Desert Skies

Rating:
Summary: Highly readable and thought provoking
Review: 'Desert Skies' is a great novel. Highly readable and thought provoking, Michael Gregory has captured the essence of what it is to be a military professional.

Ostensibly about attack helicopter tactics in the Gulf War, 'Desert Skies' quickly proves that it is about more than this. With a focus that is squarely on the trials and tribulations of a junior army officer in a position of great responsibility, the reader is given a rare insight into the 'human' face of leadership. The challenges that the central character and his family face, and the impact of his leadership decisions upon himself, his troop and his family, faithfully portrays the dilemma that it is command. Importantly, it shows that command and the responsibility that goes with it doesn't stop once the uniform is taken off and that the answers are rarely textbook in nature.

This is a book well worth reading, and when you have finished with it, hand it to your spouse.

Rating:
Summary: Faction not fiction
Review: A very easy read. It read like the diary of many of the apache company commanders involved in the Gulf War. Although called a work of fiction, the novel is very close to the real thing. I experienced many of the same feelings as the author-- I just chose to keep my clothes on. The book tells the life of a young apache company commander from start to finish. From training to combat and back again. The ups and downs of leading in the army of the early 1990s. A must read for junior officers and military enthusiasts.

Rating:
Summary: That's the way it is
Review: An excellent and enlightening story of what a modern day warrior must endure to get the job done and a troubling direction the new "Army of Purity" is heading. Michael T Gregory's portrayal of an Army Aviation Officer's experience throughout and following Desert Storm accurately describes the life of the warrior and his family. The portrayal uncovers the lack of loyalty given to a subordinate officer who demonstrated total loyalty to his men and to his nation. A must read for anyone who has put on the uniform, or who has wanted to put on the uniform.

Rating:
Summary: A must read
Review: Fiction based on fact is a very clever way for an author to get across their story without falling into the clutches of either the hierarchy or the trainspotters who wish to take exception with the insignificant things. With Desert Skies the author has managed to capture the full range of emotions felt by military leaders at all levels, from pure disgust and hatred through to absolute fear, without naming names (although I'm sure those in the "Champions" could put faces to the situations).

What really surprised me about the book is that it not a story of helicopter warfare ... instead it is a story of devoted leadership set within an attack helicopter unit.
It tells of the fine line between being one of the boys or being in "command", demanding respect or earning respect and most importantly that fear of failing subordinates is (and should be) the driving factor behind day-to-day decisions.
Desert Skies is a timely reminder that the military is about people and getting the absolute most out of them in any circumstance... something that gets quickly forgotten in times of peace. It is an absolute shame that it takes a war for us to treat our soldiers (at all levels) with the respect and loyalty they deserve.
I thoroughly recommend this book to military leaders of all levels ... despite it being written by a company commander even section commanders will get something out of it (in fact I think that junior leaders will get the most from the book). I also recommend those very same people work hard on convincing their partners to read it. The author puts into words the range of emotions and conflicting priorities felt by commanders with families far more eloquently and understandably than I ever seem to be able to do in the heat of the moment.

Rating:
Summary: ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN
Review: From the moment that I started reading "Desert Skies", I could not put it down till I finished it. I have a much greater appreciation for the soldiers that defend our country. This book gave me a great sense of pride for the Military Personal that protect our country. The Author, Mike Gregory, gave tremendous insight into what it takes to make our military run and not run. I found myself experiencing every emotion as I read on. The pride and dedication of the Soldiers made me cry and the buracrats made me mad as hell. I recommend this book to everyone. It will take you on an emotional roller coaster. Walk a day in "Tom Lawton's Desert Skies" and see what I mean.

Rating:
Summary: Josh Kennedy
Review: Mike Gregory writes a riveting and realistic view of what it is like to command an AH-64 Apache unit during Operation Desert Storm. Although supposedly a work of fiction, any who reads the novel will almost assuredly realize that it is a piece of fiction heavily based in the real-life events from that period of Mike's life. Coming from a fellow Army Aviator, it takes some guts to write about those events, and Mike covers them in riveting detail that left me mad as hell, and sad, and ecstatic all at the right times. A 'must read' for those in commissioned service, for those who want to know what the men and women were doing in the Gulf War (not what the generals said on TV), and anyone who seeks insight to the rigors of combat in the modern era. Highly recommended!

Rating:
Summary: The challenge of Command
Review: Mike Gregory's book is, simply about the challenges of command, both in the tactical and human spheres. Based on his experience as an Attack Helicopter Company Commander in the liberation of Kuwait, it covers the array of challenges faced by all yound commanders, and the particular challenges faced by commanders in the US Army.

A great insight into helicopter operations, and the command environment in the US Army.

Rating:
Summary: The reality of going to war
Review: This is as realistic and gutsy a first novel as you will find and is about the emotional roller-coaster of US army aviators in peace and war. From the technical perspective it is highly informative - a must for those who want to get inside the mindset of those who fly in harm's way so dangerously close to the ground. You can almost feel yourself inside the cockpit of Tom Lawton's attack helicopter in the many moments of finely crafted tension which descibe definitively the hazards of the profession. The undercurrents of the very human emotions flowing from family tensions surrounding the demands of service life and the unceasing and sometimes destructive elements of service competition for promotion are vividly recreated. Perhaps the finest moments are those dealing with the issues of practical leadership. In peacetime the skills of the administator and bureaucrat become more highly valued than those demanded of real leaders. Today, when the finest militaries in the world are defeated by the number of forms to be completed, how refreshing it was to read the main character profess 'I am not a manger, I am a leader'! and how reassuring for those Armed Forces who do not give out medals in Corn Flake packets to know the author understands that 'one week of hell in the desert didnt equate to 365 days of hell in the jungles of vietnam'. A highly recommended read for those who cannot or dare not make such personal sacrifices but want to feel and understand what it is like for those who can and who are brave enough to do so. Surely Hollywood will want to make a film out of this. It is ready made vehicle for someone like Tom Cruise or Russell Crowe. Copyright C C Watson

Rating:
Summary: Highly readable and thought provoking
Review: `Desert Skies' is a great novel. Highly readable and thought provoking, Michael Gregory has captured the essence of what it is to be a military professional.

Ostensibly about attack helicopter tactics in the Gulf War, `Desert Skies' quickly proves that it is about more than this. With a focus that is squarely on the trials and tribulations of a junior army officer in a position of great responsibility, the reader is given a rare insight into the `human' face of leadership. The challenges that the central character and his family face, and the impact of his leadership decisions upon himself, his troop and his family, faithfully portrays the dilemma that it is command. Importantly, it shows that command and the responsibility that goes with it doesn't stop once the uniform is taken off and that the answers are rarely textbook in nature.

This is a book well worth reading, and when you have finished with it, hand it to your spouse.