Black Aces High REVIEWS-

From: Naval Institute Proceedings, September 2002
Reviewed by Commander R. J. Proano, U.S. Navy

Robert Wilcox's Black Aces High is a unique look at the inner workings of naval aviation thorough the prism of an F-14 Tomcat fighter squadron. His opening description of lightning-paced, spine-twisting, one-on-one dogfighting against Soviet-built MiG-29 Fulcrum fighters captures the essence of modern aerial combat in which engagements are not won, but are instead lost by the first pilot mistake. This is not Top Gun, however. Wilcox debunks the Hollywood image of today's Navy fighter pilot, choosing instead to show the reality of life in a fighter ready room in the heart of a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier at war. Extensive first-person dialogue and excerpts from pilots' letters home reflect the aircrews' constant apprehension about the next night trap, their resolve, dedication, and concern for loved ones, and offers a window on the humanity of some of our nation's most professional killers. Although it is an exciting book, this is not a techno-thriller. This is a book about the reality of the men and women who engage in warfare in the air.

The backdrop for this examination is Operation Deliberate Force in 1999, in which NATO, under U.S. leadership, acted to stem the persecution and ethnic cleansing of Kosovo Albanians by Slobadon Milosevic's Serbian Army. Into this maelstrom of confusing and redundant chains of command and conflicting allied political concerns is thrown the Navy's Black Aces (VF-41), a squadron of aging F-14As coming off several years of poor maintenance practices, abysmal aircraft availability, and questionable leadership. Compelling scenes of aerial combat, dodging surface-to-air missiles and anti-aircraft fire over Kosovo are complemented by the story of the squadron's struggles to overcome its past performance. Faced with initial combat failures, the Aces suffered self-doubt, fatalism, nay-saying, and sometimes tepid support form the Navy command structure in their efforts to reorganize and reorient themselves for successful combat operations in the Balkans. This is a story of a squadron's fight, sometimes with itself, to pull together and get the job done.

In his dissection of the Kosovo campaign, Wilcox sheds light on the tremendous technological challenges of a precision bombing campaign under terrible weather conditions in a highly dangerous threat environment. CNN and Fox News showed the results, making the destruction of enemy targets look easy. Black Aces High tells the detailed story of determination, tenacity, and personal commitment necessary to achieve the success in combat that most Americans simply took for granted.

Despite minor inaccuracies in the finer technical details and some annoying terminology errors, this is the first book to capture the tremendous flexibility, mobility, rapid response, and immense firepower of employed naval air forces. In addition, Wilcox chronicles the early stages of the development of innovative hunter-killer tactics by aircraft against dispersed and mobile ground targets that would presage the Navy's spectacular victory in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. The determination of the squadron's leadership, the drive and willingness of a few key individuals to innovate, and the necessity of stopping the slaughter of innocent Albanian Kosovars provided the impetus for forging the Tomcat into the Navy's premier precision strike aircraft. Today, this same squadron is going through a transition as it becomes one of the first to say goodbye to its Tomcats and receive new F/A-18F Super Hornets.

Black Aces High tells the real story, successes, and failures alike, of naval aviation's role in modern war and avoids the hype and romanticism so common in much of today's military writing.

 

Commander Proano flew F-14s in combat over Afghanistan with VF-213, the Black Lions, as the air wing operations officer for Carrier Air Wing 11 on board the Carl Vinson (CVN-70). He currently is the master's program coordinator at the U.S. Naval Academy.

From: Publishers Weekly

A former U.S. Air Force information officer with several books to his credit, Wilcox here tells the story of VF-41, a navy fighter squadron that flew aging F-14 Tomcats in the air war over Kosovo during the U.N. operations against Serbia in 1999. Wilcox, who spent two weeks aboard the USS Roosevelt, where the unit is based, brings the reader into the cockpits during runs and target searches. Split-second decisions are the order of the day, as hidden SAM missile batteries and lurking MiG fighters bar the path. Wilcox shows how Cmdr. Joseph P. Aucoin transformed "Black Aces" into a crack outfit that devised new methods of pinpointing and destroying enemy ground forces. The squadron flew numerous missions over Serbia before receiving a well-earned rest in Turkey. The Black Aces then spearheaded the U.S. bombing of Afghanistan last year. A fast-moving look behind the scenes, this acronym-laden work shows top pilots functioning with their multimillion-dollar aircraft. Photos not seen by PW. (Oct.) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

From: Kirkus Reviews

Former Air Force officer Wilcox (Wings of Fury, 1997, etc.) depicts the aerial teamwork and harrowing exploits of the Navy’s Black Aces squadron during the 1999 air war over Kosovo. Fighter pilots in modern warfare need tactical savvy as well as bravery, the author reminds us in this insider’s account. Interviewing pilots aboard the aircraft carrier USS Roosevelt as the Kosovo conflict was winding down, he learned that many of the Navy’s young pilots began their tour without the type of combat experience necessary to face the sophisticated armaments of an ex-Soviet bloc country. According to Wilcox, this lack of experience confronted the Black Aces with two initial problems: young pilots failed to use their equipment properly in the heat of battle, and naval planners had no effective plan for engaging Serbian ground combat forces. His interviews clearly chronicle how the pilots quickly developed techniques for dodging surface-to-air missiles while simultaneously raining smart bombs upon strategic Serbian command posts. The narrative also captures the naval officers’ innovative solution for acquiring timely intelligence about well-camouflaged and highly mobile ground forces: right before an air strike, they sent out dangerous low-altitude missions with state-of-the-art imaging systems. As interesting as the author makes the Kosovo air campaign’s history sound, he grips the reader most with his portrayal of the close-knit community of fighter pilots. By the time Wilcox describes the Black Aces’ successful decimation of enemy armored columns at the campaign’s end, he has transformed the aviators from Top Gun clones into brave individuals overcoming tremendous challenges. Action-packeddescriptions of modern air combat combined with detailed tactical analysis: an intriguing account for general readers as well as valuable for military specialists.