US Marine Corps and RAAF Hornet Units of Operation Iraqi Freedom: No.56 (Combat Aircraft) - Softcover

Holmes, Tony

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1841768472 ISBN 13: 9781841768472

Publisher: Osprey Publishing, 2006

Synopsis

Some 84 of the 250 Hornets committed by Central Command to Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) proudly bore MARINE titling on their rear fuselages. A further 14 were marked with the distinctive kangaroo roundel of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). The exploits achieved by the units that flew these jets into combat is detailed in this volume, the third of three titles published in the Combat Aircraft series on what has been dubbed by many TACAIR insiders the 'Hornet's War'. Although the bulk of this book deals with the major hostilities phase of OIF I, which ran from 20 March to 20 April 2003, the decade of pre-war OSW missions and ongoing post-war OIF II operations are also covered in significant detail from the Marine Corps perspective. Profusely illustrated with rare frontline photography and more than 30 specially commissioned colour artworks, this book also features the combat experiences of 24 pilots and Weapons Systems Officers.

About this title

Product Description:

Hornet units were in the vanguard of first strikes in Operation Iraqi Freedom, and this book draws on material from the author's unprecedented interviews with Australian and American combat veterans to provide a remarkable insight into their operations with the RAAF and US Marines in Iraq. The RAAF detachment in Iraq represented the Australian Air Force's first deployment in an overseas theatre since the Korean War. This book examines the combat roles of RAAF and US Marine Homets throughout OIF, including their support of the drive towards Baghdad, and detailing the impressive array of US ordnance that they dropped or launched in the course of the campaign.

Review:

"Tony Holmes, the Osprey aviation editor, has written a keeper. It is complete with fascinating firsthand crew accounts, splendid color photos, and 10 pages of expertly done illustrations of Marine and Australian F/A 18s and their markings." --Proceedings

About this edition

• Publisher: Osprey Publishing
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 1841768472
• ISBN 13: 9781841768472
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 96
• Illustrator: Davey Chris