Bandits Over Baghdad: Personal Stories of Flying the F-117 over Iraq

Flight Journal, Aug 2002 by DeGroat, Robert S

Bandits Over Baghdad: Personal Stories of Flying the F-117 over Iraq by Warren E. Thompson. Specialty Press, 11605 Kost Dam Rd., North Branch, MN 55056; www.specialtypress.com. 200 pages; 118 b&w and 30 color photographs; $24.95.

It is neither very fast nor particularly sleek looking, but it certainly is cool. It is unarmed, it can carry two precision munitions, and, for all practical purposes, it is invisible during its usual night operations. Granted, the Lockheed Martin F-117 Nighthawk, aka "stealth fighter," has had its detractors through the years, although the only opinions that should count are from those who flew it over Iraq during the 1991 Gulf War. That their confidence in the aircraft actually grew during Operation Desert Storm says much for its capabilities. This book details the experiences of a small, select group of American pilots who helped to develop the tactics and procedures for true precision bombing, all at night.

Author Warren Thompson has crafted the wartime experiences of strike leaders, pilots and mission planners into the terrific book "Bandits Over Baghdad." The nightly stealth missions punctuated by Triple-A and SAM interruptions are of particular interest, considering that not a single F-117 was lost during the operation. Letting the pilots tell their own stories is key here, and it makes for a tremendously fast-paced ride inside the normally closed world of American stealth operations. Accounts of evading enemy aircraft, startling secondary explosions, multiple target selections and photos-many from personal collections-leave readers with vivid pictures of the time. The book gives an interesting peek into an environment that most aviation enthusiasts will never know firsthand. It's fascinating reading that's hard to put down.