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Thomas Young

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  1. I'm a former C-130 flight engineer, now retired from the Air Guard and writing military-related novels. My newest novel, THE WARRIORS, is set in present-day Bosnia, and it includes a flashback to a C-130 mission during the Bosnian war. (My main character, Air Force flier Michael Parson, flew as a Herk navigator in Bosnia.) Here's a link to the Amazon page: http://www.amazon.com/The-Warriors-Tom-Young/dp/0399158472
  2. Hi, folks, Now that I've retired from the Air Guard, I'm devoting my time to writing military-related novels. Just thought I'd let you know about my latest, titled THE WARRIORS. In a starred review, Publishers Weekly calls THE WARRIORS "a terrific addition to what has become an exemplary series." Most of the action in this novel takes place in present-day Bosnia and Serbia, with flashbacks to the Bosnian war in the 1990s. Some of it will sound familiar to those of you who flew the Joint Guard and Joint Forge missions back then. Here's a link to the Amazon page: http://www.amazon.com/The-Warriors-Tom-Young/dp/0399158472 You can find more info on this book and all my other novels on my website at www.tomyoungbooks.com. As always, I invite your input and feedback. Best wishes, and fly safe! Tom Young
  3. Hi, Don. Thanks for the kind words! Parson and Gold haven't hooked up yet, but who knows what the future holds.... All the best, Tom
  4. Hi, folks, Just wanted to let you know my latest novel, SILENT ENEMY, hits the bookstores on August 4th. It's a story that I hope will do the airlift community proud; nearly all the action takes place in flight, aboard a C-5 Galaxy. In a starred review, Publishers Weekly says, "Aviation thriller aficionados will cheer, and readers of any genre will gnaw their fingernails to the quick." Booklist says, "Fans of Clancy, Coonts, and Dale Brown need to add Young to their must read lists.” SILENT ENEMY is already available for pre-order on Amazon and all the other online booksellers. For more information, please visit my website at www.thomaswyoung.com Many thanks for the support I've received from my fellow airlifters on this board. Best wishes, and fly safe! Thomas W. Young
  5. Oh yes -- forgot to mention that there's more info, including a some good C-130 footage, on my website at www.thomaswyoung.com All the best, Tom
  6. Hey, folks. Just wanted to let you know my new novel, THE MULLAH'S STORM, is now available in bookstores and through the online booksellers. The story features a Herk navigator, downed in Afghanistan, battling the elements and the enemy. The book has received great reviews, and I hope you enjoy it. Best wishes and fly safe! Tom Young
  7. Hi, folks, Just thought I'd let you know my new novel, titled THE MULLAH'S STORM, features a C-130 nav as the main character. Putnam will release the book in September, and it's already available for pre-order on Amazon and the other online booksellers. The novel received a brief mention in a recent New York Times article, at this link: www.nytimes.com/2010/02/08/us/08military.html Meanwhile, many thanks for your support here for my previous, nonfiction book, THE SPEED OF HEAT. And back at the good old WVANG, where I'm still flying, we're hitting our stride in the C-5 now that we've converted from the Herk. Take care and fly safe! Tom Young
  8. Hey, RZ MANY thanks to you for your kinds words. As it happens, I\'m working on a novel right now. It centers around a Herk crew in Afghanistan. I\'m about two-thirds through a rough draft, so it\'s probably at least a couple years from completion. (The working title is \"The Mullah\'s Blizzard.\") In the meantime, at Martinsburg, we\'re still plugging along with our C-5 conversion. (As I write this, I just got out of the sim.) Again, thanks for all the support from the gang at this website. Best wishes and fly safe... Tom Young
  9. Hi, Chris Sorry it took me so long to respond. I\'ve been out of town. You might try the Air Force Museum. It\'s also possible the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum might be a resource. I understand they have some kind of research archives, and that might include film. Best of luck, Tom
  10. Hi, Chris Sorry it took me so long to respond. In addition to the AF Audiovisual Library, it might also be worth checking with the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. I understand they have some kind of research archives, which might include film. The AF Museum might also be a resource. Best, Tom
  11. Hello, R.Z. and Kurt, Many thanks for your kind words about the book. I REALLY appreciate the support. Best wishes, Tom
