Hornets Over Kuwait

by Jay A. Stout

Already a classic, this book is the brash, unbridled and politically incorrect account of a Marine fighter pilot's actions during Operation DESERT STORM. Impetuosity aside, Stout's account reads real... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1557508356
• ISBN13: 9781557508355
• Release Date: May 1997
• Publisher: US Naval Institute Press
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.3" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

A very entertaining book about the Gulf War

From my point of view, this is a very entertaining book about the Gulf War. The author share with us the life at the battle field on the gorund & up in the air flying. The author said all about what he & his team mates do when not flying any mission & this was really entertaining & fun. Further more, the most interesting part is about the missions that the author flew which most of them are bombing mission & telling us the danger that they faced & the enjoyment after hitting their targets. Actually, this book is just like the dairy of the author, telling us everything he had been doing during the Gulf War. Although there isn't any air to air combat, it's still very interesting because of the amazing bombing missions that he & his team mates flew together. Further more, they were using the FLIR(Forward looking infra-red) pod to find there targets in the dark. The author is flying the F/A-18A Hornet from VMFA-451 Worlords at that time. They were also join by others Marines fighter squadrons too & have been working together during the war. Surprisingly, the Marines perform more strike missions than the Navy did & that's very impressing. I may have said a lot of interesting stuff but you'll have to read it to find out for yourself & I'm sure whoever bought this book will enjoy it a lot, just like I did. You just got to read this book & that's all I can say.

An easy read, on the F18.

Its not a pretentious book, and its not a complete history of the region, but it gives a good feel for the problems and solutions faced by the F18 Hornets during the Gulf War. It illustrates everything that has to go on, to make the package work. Very good on tactics.

Marine Corps FA-18 pilot's story of the Gulf War

Don't turn to Hornets Over Kuwait for enlightenment on the "grand strategy" of the Gulf War; none is forthcoming--nor should it be. This is a is a first-person memoir of the war from the cockpit and the author's perspective is only as wide as his FA-18's windscreen. It's a lively narrative history told in the patois of the fighter pilot. The author, a USMC Captain at the time of the war, is not a dispassionate observer. Rather, he brings genuine enthusiasm to his story; enthusiasm for the Hornet, for Marine Corps aviation, and for his comrades-in-arms. He does, however, display the junior officer's typically irreverent attitude toward superiors and "the system." In the midst of his tale, he makes brief "detours" to take pot shots at the Navy, the Air Force, two-seat FA-18s, Harriers, women in the military, and assorted "boobs and doofs." His ebullience for the Hornet is understandable--like a cowboy's love of his horse--but his analysis of the Hornet's efficacy in delivering "dumb" bombs accurately in a modern high-threat environment should be balanced with less passionate opinion. The author can be forgiven his bursts of enthusiasm for as Winston Churchill once said "There is nothing so exhilarating in life as to be shot at without effect." Turn to other books for strategic analysis of the Gulf War air campaign, but read this one to get the view from the cockpit.