THUD RIDGE

Rating:
Summary: Should be required reading in leadership
Review: I have read this book so many times. A graduate of West Point, Jack Broughton is a fighter pilot's fighter pilot. He brings you into the cockpit of the F-105 and into combat. It is a fast paced story told from the point of view of a fighter pilot and leader. If you read this book you will understand why the US lost in Vietnam. You will feel the bitterness of men who fought in Vietnam against their own bureacracy and the political leadership in Washington. To this day, it amazes me that Washington tried to fight a war, half a world away, micro managing down to the level of target selection, routes and engagement rules. Colonel Broughton is a hero. America should keep men like him close to its heart instead of ending a career like his for a bureacratic snafu. This book is about combat leadership and the warrior ethic. The lessons learned from this book very well apply today. Students at the officer schools, academies, squadron officer school, air command and staff, even higher should be required to read this book and Broughton's other one, Going Downtown.

Rating:
Summary: An Inside View Of Combat Aviation In North Vietnam
Review: The first thought that comes to my mind regarding Thud Ridge, is the incredible candor and the vivid unit-level challenges that Col Broughton brings forth in his book. The reader is quickly drawn into the day-to-day challenges of the F-105 mission and Col Broughton lays a solid foundation for most readers to follow and understand the nuances and terminology that surrounds military life and the aviation community.

This is certainly a story that needed to be told. Understanding the North Vietnam aerial campaign opens the readers mind to the severe targeting limitations imposed on the pilots in conducting their daily missions. Unfortunately, countless aviators lives were needlessly put into harms way and Col Broughton honorably portrays the cost in lives of his friends and fellow aviators to his readers.

The heroism of the Thud aviators and their naval counterparts rank high on the list of all time achievements in combat. The Silver Stars and Air Force Crosses reinforce the level of valor that these aviators displayed in the Hanoi region. Moreover, the risks incurred of ejecting over cannibal territory and heavily occupied NVA regions help portray just how couragous these aviators truly were.

I'd recommend this book to military professionals and to military historians. The general populous will benefit from the overall story, but many of the key details learned only from adaptation to military duty, may be lost. Nevertheless, the point will get across to all readers.

Weakness: The book needs editing. There are several out of place words that do not make grammatical sense, but are easily passed over if recognized and quickly translated.

Rating:
Summary: An Inside View Of Combat Aviation In North Vietnam
Review: The first thought that comes to my mind regarding Thud Ridge, is the incredible candor and the vivid unit-level challenges that Col Broughton brings forth in his book. The reader is quickly drawn into the day-to-day challenges of the F-105 mission and Col Broughton lays a solid foundation for most readers to follow and understand the nuances and terminology that surrounds military life and the aviation community.

This is certainly a story that needed to be told. Understanding the North Vietnam aerial campaign opens the readers mind to the severe targeting limitations imposed on the pilots in conducting their daily missions. Unfortunately, countless aviators lives were needlessly put into harms way and Col Broughton honorably portrays the cost in lives of his friends and fellow aviators to his readers.

The heroism of the Thud aviators and their naval counterparts rank high on the list of all time achievements in combat. The Silver Stars and Air Force Crosses reinforce the level of valor that these aviators displayed in the Hanoi region. Moreover, the risks incurred of ejecting over cannibal territory and heavily occupied NVA regions help portray just how couragous these aviators truly were.

I'd recommend this book to military professionals and to military historians. The general populous will benefit from the overall story, but many of the key details learned only from adaptation to military duty, may be lost. Nevertheless, the point will get across to all readers.

Weakness: The book needs editing. There are several out of place words that do not make grammatical sense, but are easily passed over if recognized and quickly translated.

Rating:
Summary: The noisy "Thud"
Review: The plane is huge; sitting nose-high on it's lanky gear legs. It makes a roar you won't forget, and men flew this aluminum overcast, propelled by an engine big enough to move a truck uphill, over the steaming jungles of Vietnam. I've met these men, face-to-face, and came away in shock at their stories of battle. One pilot, a man nicknamed "Cal" Jewett, was an instructor at the USAF Test Pilot School where I worked. He would regale us laymen with his exploits, as well as some little known post mission activities. Many "Thud" pilots were former tanker pilots, and they had to learn how to fly all over again; the F-105 was a totally different beast! This very interesting story is but a small sampling of the many varied missions brave pilots flew in this remarkable airplane.