  12. Hey, thanks for the post.... To answer your question about the C-5s, our conversion is still ongoing. As I write this, I just got back from a channel run over to the Middle East, and the mission went pretty smoothly. Of course, 38-year-old C-5As aren\'t going to have the mission-capable rate of the C-130 H3s we used to have. That\'s just a fact of life. Also, something that surprised me is how different the C-5\'s mission is from the Herk\'s. I guess in my ignorance I might have thought, \"Hey, an airlifter is an airlifter, and this one is just bigger and flies longer legs.\" But the way we use this one is quite different. Long legs, yes, that are often through the middle of the night. (I guess that\'s why they used to say MAC stood for Midnight Air Command.) Also, of course, no more airdrop, low-level, NVGs, etc. So we have a learning curve to climb, but we\'re getting there. I hope we can keep some of that C-130 camaraderie and mission-hacking approach. (No kidding, I once heard a C-5 maintainer say he likes C-5 crews who came from the C-130, because they\'re less likely to reject a jet for stupid reasons.) Anyway, thanks for the interest. Best wishes and fly safe! Tom Young
  13. Hi, folks Just thought I\'d let you know that my book about the 167th Airlift Wing, THE SPEED OF HEAT: AN AIRLIFT WING AT WAR IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN, has now been released. The book is an oral history of the WVANG Martinsburg unit\'s activities since 9/11, with about 70 members telling their stories in their own words. It includes not just fliers, but maintainers, aerial porters, aeromeds, etc. It\'s available from Amazon.com and other online booksellers, and any bookstore should be able to order it for you. It\'s also available from the publisher, McFarland and Company, through its website, www.mcfarlandpub.com. The ISBN number is 978-0-7864-3798-6. My thanks to those of you who have already pre-ordered it through Amazon. I REALLY appreciate the support. (I think Amazon still shows a publication date of June 30th, but the book is out now.) Meanwhile, best wishes and fly safe! Tom Young
  14. Hi, Nathan Just to be safe, I ran it past Intel, and they told me there were no Opsec issues in the manuscript. In addition, I let the interviewees review their part of the manuscript prior to submitting it if there seemed even a remote chance that they were talking about something sensitive. I also let Public Affairs know what I was up to. I think PA used to need to review all such writing, but they don\'t necessarily do that anymore. The Air Force seems to take seriously the free speech rights of its members, and it does not exercise any prior restraint in what we say or write. Of course, if you do reveal anything classified, I\'m sure you\'ll have to answer for it after the fact. A couple years ago I published an account of a 167th mission in a Random House anthology titled \"Operation Homecoming: Iraq, Afghanistan and the Home Front in the Words of U.S. Troops and Their Families.\" This book resulted from a joint project between DOD and the National Endowment for the Arts, and I was one of about 90 contributors from all branches of the service. The book includes some pretty hard-hitting pieces about combat in Iraq and Afghanistan, and none of the services censored any of it. In fact, some pretty high-level brass turned out for the book\'s kickoff event at the Library of Congress. Anyway, that\'s perhaps more detail than you wanted, but that\'s the process I used. Best of luck to you if you do decide to write something. Tom Young
  15. Hi, Folks I hope you\'ll pardon the blatant sales pitch, but I\'d like to let you know of my latest book about and for the C-130 community. \"The Speed of Heat: An Airlift Wing at War in Iraq and Afghanistan\" comes out late next month or in June, published by McFarland and Company. It\'s an oral history of my unit\'s (167th AW) activities since 9/11, and in its pages some of you will find guys and gals you know. Essentially, I sat down with about 70 of my squadron mates, and we talked about their experiences. The result is a book that includes aircrews describing desert missions, maintainers talking about combat repairs, and aeromeds discussing saving lives. The book also includes aerial port guys, an intel troop, even two motor pool truck drivers who survived a roadside bomb. \"The Speed of Heat\" is already available for pre-order on Amazon.com and other online booksellers. You can also find it on the publishers website, www.mcfarlandpub.com, and any brick-and-mortar bookstore can order it for you. It\'ll come in the mail as soon as the copies are printed in a few weeks. You shouldn\'t need the ISBN number to order, but in case anyone asks, it\'s 978-0-7864-3798-6. Though the 167th is in conversion to the C-5, all of the book except the epilogue concerns C-130 missions. (I wrote it while we still flew the Herk.) Meanwhile at good old Martinsburg, our conversion to the C-5 continues apace. My fellow flight engineers and I are slowly but surely getting used to flying sideways. (Herk navs, I know you can relate.) Anyway, thanks for your support. Best wishes and fly safe! Tom Young
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