CHARIOTS OF THE DAMNED

An introduction to the US Air Force’s helicopter rescue units, coauthored by a pilot who flew several of their most notable missions.

Currently an instructor on the MH-53 Pave Low helicopter, McKinney draws on his time in Haiti, Bosnia, and Kosovo as he describes the exploits of heliborne Special Operations. Interspersed chapters by aerospace executive Ryan (Warplanes of the Future, not reviewed) cover forays outside McKinney’s firsthand military experience. Together, they uncover the short history of the helicopter in modern warfare. According to McKinney, the US military created a helicopter task force specifically trained to rescue Americans from the Son Tay POW camp in North Vietnam. While the raid found the camp void of American prisoners, it awakened military planners to the benefits of having rotary-winged aviation units specifically trained to conduct lightning-fast, low-altitude raids deep in enemy territory. As the authors follow the history of these units, they trace an evolution in the missions and training of helicopter Special Operations, from the chaos of the failed rescue attempt of American hostages in Iran to the brutal miscalculations of American planners in Somalia. McKinney and Ryan conclude with accounts of Special Forces’ resounding successes in Bosnia and Kosovo at rescuing downed jet pilots like Air Force hero Scott O’Grady. Despite the experience the authors bring to this account, they render a terrifically exciting subject only sporadically interesting with superficial political analysis and occasionally lifeless prose.

Will engage an audience specifically interested in American Special Forces, but better written and more compelling accounts of the almost all of the military operations chronicled here are easily accessible to more general readers.