Officers in Flight Suits

Book excerpt: The United States Air Force fought as a truly independent service for the first time during the Korean War. As a result, the fighter pilots reigned supreme. In Korea, American air power was challenged by the most advanced fighter of the time -- the Soviet MiG-15 -- and ruled the skies in many celebrated aerial battles. In addition, however, they destroyed virtually every major town and city in North Korea, demolished its entire crop irrigation system, and killed close to one million civilians. Korea, then, is the perfect laboratory for studying the culture of fighter pilots, a culture based on self-confidence and risk-taking, one which has promoted what John Darrell Sherwood calls "flight suit attitude." In Officers in Flight Suits, Sherwood explores the flight suit officer's life, drawing on memoirs, diaries, letters, novels, unit records, and personal papers as well as interviews with over fifty veterans who served in the Air Force in Korea. From their training to dramatic encounters during battle, from their socio-economic backgrounds to the flight suit culture they developed, Sherwood investigates every dimension of these pilots' lives. The book provides an illuminating portrait of fighter pilot culture, demonstrating how this culture affected their performance in battle and their attitudes toward others, particularly women, in their off-duty activities - Jacket flap.