030731 - THE F-100 UNITS OF USAFE

By Doug Gordon

• Explores in depth the collective mindset of the F-100 pilots who knew they had little or no hope of survival if called upon to carry out their mission
  
• Includes a detailed analysis of the F-100 Super Sabre units’ role in USAFE, placing the human story of the pilots in its political and military context
  
• Illustrated with over 275 rare photographs, many previously unpublished

The North American F-100 Super Sabre served with the United States Air Forces in Europe for a total of sixteen years at the height of the Cold War.

The primary mission of the USAFE units that flew the ‘Hun’ was the delivery of tactical nuclear weapons on targets in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. The nuclear mission was practised on the gunnery ranges of Europe, the Mediterranean region, and North Africa.

The pilots, called bomb commanders, sat alert all over Europe to take off at a moment’s notice and fly alone into the heart of enemy territory carrying just one atomic bomb often more powerful than those dropped on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of the Second World War.

These dedicated pilots acknowledged that many of their targets were situated so far away that there would be no prospect of return to their home base and their families and friends.

The secondary mission of the USAFE F-100 units was to prepare for conventional war. Illustrated with over 275 images, Gordon’s detailed analysis of the F-100 Super Sabre units’ role in the USAFE is vital for all readers interested in the history of this significant aircraft.

Drawing on the private correspondence of the pilots, this book offers a unique and fascinating insight into the reality of the Cold War for those at its sharp end.