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Fire from the Sky
by Richard C. KnottThis is the dramatic history of the HAL-3 Seawolves, the U.S. Navy's first and only helicopter gunship squadron of the Vietnam War. The squadron was established "in country" to support the fast, pugnacious river patrol boats of the brown water navy. Flying combat-worn Hueys borrowed from the Army, the mission of the Seawolves quickly expanded to include rapid response air support to any friendly force in the Delta needing immediate, no-holds-barred assistance. Operating in two-plane detachments from specifically configured LSTs, hastily constructed bases, and primitive campsites, the navy gunships and their crews responded to calls within minutes. Flying in all kinds of weather, day and night, they arrived at tree-top level with forward-firing rockets and flex-guns blazing. Door gunners hung outside the violently maneuvering helicopters delivering a hail of fire with their hand-held M-60 machine guns. The Seawolves inserted SEALs deep into enemy territory, and extracted them, often despite savage enemy opposition. They rescued friendly combatants from almost certain capture or death, and evacuated the wounded when Medevac helicopters were not available.Gleaned from historical documents and the colorful recollections of more than sixty Seawolf warriors, this is the first complete history of the most decorated Navy squadron of the Vietnam War. Naval aviator Richard Knott recounts the story of the Seawolves from the dawning of the concept to the moment the last squadron commander turned out the lights.
Fire in My Eyes: An American Warrior's Journey from Being Blinded on the Battlefield to Gold Medal Victory
by Brad Snyder Tom Sileo<P>"I am not going to let my blindness build a brick wall around me. I'd give my eyes one hundred times again to have the chance to do what I have done, and what I can still do."-Brad Snyder speaking with First Lady Michelle Obama <P>On the night Osama bin Laden was killed, US Navy Lieutenant Brad Snyder was serving in Afghanistan as an Explosive Ordnance Disposal officer with SEAL Team Ten. When he learned of SEAL Team Six's heroics across the Pakistani border, Brad was thankful. Still, he knew that his dangerous combat deployment would continue. <P>Less than five months later, Brad was engulfed by darkness after a massive blast caused by an enemy improvised explosive device. Suddenly Brad was blind, with vivid dreams serving as painful nightly reminders of his sacrifice. <P>Exactly one year after losing his sight, Brad heard thousands cheer as he stood on a podium in London. Incredibly, Brad had just won a gold medal in swimming at the 2012 Paralympic Games. <P>Fire in My Eyes is the astonishing true story of a wounded veteran who refused to give up. Lieutenant Brad Snyder did not let blindness build a wall around him-through tenacity and courage, he tore it down.
Fire in the Blood: A Novel
by Perry O'Brien&“A tremendously compelling debut of rare skill&” (Phil Klay, author of Redeployment) about a soldier who goes AWOL from Afghanistan and returns home to unravel the mystery of his wife&’s death. When Coop—a U.S. Army paratrooper serving in Afghanistan—is called urgently to his Captain&’s office, he fears he&’s headed for a court martial. Coop has been keeping a terrible secret from his fellow soldiers, and worries he&’s been discovered. Instead, his life is devastated in a different way: his wife, Kay, has been killed in a hit-and-run. Given a brief leave to fly back to New York and attend to Kay&’s affairs, Coop is increasingly disturbed by the suspicious circumstances of his wife&’s death. He decides to go AWOL, using his military training to uncover the real story behind Kay&’s fatal accident. As he circles in on the truth, Coop must distinguish ally from enemy among a cast of players in the Bronx underworld: Albanian heroin smugglers, shady cops, corrupt rehab doctors, and his wife&’s family, a powerful clan of financial elites. Navigating this new battlefield, he&’ll have to find justice for Kay while also seeking his own redemption. Humming with mystery and grief, Fire in the Blood is a compulsively readable thriller about the wars we fight, whether overseas, in our city streets, or in the depths of our own hearts.
Fire in the Sky: Flying in Deference of Israel
by Amos AmirThe story of a Middle Eastern pilot&’s life—from his childhood in Tel Aviv during WWII to his early career in the Israeli Air Force to the Lebanon War. General Amos Amir&’s autobiography tells the story of the man, the warrior and the commander and the story of the struggling, newly-born, Israeli Air Force. From the Six Day War of 1967 and onward, the IAF turned to be an extremely important component of the overall Israeli defense power. The years from the Sinai War in 1956, through the Six-Day-War, the Yom Kippur War in 1973 and the Lebanon War in 1982, were the years of Amir's flying, fighting and commanding career. Amir tells his own story in talented, vivid and fluent language. He succeeds in pulling the reader into his narrow cockpit from the early stages of his flying school to later air combats and reconnaissance missions. Tense dogfights, long-range reconnaissance missions and memorable aerial episodes, including piloting a Phantom jet from the deck of the American carrier Kitty Hawk, are vividly described. The book reveals previously untold stories about the traumatic Yom Kippur War of 1973 and the early stages of the war in Lebanon in the 1982.
