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-1 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
AIM-54 — Phoenix radar-guided long-range air-to-air missile AIM-120 — Scorpion radar-guided medium-range air-to-air missile
ALARM — (F) Air Launched Alert Response Missile; aircraft-launched space booster
AMRAAM — AIM-120 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missile; next generation of “launch-and-leave” guided missiles
AMWS — Advanced Missile Warning System, next-generation radar/laser system to warn pilots of incoming antiaircraft missiles
ASEAN — Association of South East Asian Nations, cooperative council of nations, generally aligned to counter growing influence of China: Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia
ASIS — (F) Attack Systems Integration Station, the mission commander’s area (right seat) of a B-2 stealth bomber, responsible for navigation and attack
ASROC — nuclear-tipped antisubmarine rocket torpedoes, launched by Navy ships
ASTAB — automated status board monitors, part of AEGIS radar system
AWACS — Airbome Warning and Control System, the E-3 radar plane that can detect, track, identify, and control air targets at long range
AWG-9 — long-range, high-powered attack radar on Navy F-14 Tomcat fighters
BGAAWC — Battle Group Anti-Aircraft Warfare Center, the control center for all antiaircraft warfare in a Navy battle group
Bhangmeters — nuclear detonation detection system on satellites; detects and measures the flash of a nuclear detonation and estimates the strength of the warhead
BLU-96 — fuel-air explosive bomb, a weapon that disperses a fuel oil into the air; many times more powerful than a conventional bomb of similar size because it does not carry its own chemical oxidizers
BMEWS — Ballistic Missile Early Warning System, a radar system used to detect launch of submarine-launched ballistic missiles
BNS — Bombing and Navigation System
BUFF — Big Ugly Fat Fellow, nickname for the B-52 bomber C101 — long-range ship- or land-launched antiship missile built by China; Silkworm
C601 — long-range air-launched antiship missile built by China C801 — medium-range Chinese antiship missile
CAP — Combat Air Patrol, layers of fighters set up in an area to search for enemy attackers
CIC — Combat Information Center, the central communications and control area on board naval vessels
CINCSAC — Commander in Chief, Strategic Air Command, the four-star Air Force officer responsible for strategic bombers, land-based strategic ballistic missiles, and long-range communications and reconnaissance aircraft