WT Forums

Just finished reading “The Warthog and the Close Air Support Debate” by Douglas N. Campbell and all I can say is WOW! This book is not what you would call an entertaining book in the novel sense but, is more technical in nature, after all a lot of the information came from the author’s research writing his PH.D. dissertation on the Air Force’s close air support aircraft.

If you have ever had a debate on CAS or have made (or heard) statements like “The Air Force has never like the A-10!” or, “The Air Force has tried to retire the A-10 a number of time.” and really don’t have any information to back-up these statements this is a must have book!

In fact there is so much info on the politics of CAS and the A-10 I will have to go back and reread the book again because it’s hard to digest in just one reading.

Thanks for the book suggestion Coach, I now see the Hawg in not so much a new light but, the light is a lot brighter now!!

<img src="http://www.warthogpen.com/bs/sig1.jpg" border=0>

u got an ISBN number for that book dice?

1-55750-232-3

<img src="http://www.warthogpen.com/bs/sig1.jpg" border=0>

You beat me to the question Jim. Thanx Dice.

By this time tomorrow I shall have gained either a pearage or Westminster Abbey........Nelson

_________________
YGBSM !

Or simply go here: http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1557502323/qid%3D1086900267/sr%3D11-1/ref%3Dsr%5F11%5F1/002-2042338-0452001?v=glance to buy it from Amazon for $23.77.

<b>Flight Journal, April 2004</b>
<i>"This excellent book is the starting point for all intelligent discussion on the subject, and rightly so. It is brilliant." </i>

<b>About the Author</b>
<i>Douglas N. Campbell flew attack planes for both the U.S. Navy and Air Force and later earned a Ph.D. in military and technology history. He lives in Wyoming where he teaches and writes. </i>

<b>Book Description</b>
<i>The A-10 Warthog is an ugly, slow close air support (CAS) plane that many people believe should never have been built, yet it has proven useful in various conflicts around the globe and remains operational today. As Douglas Campbell explains in this sweeping survey of the CAS mission and the U.S. Air Force, many factors dictate the plane's existence, tumultuous as it is. As an embodiment of the airman's commitment to the soldier, the Warthog fills an important functional niche in the wide spectrum of warfare. But the author describes the A-10 as sitting on a seismic fault-line boundary between the Air Force and the Army, two services whose shifting war fighting philosophies, relationships, and doctrinal visions have affected the plane's fate.

In this story of an underdog and the interaction of military, politics, and technology in America, Campbell leads the reader through CAS history prior to the A-10's inception and then shows how Air Force historical and doctrinal interpretations met a host of contradictory factors, including the Vietnam War and the Army's super attack helicopter, that led to the building of the Warthog. The author uses its turbulent developmental and operational life to highlight a relatively unaddressed part of air combat history, and the book's wide historical scope sets it a part from others on the subject. Fans of the A-10 and those wanting to know more about close air support for American troops will want to read this work. 304 pages. 20 photographs. Notes. Glossary. Bibliography. Index. Hardcover. 6 x 9 inches.</i>

Coach, is that your review at the bottom???

Cheers! M2

BTW only 202 pages are book the rest are refrances...told you it was technical in nature!

<img src="http://www.warthogpen.com/bs/sig1.jpg" border=0>