Fire on the Water
by Robert HaddickThe main theme of Fire on the Water is that conventional measures of military balance, employed by both the general public and many policy experts, underestimate the threat that China's military modernization poses to the U.S. position in the Asia-Pacific region. Within a decade, China's leaders will have the military power to hold at risk U.S. interest in East Asia. The U.S. needs to fashion a new and competitive strategy, one that better matches the strengths of the U.S. and its allies against China's vulnerabilities, in order to maintain a balance of power in the region and convince China's leaders to pursue a cooperative course.It is not obvious to many observers why a conflict in the region is plausible, or why the U.S. should bear the responsibility for maintaining a forward military presence in the region. China has rapidly emerged as a great power and by doing so, has acquired many vital interests around the world. Following the pattern set by other such episodes in history, China is also acquiring the military means to protect its new interests, a development that puts at risk the interests of China's neighbors and the United States. The U.S. forward military presence in the region is an increasingly difficult burden to sustain. But in the long run, this approach will be less costly and less risky than encouraging China's neighbors to balance China by themselves, an alternative that will very likely result in an unstable arms race and a conflict that will damage America's interests.While it will be in America's interest to maintain its position in the Asia-Pacific region, China's military modernization is making it much more difficult for the U.S. to do so. China's military strategy, centered on its rapidly-expanding land-based and anti-ship missile forces, is exploiting weaknesses in long-standing U.S. force structure and doctrine. Due to a variety of institutional barriers, the U.S. has been slow to adapt to China's military modernization. Current efforts to respond are impractical, in that they expend U.S. resources against China's strengths rather than its vulnerabilities. The U.S. needs a new and competitive strategy that will strengthen its alliances in the region and convince China's leaders that cooperation, rather than military expansion and an attempt at regional hegemony, will be China's best course. Fire on the Water proposes reforms to U.S. diplomacy, military programs, and strategy that will offer a better chance at preserving stability. The goal of these reforms is to thwart China's well-designed military modernization plan, bolster the confidence and credibility of U.S. alliances in the region, and thus persuade China's leaders that China's best course is cooperation rather than conflict, the outcome that has usually occurred in history when a new great power has rapidly emerged.
Fire on the Waters (The Civil War at Sea #1)
by David PoyerThe year is 1861, and America shudders on the brink of disunion. Elisha Eaker, scion of a wealthy Manhattan banking family, joins the Navy against his father's wishes. He does it as much to avoid an arranged marriage to his cousin, Araminta Van Velsor, as to defend the flag. As war looms, Eli boards the sloop of war U.S.S. Owanee. There he meets Lieutenant Ker Claiborne at his own moment of decision. Claiborne, Owanee's executive officer, is an Annapolis graduate who's seen action in the West Indies and the Africa Station on the Navy's Anti-Slavery Patrol. Cool and competent in storm and battle, he now faces an agonizing choice between the Navy he loves and his native Virginia. Whichever road he takes, he'll be called a traitor. Within days, Owanee is ordered on a desperate mission to relieve Fort Sumter, the last outpost of Union authority in the newly declared Confederacy. And in Manhattan, Araminta makes her own move for independence. So begins Fire on the Waters, a tale of honor, loyalty, and the hunger for freedom. With authentic nautical and historical detail, veteran storyteller David Poyer follows Eli, Araminta, Ker, and their loved ones and shipmates into a maelstrom of divided loyalties, bitter partings, stormy seas, governmental panic, political blundering, and finally the test of battle as the bloodiest and most divisive war in American history begins.
Fire-Power: The British Army Weapons & Theories of War 1904–1945 (Pen & Sword Military Classics #Vol. 44)
by Shelford Bidwell Dominick GrahamThe great siege of Gibraltar was the longest recorded in the annals of the British army. Between 1779 and 1783 a small British force defended the Rock against the Spanish and the French who were determined take this strategically vital point guarding the entrance to the Mediterranean. The tenacity and endurance shown by the attackers and defenders alike, and the sheer ingenuity of the siege operations mounted by both sides, make the episode an epic of military history, and the story gives us a fascinating insight into the realities of siege warfare. In this, the first full study of the siege for over 40 years, James Falkner draws on a wide range of contemporary sources to tell the exciting tale of a huge and complex operation.
