Blue Angels tour and Topgun graduation go to his head. There's the usual collection of quirky squadron characters, tough missions, dangerous shipboard approaches, a sneaky Middle East country that's trying to start a war and a bunch of likeable guys doing a very tough and dangerous job (and they're still out there doing it now).
You'll gain new insight into what it's like to fly and fight the F-14 Tomcat, how the Navy interacts with the Air Force, what happens on a strike planning mission, and how life with enlisted men (and women, nowadays) can often be tedious and not a little frustrating.
Happily, the only "love story" (which seems to be a requirement of late) woven into the fabric of this multi-colored tail is Punk's remote relationship with his girl, which is touched upon but barely enough to slow down the story. Mostly, its a wonderfully accurate and revealing look at life among the Navy's carrier elite - fighter pilots.
Carroll is also to be commended for not assuming the reader alreadys knows everything there is to know about Navy life. When he writes about life in the ready room, he describes how it looks (and it sounds exactly like everyone I've ever been in). If there's a complicated piece of equipment used by the aircraft crew, he names it and what it does.
But mostly this is a story about people, men who fly and fight F-14 Tomcats, and those who command them. If you have even the slightest interest in the subject, you'll thank me for buying this book.
- Wayman Dunlap
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Dear Navy-, May 1, 2001
By A Customer
Ward Carrol has written a letter to the Navy, that details the good, the frustrating, the unnecessary and the necessary of serving our country. This is a clear vision of the challenges that each sailor struggles with on a personal and professional basis. The title works on two levels obviously alluding to the very real conflict that "Punk" Reichert is engaged in over Iraq. Perhaps more important, and more interesting, is the personal combat Punk is fighting; to make sense of a Navy where senior officers seem more engaged in service to self than to unit or country, and self-aggrandizement takes precedence over mission accomplishment, as well as Punk's internal struggle whether to continue in the Navy he loves but often can't understand.
The characters are fresh and ring true from beginning to end. Punk is a great protagonist. Capable of amazing idealism, dogged pragmatism, and a cynical ability to delight in the agony of others, Punk, reminds us of the value of sacrifice, integrity, and being true to one's values. The action moves things along briskly and deftly, without overwhelming the story. The characters are the main thing here, but action fans will get all the insight they could want on carrier air operations and modern air combat.
If you have served in the military recently, you immediately feel at home again. If you haven't, Punk's War will connect you to the real wars our sailors fight every day. It is a hopeful, humorous, finely crafted story that should be read and reread by anyone who cares about the military, and the men and women who serve.
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