After their entire fleet of F-14 Persian Tomcats had been destroyed by the United States, the Iranian government illegally purchases a squadron of F-16 “Dragon” fighter jets from Venezuela. Led by the remaining Tomcat pilot, Captain Abbas Ali, Iran deploys several fighter pilots to train in piloting its newest aircraft. The Iranians are committed to smuggling the aircraft back home to Iran via an ingenious method: deep inside the holds of enormous container ships. Will all of the aircraft make it to Iran before the United States discovers their plan?
Meanwhile at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina, the 55th Fighter Squadron “Shooters” is performing business as usual, flying sorties in their F-16 Fighting Falcons. Life on the flight line continues with the hijinks of the aircraft maintainers, as they work long hours to maintain the squadron’s jets. A newcomer joins the Shooters and causes havoc between First Lieutenant Victoria “Crusher” MacMillan and her boyfriend, Staff Sergeant Christopher Gray. Will this signal the end of their relationship?
The third novel in the Shooters Roll trilogy comes to an exciting, explosive conclusion as the Shooters are forced to confront the now Persian Dragons in a final fight to the end.
Picking up where PERSIAN TOMCATS left off, a lone F-14 Persian Tomcat of the Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force has survived the air battle and landed at a civilian airport inside Iran. Ten days later, a United States reconnaissance satellite spotted the jet fighter during a routine overflight. Upon dispatching the CIA to investigate, an alarming discovery was made. The Iranians had preserved one of the improved AIM-54 Phoenix missiles and converted it into a powerful cruise missile, capable of delivering chemical weapons to ground targets a hundred miles away.
In order to prevent an all-out war between the United States and Iran, the U.S. president must make a difficult decision to relieve Iran of its latest weapon. Since an outright strike against a civilian airport is out of the question, he orders a near-impossible covert mission. With the assistance of the CIA and SEAL Team 9, the Last Persian Tomcat will be taken from Iran and flown to safety.
Join former Persian Tomcat pilot Moein Mahmoudi, Staff Sergeant Chris Gray, and First Lieutenant Victoria “Crusher” MacMillan in a life and death race against time to prevent Iran from using the new weapon against American forces in Iraq.
My first novel, a military thriller, has been well received since it came out in March 2022.
A story about piloting and maintaining the F-16 Viper, we join First Lieutenant Victoria “Shirley” MacMillan as she completes the USAF F-16 Basic Course, becoming a full-fledged Viper Driver. She is assigned to the 55th Fighter Squadron “Shooters” at Shaw Air Force Base, where she meets Staff Sergeant Christopher Gray, an aircraft maintainer in the 55th Aircraft Maintenance Unit. The two of them play key roles in the conflict to come, attempting to stop Iran’s Persian Tomcats.
Many books on the art of leadership are written by authors who are either at the top of their careers, like the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, or are from the world of academia. Both sources of leadership and experience are extremely worthwhile and helpful to anyone studying leadership. As I progressed through my career, up from the bottom to near the top, and back to the bottom once again, I thought I could provide a useful view of leadership from my perspective: The Middle.
My view of leadership from the middle can be very valuable for you to use as you navigate through your own career. The examples I provide in this book outline the highs and lows that I have experienced through two careers; one in the U.S. Air Force, and the other in the civilian sector after having retired from the Air Force. I basically worked my way up to a position equivalent to a Senior Manager, and then started over from scratch, in an entry level position.
The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 has been extremely difficult on all of us, and those impacted to a great extent are teachers and coaches. These dedicated professionals work hard to ensure their students and players receive the educations they deserve. They do this through their application of leadership, because all teachers and coaches are leaders in the middle. The middle is where the work takes place in any organization, and all teachers and coaches are right there.
Mitch is a retired Senior Master Sergeant in the U.S. Air Force. He now writes books in his spare time.