Firearms in Colonial America: The Impact on History and Technology 1492-1792
by M. L. BrownThis is a book about firearms. It is also a book about people and technology, for the dramatic role of the firearm as an efficient, effective tool which evolved during humankind's continuing struggle for survival cannot be minimized in any history of civilization. This book is fundamentally concerned with the Old World firearms evolution as it relates to the influence of firearms in colonial America during the period 1492 to 1792; a complex sphere of influence spanning three centuries, and intricately woven into the colorful and diverse fabric of our distinctive national heritage.
Firebreak
by Richard HermanThe “master of the techno-thriller” moves from the oval office to the frontlines as war erupts in the Middle East in this “fast-paced novel” (Publishers Weekly).In the wake of the Gulf War, a madman still holds the reins of power in Iraq. When his call for a Holy War unites the Arab world against Israel, the resulting combat is certain to have Earth-shattering implications. Israel stands ready to unleash its nuclear arsenal, and it’s up to American President Zack Pontowski to deescalate the situation. As military and geopolitical forces reach a fever pitch, the only chance to avoid Armageddon is to take out Iraq’s chemical weapons arsenal. Pontowski dispatches the 45th Tactical Fighter Wing—a squadron led by his own grandson—to execute the mission.
Firefight: Inside the Battle to Save the Pentagon on 9/11
by Patrick Creed Rick NewmanAmid all the stories of tragedy and heroism on September 11, there is one tale that has yet to be told--the gripping account of ordinary men and women braving the inferno at the Pentagon to rescue friends and co-workers, save the nation's military headquarters, and defend their country.
Firefighting the Blitz: Fire Service Memories
by Aylmer Firebrace CBE KPMWar was coming. Everyone knew that confrontation with Nazi Germany was inevitable and that London was likely to be a prime target of Hitler’s bombers. So, in January 1939, Aylmer Firebrace, the Chief Officer of London Fire Brigade, was seconded to the Home Office to plan for the capital’s fire defence. Before joining the Fire Brigade, Aylmer Firebrace had been a Royal Navy officer who had fought in the Battle of Jutland during the First World War. It was following the Armistice that, in 1919, he became principal officer in the London Fire Brigade. He was promoted to deputy chief and finally chief officer in June 1938.. That war struck London soon enough, but it was on 7 September 1940, that Firebrace’s preparations were truly tested with the start of the Blitz. For the next fifty-seven days and nights London was subjected to the longest continuous bombing campaign in history. Then, as the Luftwaffe ranged wider and further across Britain’s towns and cities, Firebrace was tasked with toured the nation to see the effects of the bombing, at which point he saw the need for a national response. The result was the creation of the National Fire Service. Formed in August 1941, by the amalgamation of some 1,600 separate brigades, this remarkable organisation had, at its peak, a strength of 370,000 men and women. It was led for its entire existence by Aylmer Firebrace. As the war continued, Firebrace became Chief of the Fire Staff and Inspector-in-Chief of the Fires Services, being the first and, to date, only person to head all the fire-fighting services in Britain. This body had to deal with the expansion of the Blitz as well as the so-called ‘Baedeker’ raids, the ‘tip-and-run’ attacks, Baby Blitz and V1 and V2 offensives of the later years of the war. In his fascinating account, written immediately the war, Firebrace reflects on the functioning of the fire service at its most testing time. This book is an essential addition to the understanding of the Blitz and how London and the rest of the country survived its darkest hour.
Firefly: Heartstopping chase thriller & winner of the Wilbur Smith Award (Paul Samson Spy Thriller)
by Henry Porter'Matt Addis takes us into Naji and Samson's minds with equal skill and maximises the horror of the showdown with Isis' The Times'A welcome return ... Firefly seems ripped from the headlines and is both timely and terrific' Mick Herron'The eagerly awaited return of an espionage master' Charles Cumming'British espionage fiction is the best in the world, and Porter is part of the reason why' Lee Child From the refugee camps of Greece to the mountains of Macedonia, a thirteen year old boy is making his way to Germany and safety. Codenamed 'Firefly', he holds vital intelligence: unparalleled insight into a vicious ISIS terror cell, and details of their plans. But the terrorists are hot on his trail, determined he won't live to pass on the information.When MI6 become aware of Firefly and what he knows, the race is on to find him. Paul Samson, ex-MI6 agent and now private eye, finds himself recruited to the cause. Fluent in Arabic thanks to his Lebanese heritage, Samson's job is to find Firefly, win his trust and get him to safety.A devastatingly timely thriller following the refugee trail from Syria to Europe, Firefly is a sophisticated, breathtaking race against time from the acclaimed and award-winning author of Brandenburg and The Dying Light.
