Eye of the Viper : The Making of an F-16 Pilot

Rating:
Summary: The Making of Air Force "TOP GUNS"
Review: Fighter pilot! That two-word job description conjures up the image of a grinning, brave, patriotic "fast-mover" born to dog-fight to glory - a cliche vision, to be sure. But as Peter Aleshire skillfully demonstrates in "EYE OF THE VIPER: THE MAKING OF AN F-16 PILOT", there is much truth in the "TOP GUN" vision of a modern fighter pilot in the U-S armed forces. Almost without exception, they are drawn to their calling by a desire to 'kill the bad guys and break their s--t." But Aleshire takes the reader backstage and delineates in fascinating - and often frightening - detail
all that goes into taking a young male or female with an aptitide for flying and turning them into instruments of combat fought at breathtaking speed - decisions cascading in milliseconds - a process so unforgiving that of the 90 F-16 pilots killed since the "Viper" went into service - all were victims of training accidents.
Aleshire makes clear the awesomeness of the F-16 itself. The Air Force calls it the "Fighting Falcon" - clearly not warlike enough for the pilots who dub their fighter "Viper". Molding "fliers" into "warriors" takes months and millions of dollars per pilot. Aleshire puts the reader squarely in the cockpits of F-16s employed to train pilots at Luke Air force Base. "Newby" pilots dubbed"punks" are subjected to ruthless instruction and screening by IPs - Instructor Pilots who feel keenly their responsibillity of sending active duty squadrons F-16 wingmen who won't get their buddies killed. Aleshire captures the human synergy between pilot and teacher as the instructors pile multiple tasks
on fledging pilots - like bricks on a sheet of glass - watching to see when the glass starts to crack under the strain.
By the time I finished this book, I could talk fighter talk and imagine the rush of skimming the earth at close to the speed of sound or twisting the jet onto the knife edge of a wing - turning tight enough to get off a missile shot at the "enemy" jet in the "gunsight" projected onto the HUD - the "heads-up display" of flight data every Viper pilot sees projected on his or her bubble canopy.
Aleshire puts you alone in the jet - the ancient drama of mano-a-mano combat. And yet, he makes clear the F-16 fighter jock is an integral part of an amazingly complex and elaborate evolution of modern warfare made possible - and deadly - by the stunning success of the F-16 as a weapons platform: light, fast, powerful, and with a long track record of- you guessed it: killing the bad guys and breaking their "s--t." Read the "EYE OF THE VIPER" and the next time you read or see news of U-S air operations in Iraq, Afghanistan or wherever, you will understand so much more about this particular breed of American techno-warrior and the machines they pilot into battle. Aleshire forecasts that in a decade or so, air combat will be fought and flown by robotic aircraft. Safer for the pilots perhaps, but lacking the "cool" of the "Viper"and the warriors who "strap on" the F-16.




Rating:
Summary: Fun, quick read about fighter pilot training!
Review: I love all fighter pilot books, and this one is good (my all-time favorite is still Bogeys and Bandits). The author describes about 5 new pilots in training and about 5 of their flight instructors at an Air Force base in Arizona. The book just came out, so the stories are current. There's the surfer dude pilot, the rare woman pilot, the yes-sir/no-sir military guy pilot and so on. The author spends most of his time describing their actual flights as they learn how to fly the Viper (F-16) so you get a good feel for their mistakes and the difficulty in learning all the complexities of not only flying the jet but using it's missiles and bombs. The author is plenty gung-ho about the fighter pilot world - describing them as "ball-busting badasses" on the 1st page. I don't think the previous 1-star reviews by a pilot and the pilot's wife who think the author dissed him in the book are relevent to the book's actual goodness or badness - most people who read this book will enjoy it.

Rating:
Summary: It's just not how the book says.
Review: I was so excited to see this book on the shelves at my local bookstore. I remembered Mr. Aleshire visiting our squadron at Luke and interviewing me and many of my classmates. Of course I immediately bought it and read it cover to cover. Unfortunately as I read, my excitement turned to disappointment and then anger. How could someone who spent so much time in a fighter squadron get so much wrong.

I've got so much to say about this book, I could write my own. Lets narrow it down to two basic categories. First, Mr Aleshire got almost every detail wrong about my flying record up to and including Luke, assaulting my character, leadership, and flying ability in the process. Second, he totally mischaracterized what it is like to be a real (not Hollywood movie) fighter pilot.

The list of inaccurate details would take several pages, so I won't bore you. I would like to set the record straight on the supposed "Rift" in the class following the assignment battle. Although there was a battle over who got which assignments and how to decide, that division in the class ended that night as far as I can tell. I worked side by side,10-12 hours a day, for months with the rest of the class and never noticed any indications of an ongoing division. It is a credit to the discipline and professionalism of all of my classmates and Air Force pilots in general that personal issues don't enter a flight planning room, briefing room, or cockpit. If a pilot doesn't think he can stick to that, then he just doesn't enter any of those places.

As far as general portrayal of fighter pilots, I think Peter got it pretty wrong. Don't mis-understand, I think this is the greatest job on the planet, and feel very lucky to be a viper driver. This career doesn't need to be sensationalized like a bad reality TV show to be interesting to a non-flyer. It is a special career because of the day in and day out tireless dedication and thoughtful scientific approach to fighting and winning any future air battle anywhere in the world. Professionals only, Hot dogs need not apply. To anyone not affiliated with our line of work, let me assure you of this. The weapons officers, IP's, and all of the fighter pilots I have ever met have done their homework. Our training so far surpasses that of any potential adversary that the Air Force slogan "No one even comes close" really rings true.

