An excerpt from One of the Few. Pre-order today, buy a book for the troops, and help me reach my funding goal by March 22nd!
I was running out of missiles and we already lost one fighter. We managed to hold back the first wave of enemy aircraft, but air intercept control (AIC) was already calling out more groups. There was no time to mourn for Dash-4; he made a tactical error and paid the price. Marine aviation is not unsafe, but it is unforgiving. We’d have to finish out the vul as a three-ship.
Our mission was to defend the carrier strike group (CSG), and I was in charge of the division. We found another group on our radar and received positive confirmation it was hostile—mostly likely a pair of MiGs. Each pilot pulled the trigger, igniting the launch-motors of our AMRAAMs (Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile) and sending them off the rails toward the enemy fighters. I followed the smoke trail of my missile until it disappeared from view. In a few moments, we would potentially be engaged with multiple fighters in the visual arena where the struggle for an advantage becomes less a numbers game and more the reward of mastering the art and skill of aerial combat.
I looked out to where I expected to see a small dot gradually expanding—the visual signature of an aircraft at long range. In that vicinity, an orange flash birthed a black smoke-cloud which hung in mid air. (Read more. . .)
Jason B Ladd 