Air Commando: Inside the Air Force Special Operations Command

I found a new level of respect for the bravery, courage, and daring of U.S. pilots who have supported special operations over the years. I never had any idea how heroic many of these men are and were. Never again will I look at the U.S. Air Force as a rear echelon service.

Phil Chinnery is a people person who goes to those who have been 'in harms way' for his books. He talks and more importantly, listens to the person relating their story to him. He isn't just writing a book, he is documenting, often for the first (and possibly last time due to age) time a living historical account of military 'black ops'. The Free Tibet movement isn't as new as some may think. USAF special ops types were flying missions into Tibet in the 50s & 60s. And there are more accounts of little known quirks of national policy than some can believe. For me, Phil's book has personal meaning. His account of what happened on the night of 24-25 April 1980, at Desert One Iran, helped me to get past the trauma of that night. I was a loadmaster on the tanker that was hit by the helo and exploded and his account opened old wounds and helped to heal. For that, I rate his book '5 Stars'! Thank you Phil...

" Any Time, Any Place" is a comprehensive account of the aircrews and aircraft that have provided special operations air support for the last fifty years. Though special operations aviation has been a relatively obscure part of the U.S. military establishment, Chinnery does a good job describing both the well-known missions (Son Tay, Desert One) as well as the more obscure ones (Operation Thursday, Operation Eager Anvil). The only criticism I have of "Any Time, Any Place" is the rather dry tone with which the author presents the stories. As a current helo pilot in AFSOC, I can assure any reader that the truth behind these missions is far more entertaining (and informative) than any bland recounting of dates and names. For those readers looking for more accounts of Air Force Special Operations, I suggest "From a Dark Sky" by Orr Kelly and "The Guts to Try" by Jim Kyle.