Desert Storm and Forward

One might say that military service is in Col. Joseph Turnham’s DNA. His family traces their military service back to his sixth great grandfather who fought at Valley Forge and was present at Yorktown for the surrender of Cornwallis.  Turnham HAD planned to become a doctor until he took some flying lessons. He now has over 3,600 hours in the cockpit – 1,149 of those in combat. Prior to assuming command of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base (one of the largest [...]

Operation Desert Storm would be Jeff “Tico” Tice’s first opportunity to fly combat missions.  Things didn’t turn out as well as planned. On his second combat mission of the conflict, a last minute mechanical issue forced Jeff to switch aircraft and didn’t allow time for his good luck tradition of spitting into the plane’s exhaust. On the second day of the Desert Storm "Shock & Awe" campaign Jeff’s F-16 was hit by an Iraqi surface to air missile.  He would [...]

Col. Michael Drowley has flown a wide assortment of aircraft over his career. Heavy bombers like the B-1 & B-52, the C-130 and C-17 heavy transport planes, F-15 & F-16 fighter jets, the B-2 Stealth bomber and even helicopters. But the slow and tough A-10 Thunderbolt is his favorite.   He is careful to make a distinction between fighter pilots and attack pilots. The A-10 was designed and built with one singular purchase – to support troops on the ground. [...]

Will and Cairo Cairo was a very special dog for many reasons – not the least of which was the fact he was part of the elite team chosen to execute Operation Neptune Spear – the mission to kill or capture Osama Bin Laden. Cairo’s partner and handler Will Chesney joins us to discuss his tribute to Cairo as presented in his book “No Ordinary Dog; My Partner From the SEAL Teams to the Bin Laden Raid.” Fellow [...]

“Pale Horse: Hunting Terrorists and Commanding Heroes With the 101st Airborne” is one of three books authored by Colonel Jimmy Blackmon. Pale Horse tells the true story of an Army aviation task force in Afghanistan during a period when “we fought every day of the year”. While he has flown high risk missions all over the globe, Jimmy’s introduction to the Army was not quite so glamorous. With working at the local cotton mill his only prospect after High School, [...]

“Jet Girl: My Life in War, Peace and the Cockpit of the Navy’s Most Lethal Aircraft” is an autobiography of Caroline Johnson’s path to becoming one of the first women to drop bombs on ISIS fighters.   While the book has plenty of combat stories, the central theme describes the challenges faced by Caroline in her quest to join the community of elite jetfighters. Following graduation from the US Naval Academy, she was assigned as a Weapons Systems Officer (WSO) on [...]

“Hunting the Caliphate: America’s War on ISIS and the Dawn of the Strike Cell” is a compelling new book that tells the story of America’s war against ISIS from the first hand perspective of the men who started it. Co-Authors Major General Dana Pittard (US Army Ret) and Master Sergeant Wes Bryant (US Air Force Ret) share a preview. Master Sergeant Wes Bryant Major General Dana Pittard Dana is a highly decorated combat leader who was [...]

Air Force Para Rescue is widely recognized as the best in the world at what they do.  However, they are perhaps the least well known of our elite Special Forces.  There are only about 500 “PJ’s” in the entire Air Force compared to more than 5,000 Navy SEALs and 10,000 Green Berets.  Para Rescue training is one of the longest Special Forces training courses in the world and has an attrition rate of over 85 percent. Lt. Colonel Blake George [...]