Punk’s War (Punk I) – Ward Carroll

Rick Reichert, callsign Punk, is on deployment aboard an aircraft carrier in the Persian Gulf during the 1990s. While on hot standby for launch in an F-14, he is unexpectedly replaced in the jet by his squadron commander. As it turns out, an Iranian F-4 fighter wants to play games with the Americans, and things do not turn out well.

Mr. Carroll is a former Radar Intercept Officer (RIO) on the F-14, and has a popular YouTube channel. His depiction of life as a junior officer on a carrier is laced with gallows humour and slices of life. While there is a whiff of Top Gun, more often the characters are unwillingly caught in the politics and intrigue of higher-ups and just trying to get by. For these men, the mission is not the defense of freedom. It is simple survival, not only in the literal sense but just keeping it together in the unnatural confines of a warship, for months on end. The characters are alive, authentic, unwashed, and often hilarious. Punk and his comrades are prisoners of their situation quite far from glamorous warriors. A very insightful book on the human condition, as well as fascinating for the military aviation enthusiast.

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