Firefox (The Mitchell Gant Series)
by Craig ThomasThe New York Times–bestselling Cold War thriller: It&’s the most advanced stealth fighter ever developed, and his job is to steal it from the Soviets . . . The Soviets have created a new plane equipped with a weapons system that can be activated via sensors in the pilot&’s helmet—an advance that could shift the global balance of power. But British intelligence has a plan. There are two prototypes within the heavily secured Soviet base, and with some help from the CIA, they&’re going to steal one. The man chosen for the job is US pilot and troubled Vietnam veteran Mitchell Gant. First, he has to get into Russia. Then the airbase. Then the hangar. Then onto the plane and into the air. All while the KGB scrambles to stop him at any cost . . . &“Like a domino fall in slow motion.&” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) &“Will have you sweating bullets. Thomas misses no tricks, and tension is sustained from first page to last.&” —The New York Times Book Review
Firefox Down! (The Mitchell Gant Series)
by Craig ThomasNew York Times Bestseller: The follow-up to the classic Cold War thriller continues the story of spies, stealth technology, and survival . . . The plan was to steal the Soviet Union&’s prototype for the world&’s most advanced stealth fighter from under their noses. What could go wrong? A lot, it turns out. A crash landing in remote, frigid Finland leaves daredevil pilot Mitchell Gant fighting for survival and trying to elude his pursuers. Meanwhile, the US and UK desperately calculate their chances of recovering the plane—and getting out of the area before the Russians arrive. They&’ve made it this far, but will their efforts come to nothing in the end? &“Lively, straightforward action.&” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) &“The last word in espionage thrillers.&” —The Pittsburgh Press
Firemask
by Chris BunchOn a distant planetary system, the post-civil-war cleanup has begun. But the Confederation empire's government remains silent, without help or advice. It's up to the men and women of the Last Legion to protect the fragile system against the intrigues of the alien Musth, bent on domination.As the Musth make their way through the streets of the planets' cities, the Last Legion will fight them its way - with brutal guerrilla warfare against the oppressors. Against the odds.
Firemask: Book Two of the Last Legion Series
by Chris BunchOn a distant planetary system, the post-civil-war cleanup has begun. But the Confederation empire's government remains silent, without help or advice. It's up to the men and women of the Last Legion to protect the fragile system against the intrigues of the alien Musth, bent on domination. As the Musth make their way through the streets of the planets' cities, the Last Legion will fight them its way - with brutal guerrilla warfare against the oppressors. Against the odds.
Firemask: Book Two of the Last Legion Series
by Chris BunchOn a distant planetary system, the post-civil-war cleanup has begun. But the Confederation empire’s government remains silent, without help or advice. It’s up to the men and women of the Last Legion to protect the fragile system against the intrigues of the alien Musth, bent on domination.As the Musth make their way through the streets of the planets’ cities, the Last Legion will fight them its way - with brutal guerrilla warfare against the oppressors. Against the odds.
Firepower in Limited War: Revised Edition
by Robert ScalesExamines how the United States can employ its massive, high-tech firepower in an effective manner when future conflicts are likely to be limited and of low intensity.
Firepower: How Weapons Shaped Warfare
by Paul LockhartHow military technology has transformed the world The history of warfare cannot be fully understood without considering the technology of killing. In Firepower, acclaimed historian Paul Lockhart tells the story of the evolution of weaponry and how it transformed not only the conduct of warfare but also the very structure of power in the West, from the Renaissance to the dawn of the atomic era. Across this period, improvements in firepower shaped the evolving art of war. For centuries, weaponry had remained simple enough that any state could equip a respectable army. That all changed around 1870, when the cost of investing in increasingly complicated technology soon meant that only a handful of great powers could afford to manufacture advanced weaponry, while other countries fell behind. Going beyond the battlefield, Firepower ultimately reveals how changes in weapons technology reshaped human history.