To try to make us seem "cool" because we have parties like the crusades or namings etc... Get a grip.. Any college fraternity can easily surpass us in the silly games and binge drinking department. Please do not think that we as an Air Force achieved our unbelievable combat record because our young, crazy pilots have no fear, a giant ego, and a "need for speed".

If it sounds like I have a chip on my shoulder, your right. I do. You, as the Americans we help defend, deserve to know the truth. I especially cringe when I think of any crew chiefs, life support techs, mechanics etc. reading this book. We pilots have a tremendous respect for your part in putting bombs on target, and you in turn deserve to know that we aren't a bunch of beer soaked, big ego, adrenaline junkies. Trust me all of you when I say "It's just not like the book says".


Rating:
Summary: Top Notch
Review: I'm currently a Viper pilot and I think this book was awesome. Sure there are some inaccuracies, but Mr. Aleshire did a good job overall capturing the feelings and the attitude of a young fighter pilot.

Capt Quattlebaum: just because you don't know there is a rift in your class doesn't mean it isn't there. My class had a contentious assignment process and guess what - hard feelings were there until the day we graduated.

Yes, being an F-16 pilot is about hard work and dedication, but it's a damn good time, too.


Rating:
Summary: Distortion of my husband's flying record and integrity.
Review: The author of this book completely distorts in a negative way, my husband's flying record and his leadership as an officer. While stationed at Luke AFB as an F-16 student, my husband Kevin was one of 13 students interviewed and followed for 6 months by the writer of this book.
Had we known 1 1/2 years ago that the circumstances behind my husband's assignment to Hill AFB would end up being distorted in a published book that maligns his leadership as an officer, we would have gladly traded it for the worst base in the Air Force. The author states that Kevin didn't rank high enough in Undergraduate Pilot Training to get a fighter slot which is why he flew T-37's for the next three years. The truth of the matter is that he did get a fighter slot in UPT, his ranking was not the lowest in the class in terms of performance, and his assignment to T-37's out of UPT was not some kind of result of not making the cut. It appears as though from reading this book that the author took the statements of one or more of the other students regarding a conflict over assignments and ran with it instead of getting both sides of the story. He protrays Kevin and the other Captain in the class as having so little integrity that they would just bully their way into getting their first choices for assignments with no regard for fairness. The truth of the matter is that officers typically do not have much say on where they go for their first assignment. On following assignments there is usually a greater chance to get what you chose. While the two captains were on equal par with everyone else as far as F-16 experience and ability, they were in a different place in their carreers and assignment cycles. Had all of the lieutenants outperformed many of their peers, and still gotten a first assignment they didn't want, then they would be equal to where the captains were in terms of assignment selection process. Since the Air Force understands this, they structure assignments in a certain way. Primarily, two rules come to mind affecting this situation. First Captain graduates of UPT won't be FAIPed (The reason Kevin Got to be a FAIP). Second, Previously FAIPed graduates of the B course dont go overseas (except Korea). The USAF knows second assignment guys aren't the same as first assignment guys. Why couldn't Mr. Aleshire figure this out as well? However, the author of the books uses this conflict to portray my husband and the other Captain as being ineffective leaders and because of their insistance on pulling rank, caused divisions among the class. He exploits the issue in telling embellished and distorted stories of how some of the students bonded and went on trips together, while others went their own ways. We were also on the trip to Las Vegas and could have went in the RV as well, but being a family of 5, decided to take our own vehicle and because I have a friend that lives there, decided to visit her instead. We didn't exactly think the single guys would appreciate our three kids going along to party. It all had nothing to do with "divisions among the students".
Kevin's flying performance during the course was mischaracterized and one reading the book would think he was some kind of marginal, struggling student barely squeaking through the program. It's true he did bust two early rides, but couldn't the author then also talk about how he never busted another ride after that and busting two rides is not unusual and actually above average. If a writer is going to exploit a negative aspect, then he needs to tell the whole story and give the whole, ACCURATE picture. And my husband is someone who has worked far too hard in his career to have some writer lump him into some general characterization calling the students up to that point in their career "some stupid, ham-handed, slow-thinking, behind the jet punks". Had he washed out of the program, he still wouldn't have deserved to be described liked this. He trained student pilots for three years, most nights of which he came home so late and tired that the family had already eaten dinner and the kids had been put to bed.
I realize that some writers feel they must add so much drama to their stories that their stories start to more closely resemble a Saturday Night Live Parody than reality, but when the flare for drama in a book that is supposed to be Non-Fiction, unfairly attacks the integrity of an Air Force officer, that is over the line and the author is worthy of scrutiny. I am the one writing this instead of Kevin only because he is checking into the legalities of what he can and cannot write for possible publication while on active duty to rebute how this author has protrayed him. However, the author can mark my words, that the day will come that Kevin has his say about this book in a public format.

Rating:
Summary: Showing the Fighter Jock Mentality
Review: The United States military pilots have a long established tradition of extensive training. By 1945 the US pilots were going into battle after just about a year of training. In contract the German and Japanese pilots had only a couple of weeks training. This tradition, for the US, at least continues. The training of a pilot for the F-16 is a long process on top of a history of excellence.

This book is the story of a group of F-16 trainees going through the transition to the F-16. They are already pilots, but of planes with less performance. They are already the elite, the best of the best. And now the Air Force is preparing to spend $2 million on each of them for a six month class. The writing in the book almost makes it read like a novel. And the author admits that he has combined some of their stories into single people. This does not hurt the tone, nor the image that you get of the fighter mentality that the Air Force demands. Good Book.