Sky Masters

Dale Brown Sky Masters

Dedication

Sky Masters is dedicated to General Curtis E. LeMay, the “Iron Eagle” and the “Father of Strategic Air Power,” a man who envisioned much of what Sky Masters is all about.

Sky Masters is also dedicated to the men and women who served as part of Operations DESERT SHIELD and DESERT STORM. I wish to especially dedicate this story to my brother, Second Lieutenant James D. Brown, 3-35 ARMOR, First Armored Division, United States Army, and his wife, Leah, and all of our military forces serving ashore, afloat, and aloft for all the sacrifices they made in their personal and professional lives.

Acknowledgments

To my friend Lieutenant Colonel George Peck (who was instrumental in the research for Day of the Cheetah and who, like Loki’s eternal fate in Norse mythology, seems destined to be forever bothered by my insistent questions and requests); TSgt Alan Dockery, Captain Harry G. Edwards, and the other helpful and professional persons in the Office of Public Affairs, Headquarters, Strategic Air Command (SAC), Offutt AFB, Nebraska, for their assistance in gathering information on SAC conventional and maritime operations and the Strategic Warfare Center, and for their help in reviewing the manuscript;

To all the men and women of the Strategic Air Command and Pacific Air Forces whom I met during GIANT WARRIOR ’90, a multinational, multiservice combat strike and deployment exercise conducted by SAC’s Fifteenth Air Force in August of 1990 at Andersen Air Force Base on Guam. I wish to especially thank Lieutenant General Robert D. Beckel, Fifteenth Air Force commander, for allowing me the privilege of observing his super exercise; Brigadier General David J. Pederson, Third Air Division commander, and Colonel Alan Cirino, Third Air Division deputy commander, and their staff for their hospitality and helpfulness in explaining the intricacies of Pacific theater combat operations; and to Colonel Arne Weinman, Ninety-second Bomb Wing commander and joint air forces commander of GIANT WARRIOR ’90;

Special thanks to Captain Cynthia Colin, Fifteenth Air Force Public Affairs, and the other professionals at Fifteenth Air Force Public Affairs, March AFB, California; MSgt Ron Pack, Ninety-second Bomb Wing Public Affairs; MSgt A1 Dostal, Ninety-sixth Bomb Wing Public Affairs; Second Lieutenant Darian “Slick” Benson, Fifty-seventh

Air Division Public Affairs; the feared terrorist-group- tumed-media-pool known throughout the Pacific as the Dream Team; and everyone who helped make my visit to Guam and GIANT WARRIOR ’90 a pleasure and a success;

To Brigadier General Larry Dilda, DCS/Communications and Computer Operations, HQ SAC, for conducting a very special tour of SAC Headquarters, where I learned much about the “new” Strategic Air Command and its people and its new arsenal of weapons; and to Ron Silverstein, B-2 Project Senior Engineer and Chief Spokesman, and the others at Northrop Corporation, Air Force Plant 42, Palmdale, California, for an amazing tour of the B-2 bomber assembly facilities;

To Colonel Thomas A. Homung, Chief of Public Affairs, Air Force Public Affairs-Westem Region in Los Angeles, for his invaluable assistance throughout the making of Sky Masters and for arranging a spectacular tour of SAC headquarters; and to Major Ron Fuchs, former Deputy and Chief of Media Relations in Los Angeles, for his time in reviewing the manuscript and offering some valuable comments;

To CDR Bruce R. Linder, commanding officer of the guided missile frigate FFG-55 USS Elrod, who was extremely helpful in providing details pertaining to naval operations in the South China Sea, Palawan Passage, and the Philippines;

To Richard Herman, famous author of War birds and Force of Eagles, for his technical knowledge on aerial combat in the F-4E and other facets of fighter combat;

To Rockwell International for information on the B-l bomber; also to Orbital Sciences Corporation for information on the Pegasus air-launched space booster;

To my executive assistant, Dennis Hall, for his hard work and support.

Glossary

All items are real-world terms except where designated with “F.”

AAA — Anti Aircraft Artillery

Advanced Missile Warning System — next generation of satellites that detect enemy missile launches Aegis — advanced naval air defense radar system

AGM-84E SLAM — modified Harpoon long-range cruise missile with TV and satellite navigation system guidance

AGM-130 Striker — rocket-boosted two-thousand-pound glide bomb; range ten to fifteen miles

AIM-7 — Sparrow radar-guided medium-range air-to-air missile AIM-9 — Sidewinder infrared (heat) guided short-range air-to-air missile