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HomeShop at BookSurgeLiterary CriticismGeneralFirst Class...Or Not At All: Idaho Air National Guard 1946 1975 |
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First class Mar 01, 2010
The Idaho Air National Guard supplemented the Regular Air Force air defense of the northwest during the Cold War. William Miller has written and put together a terrific anecdotal history of the Idaho Air National Guard during the time that it had an air defense mission.
The stories are very good, from people who are among our best who flew, maintained and otherwise supported F-51s, F-86s, F-94s, F-89s and F-102s.
The circumstances of the establishment of the Idaho ANG, the setup and development of the ANG base at Gowen Field and the range at Saylor Creek, the use of closed Army air fields for early summer camps and the call up for the Korean War are all described.
First Class...Or Not At All is very complete, with many appendixes and full endnotes. There are many black and white and color photos throughout the book. Col. Miller use of colors to connect the chapters and the endnotes is innovative and works very well.
Another book about the Idaho Air National Guard is Gowen Field.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
First Class book May 24, 2009
"First Class . . . or Not At all" is a first class and enjoyable way to absorb some aviation history by way of personal stories, colorful photos and a well-organized, well-written book. A salute to Col. Bill Miller for honoring the men and women of the Idaho Air National Guard - particularly as I'm writing this on Memorial Day weekend. We thank the Guard members for serving and Bill Miller for telling us about their (and his)service and the airiplanes they maintained and flew. Well done, all the way around.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
"FIRST CLASS... OR NOT AT ALL: IDAHO AIR NATIONAL GUARD 1946-1975 May 04, 2009
A wonderful book with some great interviews and stories of actual events that occurred in the this almost twenty year time span of a great fighter squadron. Filled with beautiful pictures most people have never seen of P-51 and F-102 aircraft and people who participated in a bygone era. Highly recommend this well written, entertaining and important documentary. I salute this flying officer and all guardsmen who have devoted a good portion of their life and time to serving their country. Thank you.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
The Title says it all...."First Class" May 03, 2009
Bill Miler has done a superb job of tracing the history of the Idaho Air National Guard from its' beginning through the end of its' era as a fighter interceptor unit. A span of some 29 years.
What makes this book so great is Bills' ability to not only trace the history but to add personal anecdotes (both hair-raising and humorous) from current and former members of the Idaho Air Guard that he interviewed. Those personal stories take this book from what might be just a dull history lesson to make it "spring to life". The photos (and there are lots of them) further enhance the already rich text.
A great deal of thought and planning went into this book. I particularly like the idea of "color coding" each chapter (each chapter represents the era of a particular aircraft type). He carried that "color coding" into the bibliography and index sections. It makes it easy to navigate from chapter to chapter and cross reference to the bibliography.
ALL IN ALL, Colonel Miller has done an outstanding job in chronicling the history of the 190th Squadron and 124th Fighter Group of the Idaho Air National Guard from its' humble beginning in 1946 to its' last ADC mission with the F-102 in 1975.
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in Idaho aviation history or just airplanes in general. You won't be disappointed
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