Fires Of Evening: Number 8 in series (Retallick Saga #11)
by E. V. ThompsonJosh and Miriam Retallick and their grandson Ben seem almost part of the wild and rugged Cornish landscape of 1913. Yet a revolutionary spirit of change is sweeping across the country - and the whole of Europe - with terrifying haste.Even before the outbreak of the Great War, with strike action compromising his position in the community and threatening the future of the China clay industry, Ben is unsettled by the presence of his cousin Emma Cotton. Inspired by the blossoming suffragette movement, it is a cause which takes her to London and a meeting with ardent campaigner Tessa Wren. As Emma and Tessa are plunged into the turmoil of driving ambulances to the front line in France, Ben's wife, Lily, resigned to dying in a Swiss clinic, pushes her husband towards this courageous new woman . . .
Fires of Coventry (Federation War #2)
by Rick ShelleyCoventry. One of the founding worlds of the Second Commonwealth. It lies just eight light years away from the Commonwealth's capital world, Buckingham, but it's mostly been ignored during the Federation War.No longer. The Federation has its sights set on taking Coventry by any means necessary. Their first wave of attacking troops have set Coventry aflame in an effort to force out the population and keep local resistance at bay as they establish a base for attacking the heart of the Commonwealth.Coventry is Reggie Bailey's home. Reggie isn't a Royal Marine. He's a family man, a father of three. But he has to put it all aside and join his brethren to fight the fires that threaten his world. It's up to the home guard to keep the Federation at bay long enough for reinforcements to arrive.To Sergeant David Spencer of the Commonwealth's Royal Marines, the scorched earth assault on Coventry is a challenge. But he's trained, skilled, armed, ready. When the unexpected orders to go to Coventry arrive, there's no question that David and his men are up to the task, but there's every question if they can arrive in time and fight their way through the fires of Coventry before it's too late for Reggie and his family.War hits home as Rick Shelley's Federation War trilogy continues. PRAISE FOR THE AUTHOR:"Rick Shelley was a soldier at heart, and his books were written from the heart. They carry the real feel of the sweat, blood, and camaraderie of those on the front lines." --Jack Campbell, author of the bestselling Lost Fleet series
Fires of Memory
by Scott WashburnThe kingdoms of the east have all but forgotten the old magic. Science has replaced the wizards; muskets and cannons have replaced the swords and armor of the old knights. But across the mountains, Atark, a shaman of their ancient enemy, the nomadic Kaifeng, has rediscovered the old magic and, thirsting for revenge for his murdered family, he unleashes it in a new war of conquest. As city after city falls to the invader, Matt, a young soldier, and Jarren, a reluctant scholar, desperately search for an answer to this seemingly unstoppable weapon. Meanwhile, Kareen and Thelena, two young women from different cultures, are thrown together by fate—and find that in a world drenched in blood, the only thing they can count on is each other.
Fires on the Plain
by Shohei Ooka Ivan MorrisHis name is Tamura. A private in the Japanese Army during the last stages of World War II. He is separated from his forces and far behind enemy lines. is struggle to maintain his dignity amid the awesome terrors and exigencies of war is the basis for this great modern Japanese novel. Tamura hears of a port still in the hands of his own troops and he attempts to walk to safety. One by one this sensitive and intelligent man's ties to humanity are severed. He falls into hallucinations. Devoid of hope, isolate, bordering on insanity, he is driven to committing what he considers to be the ultimate human sin.
Fireship: The Terror Weapon of the Age of Sail
by Peter KirschThe fireship was the guided missile of the sailing era. Packed with incendiary (and sometimes explosive) material, it was aimed at its highly inflammable wooden target by volunteers who bailed out into a boat at the last moment. It often missed, but the panic it invariably caused among crews who generally could not swim and had no method of safely abandoning ship did the job for it—the most famous example being the attack off Gravelines in 1588 which led to the rout of the Spanish Armada.Although it was a tactic used in antiquity, its successful revival in the Armada campaign led to the adoption of the fireship as an integral part of the fleet. During the seventeenth century increasingly sophisticated 'fireworks' were designed into purpose-built ships, and an advance doctrine was worked out for their employment. Fireship reveals the full impact of the weapon on naval history, looks at the technology and analyses the reasons for its decline.This is the first history of a potent, much used but little understood weapon.
Firestorm
by Don PendletonMack Bolan's mission takes him to Bogotá, Colombia, where an American corporation has been practicing bad business for nearly two decades. If it's a weapons contract, classified materials or soldiers for hire, the company will deal--all with the blessing of the CIA. But now, certain high-ranking individuals are playing by their own rules, stepping outside of their operating field into a whole new ball game: selling America's secrets to hostile nations. The members of a CIA investigating team are all dead, except one hostage. U. S. officials, from the Oval Office down, are anxious. The Executioner's objective is to reel in an operation spinning out of control. . . by any means necessary.