An engrossing portayal of war and the emotions it produces.

Gulf air combat
Desert skies

By Michael T. Gregory. Softcover, 466pp. Publisher: Xlibris Corporation. Available from Amazon.com for US$18.

Reviewer :: Capt Jason Logue

Desert Skies is quite surprising in that it is not purely a story of modern helicopter warfare, instead it is a story of devoted leadership set within an attack helicopter unit deployed to the Gulf War.

The book tells of the fine line between being one of the boys or being in command, demanding respect or earning respect and, most importantly, that fear of failing subordinates is (and should be) the driving factor behind leading troops.

The author has managed to capture the full range of emotions felt by military leaders at all levels, from pure disgust and hatred through to absolute fear in a fiction-based-on-fact style to protect the innocent (and guilty).

Desert Skies is a timely reminder that the military is about people and getting the absolute most out of them in any circumstance.

I thoroughly recommend this book to commanders of all levels.

I also recommend those very same people work hard on convincing their partners to read Desert Skies.

The author puts into words the range of emotions and conflicting priorities felt by soldiers and commanders with families far more eloquently and understandably than I ever seem to be able to do in the heat of the moment.