Air Warriors: The Inside Story of the Making of a Navy Pilot

by Douglas C. Waller

Veteran journalist and author of The Commandos Douglas Waller chronicles his rare and intimate experience with the training program for Navy pilots in this “engrossing saga that will likely become an unofficial recruiting tool for naval aviation” ( Publishers Weekly ) .

Waller, who was granted permission to participate in the pilots’ grueling training regime, has written an absorbing behind-the-scenes account of the physical and psychological trials endured by the most specialized group of pilots in military history.

From his bird’s-eye view in the passenger’s seat, Waller follows pilot trainees through two years of intense preparation. He offers vivid illustrations from the hair-raising aerial dogfights; stomach-swallowing dive-bombing runs; high-speed tactical maneuvers grazing the desert floor; and numerous nerve-twisting aircraft carrier takeoffs and landings. In addition to his own experiences and those of the group of trainees he joins, his research is based on interviews with hundreds of other students and their instructors. Hurtling through the air at death-defying speeds, these pilots-in-training struggle to maintain their composure while withstanding conditions that are designed to challenge them to the very limits of human endurance.

Waller’s deftly drawn portraits of the men and women he encounters in this singular culture of elite pilots are as satisfying as his adventure narrative. The pilots, whose grit, determination, and mental agility operate on an elevated threshold, come into sharp focus behind Waller’s keen their aspirations, awe inspiring. Air Warriors combines an examination of the modern Navy, recovering from past sex scandals, with a portrayal of a privileged cadre of men and women whose ambition and commitment coexist within a tightly knit group. Waller is able to capture images of these pilots training, living, and fighting with an acuity and intelligence that are often absent from Hollywood and television treatments of this diverse and fascinating subculture.

Air Warriors takes us inside the cockpit and behind closed doors for the real story of the making of a Navy pilot.

Genres: Military Fiction, Aviation, Nonfiction, Naval History

448 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1998

Reviews

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

I confess. This is not a great book. But I found it a great read because of the subject matter's personal appeal. Lends real and accurate insight to the complexities, challenges, places, people (a few), and the expectations placed upon young men and women aspiring and practicing to become Navy and Marine (and some other services, too) pilots and flight officers. A worthwhile read for anyones vicariously interested in such things. The book is fragmented and doesn't "flow" so well, but the subject matter does not always lend itself to such. It's a valiant, worthy effort, and I appreciate the time and learning curve needed to pen such a piece. This is NOT something that can be "researched" in the library stacks.

[Olivia G · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting book about what it's like to train as a Navy pilot. I was honestly just here for the specs on what flying a fighter jet was like, and definitely got that, so mission accomplished. But the journalism was well done and I appreciated hearing about the wide variety of perspectives in training.

[Eric_W · Rating 5 out of 5]

Talk about your Walter Mittys. Waller has a heck of a deal going here. He has written books about commandos, submariners and now navy pilots. As a writer for first Newsweek and now Time, it's no wonder he got to fly with the boys and girls in the back seat of F-18s and dive in nuclear subs. OK, so maybe I'm just a teensy-weensy bit jealous. Waller, who wrote The Commandos after observing the training of special forces soldiers, reports on his intimate experience with the training program for navy pilots in this latest book. He was granted permission to participate in the pilots' grueling training regime in order to produce this absorbing behind-the-scenes account of the physical, academic and psychological tests endured by pilot wannabees. It's almost as good as being there as Waller takes us through the grueling "Helo-Dunk" test where students are dumped in a pool in a helicopter body. Because helicopters are top-heavy, they flip immediately when forced to ditch in the ocean, and the navy discovered that if pilots were prepared for the fear and darkness they had a much better survival rate - of course, almost anything was better than the close to zero survivor rate they had had before. Students wear blindfolds and lose points if they try to shove anyone out of the way in their haste to make the exits.

Grading of all their tests is excruciating. Everything is graded on a curve that is generated against their fellow students to compute the average. "Students were graded not on how well they did, but rather on how well they did compared to other students. The numerical scores a student made on each test were totaled up, divided by 1,000, then plotted on a bell curve against the scores of the past 300 students who took the test. Competition between recruits is thus intense and just one bad day can ruin a recruit's chances. The difference between the trainee who was number one in one of the classes and the trainee who was number fifty in class rank was a mere two points."

Air combat is vastly different than it was just thirty years ago. Today everything is done at vast distances, and the rule is that if a pilot hasn't eliminated the enemy plane within sixty seconds, he should run away because his odds of survival fall drastically. The systems on an F-18 require the sensitivity of a piano player, and landing on an aircraft carrier at night - read the chapter "Practice Bleeding" for a very realistic account of the fear and skill involved - commands minute movements of the hands and eyes to constantly detect changes in altitude, angle of attack, and speed. For the first landing on a carrier, there is no instructor in the back seat. It's "too nerve-wracking. The instructor would be too tempted to grab the controls and pilot the aircraft himself." It is just too dangerous. The students have to concentrate so hard on what they are doing that many forget their names and plane numbers.

Despite the dangers, the navy has drastically reduced the number of accidents by emphasizing safety. Hot-rod pilots get thrown out immediately for stupid stunts. Nevertheless, the most extreme strains can come from stress on family relationships when the pilots are gone at sea for long periods. Two of the students Waller followed were married to each other. Both became F-18 pilots, but navy regulations prevented them from being assigned to the same squadron, so they would be lucky to see each other for more than six months every twenty-four. Waller also discusses the changes in the navy after Tailhook. The older sailors hate what they consider the PC mentality while the younger ones seem to have adjusted well, but it has made dating in bars really difficult because of the ban on officer-enlisted personnel fraternization. Unless in uniform, many officers won't go near an on-base, mixed enlisted/officer club for fear of asking out an enlisted woman and risky severe censure.

This is a really stunning book. Absolutely fascinating.

[Dustin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this one. It's an insiders view of naval aviation starting from primary flight school, and ending with hornet pilots qualifying for night traps. It's very well written, and the pilots the author worked with were all unique individuals with their own stories to tell. It's also interesting in that this book takes place post Tailhook scandal, and touches on the changes the Navy made after the fact, and details the integration of women into the ranks.

[Nolynn Powell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Air Warriors gave a great inside view of navy pilots from their training in Pensacola to their work on aircraft carriers. The detailed accounts of each pilot was written as a story, not a description, which made them easy to enjoy. This would have been a great book if I hadn't felt that some of his information was repeatedly told in each chapter. Other than the redundancy, Air Warriors was a great book.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Instead of talking about his own personal experience as a journalist going through the Navy's pilot training, Waller gives the stories of would-be naval aviators he flew with. It's a fair treatment of the Navy and a very detailed account of what it's like to train and fly.

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[Loren Martin]

What navy pilots really go through to become the pilots of the coveted F/A-18