Hogs in the Sand: A Gulf War A-10 Pilot's Combat Journal

In this book, author and pilot Buck Wyndham has captured what it's like flying the A-10 to perfection. He takes you along with him on his complete journey of flying the A-10 into war, as he details each of his missions. From the beginning to the end of Gulf War Number One, Buck covers it all...... the preparation and deployment phase called Desert Shield, and then the high intensity aerial combat which ensued in Operation Desert Storm.... and even the calm after the Storm, with time for thoughtful introspection, and then the eventual post-war flight flying an A-10 back to his home base at RAF Alconbury UK.A single-seat attack fighter fielded in the mid-1970's, the A-10 is known officially as the Thunderbolt II, but it is much better known and loved by its pilots, maintainers, and weapons loaders as the "Warthog".... or simply the "Hog". Thus the title of Buck's book. Whether describing the art of making successful weapons delivery passes in the Hog, or the teeth-clenching concentration required to dodge enemy anti-aircraft-artillery bursts and defeat surface-to-air missiles arcing toward his aircraft, Buck puts the reader right there in the cockpit alongside him.William Smallwood wrote a very good book about the A-10 experience in the first Gulf War, published in 1993. That book, titled Warthog, is a product of a professional writer who did extensive research and interviewed many A-10 pilots after the war. It is a great history-book-look at all seven of the A-10 squadrons that fought in the Storm. But as good as that book is, Smallwood was never personally in an A-10 cockpit actually flying the airplane. Buck Wyndham was most definitely in that cockpit, personally flying the airplane! He was a young A-10 wingman, experiencing combat early on during his first operational assignment in the Air Force.Thus the focus in Buck's book is an in-depth, very personal look at how one individual young fighter pilot faced the rigors of war. You'll also feel the camaraderie and see the inner workings of a single squadron, the 511th TFS, as they supported each other and fought their way through the Storm.Buck has written what I'm sure will become a definitive book about the fine details of flying the Warthog in Gulf War One.... sortie by sortie, mission by mission, from the first combat flight in Desert Storm to the last one.Pilots who have flown the Warthog often say it is the "Last of the honest stick-and-rudder fighters in the US Air Force". This book reviewer can state that having flown the A-10 myself, some 1,500 flying hours worth, I second that motion. It's the best airplane I flew during a 24-year military career. As a now long-retired AF pilot, with some 3,500 military flying hours in total, I can also vouch that Buck's book is the "real McCoy". He has been-there and done-that.If you have any interest in aviation, military or civilian, I predict you'll like Buck's book --- and it will become a keeper on the shelf of your personal aviation library. BF

If you have any interest in what it’s like for a real, honest-to-goodness normal guy to find himself in the middle of a desert war as a modern-day Air Force fighter pilot, you should read this book.Buck Wyndham takes you through his time overseas as USAF A-10 pilot, beginning with his deployment at a base in England, and then how he and his squadron mates ended up in a tent on a brand new airbase in the middle of the Saudi desert, helping to force Saddam Hussein’s army out of Kuwait, first in Desert Shield, and then as a part of the awesome operation we know as Desert Storm.Buck kept a daily journal during his time in the desert, as well as what life was like for him and his fellow pilots. He turned that journal into this book, in order to share the experience with those of us who have never done anything close to what they did.In the interest of full disclosure, I’ve known Buck Wyndham as a friend, neighbor, and fellow airline pilot for nearly 20 years. But although I knew he was a “Hog driver” in his prior life, I didn’t know about that part of his story, because Buck just isn’t the type to brag about being a warrior. But I bought this book, Buck didn’t ask me to read it.As someone who almost went that route in my own career, but was just a little too young to fly in Vietnam, I was fascinated to read the details of what it was like to be right in the middle of the fray. The excitement, the boredom, the fatigue, the elation, the disappointment, the uncertainty, the frustration, and the pride, of being an integral part of such a huge endeavor.After reading this book, I really feel like I know a little more about what their lives and experiences were like, and what it meant to be a “normal” guy finding himself in the middle of something so abnormal as a war.Buck does a really good job of describing his experiences, from the day-to-day grind to his almost poetic descriptions of the pure joy of flight, things that people who haven’t participated in them can’t otherwise hope to understand. This book will help with that. It isn’t just the usual chest-beating fighter pilot “I’m better than you” fare one usually finds. It’s the story of real people, in an almost unreal situation, and how they reconcile themselves to it.Get this book. It’s a great, engaging, exciting read. When I finished it, I texted Buck to tell him how was disappointed that there wasn’t more of it to read. I can’t wait for his next book.

Take a ride in the infamous Hawg during Op Desert Storm. The story of one A-10 pilot deployed during the war on Saddam Hussein. Laugh, cry, and taste the grit.

Cheers for your story Buck! Absolutely loved the book, best in its class. I only really read aviation based books nowadays, but, I will say I think this is my favourite. Showing detail into your professional aviation life and combining that with the real emotion you felt was what changed it for me. Absolutely saved me during my COVID 14 day at home isolation. Nothing better than a drink and your book in the South Australian sun!

Well written and interesting story. A very quick and interesting read and loaded with fascinating detail. Highly recommended for any reader interested in military biography.

An amazingly detailed account of flying and living in a war zone. Excellent details of the action, flying the airplane and the emotions generated by the severity of war. A sprinkling of romance and the human feelings woven into everyday life in the squadron. An outstanding narrative.

A journal that flows well and envelops you in the scene of a young man experiencing war on the front line. Thoroughly engrossing and fast moving.