Sound like hell indeed :(

I have a book on my nightstand that I still haven't started, it's called The Hunter Killers, about the first wild weasels in Vietnam. Do you know about it? Any thoughts?

https://www.amazon.com/Hunter-Killers-Extraordinary-Maverick-Dangerous/dp/0062375121

Haven't been reading any deep strategic stuff lately, I recently finished Flak in World War II. It's a fairly light read, but I haven't seen too many books specifically focusing in on WW2 era air defense.

Speaking of air defense, or more specifically defeating air defense. I found The Hunter Killers to be a great read. It's about the development of the first "Wild Weasels" in Vietnam.

For those interested in the IED/Counter-IED aspect of insurgencies IRA: The Bombs and the Bullets is a must read IMHO. It's a history of the tools/technology and tactics used on both sides of the conflict in Northern Ireland, and it does an amazing job of breaking down the technical aspects in a way that the average person can understand.

For those interested in mercenary operations, Four Ball, One Tracer is a really cool read by a senior officer from the merc outfit "Executive Outcomes" who fought in Sierra Leone and Angola.

And I'll just throw the last four in together. All are WW2 accounts of early EOD techs (then known as Bomb Disposal). WW2 was the first time that unexploded ordnance, primarily bombs and naval mines, became a big enough problem that dedicated units were trained and organized to deal with them and modern EOD directly descends from that. If you're interested in where modern EOD got its start, these are some good reads.


Captains of Bomb Disposal 1942-1946. Covers US Bomb Disposal units in the ETO.

Courage Beyond Duty: Stories of Courage from Allied Bomb Disposal Operatives

Disarming Hitler’s V Weapons: Bomb Disposal - The V1 & V2 Rockets. The EOD side of dealing with V1s and V2s, pretty good read.

All Mine, Memoirs of a Naval Bomb & Mine Disposal Officer.

After loads of reading on the bus to work every day, here follows my reading list for military aviation:

Modern

• Viper Pilot - memoir of an F-16 Wild Weasel pilot who flew in both Iraq Wars
  
• A Nightmare's Prayer - memoir of a Marine Harrier Pilot flying out of Bagram.
  
• Warthog - Story of the A-10C pilots and their many varied missions in Desert Storm
  
• Hornets over Kuwait - Memoir of a Marine F/A-18 pilot during Desert Storm
  
• Strike Eagle - Story of the brand new F-15C Strike Eagle pilots and their time in Desert Storm
  
  

  Vietnam
  

• The Hunter Killers - look at the very first Wild Weasels, their inception, early development, successes, and failures
  
• Low Level Hell - memoir of an OH-6 Air Cav pilot
  
  

  WWII
  

• Unsung Eagles - various snapshots of the less well-known but arguably more impactful pilots and their missions during WWII (pilot who flew channel rescue in a P-47, morale demonstration pilot, etc.)
  
• Stuka Pilot - memoir of the most prolific aviator of Nazi Germany (and an unapologetic Nazi) who killed hundreds of tanks with his cannon-armed Stuka
  
• The First Team - more academic historical look at the first US Naval Aviators in WWII
  
  
  

  Overall/Other
  

• Skunk Works - memoir of Ben Rich, head of Lockeed's top secret internal firm and his time working on the U-2, SR-71, and F-117 including anecdotes from pilots of all 3 and accounts of these remarkable planes' exploits.
  
• Lords of the Sky - ambitious attempt to chronicle the rise and evolution of the "fighter pilot" from WWI to the modern day
  
• Red Eagles: America's Secret MiGs - the story of the long-top secret group of pilots who evaluated and flew captured Soviet aircraft against US pilots to train them against these unknown foes.
  
• Blind Man's Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage - story of the US submarine fleet starting at the outbreak of the Cold War and their exploits
  
  
  
  

  Bonus non-military aviation
  

  I highly second the recommendations of Snow Crash, Cryptonomicon, and Diamond Age. I would also recommend:
  
  

• Neuromancer - defined the cyberpunk genre
  
• Ghost in the Wires - memoir of prolific hacker Kevin Mitnick
  
• Starship Troopers - nothing like the movie
  
• The Martian - fantastic read
  
• Heir to the Empire - first of the Star Wars Thrawn Trilogy and the book that arguably sparked the growth of the Extended Universe of Star Wars
  
• Devil in the White City - semi-fictional (mostly non-fiction) account of a serial killer who created an entire palace to capture and kill his prey during the Chicago World's Fair
  
• Good Omens - dark comedy story of a demon and an angel trying to stop the end of the world because they like us too much
  
• American Gods - fantastic story about how the old gods still walk among us
  
• Dune - just read it
  

Not fiction, but Hunter Killers is about the jet pilots in Vietnam that let enemy radar lock onto them in order for others to locate and take them out. Pretty incredible.

Do you recall which one it was?

These are some of my favorites...

https://smile.amazon.com/Magnum-Weasels-Desert-Elimination-Defence-ebook/dp/B005D7FLL8/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1517679129&sr=1-3&keywords=wild+weasel

https://smile.amazon.com/F-105-Wild-Weasel-SA-2-Guideline-ebook/dp/B01BY34K9I/ref=sr_1_12?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1517679129&sr=1-12&keywords=wild+weasel

https://smile.amazon.com/Viper-Pilot-Memoir-Air-Combat/dp/006213034X/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=006213034X&pd_rd_r=8WMAQ52QBK32SPHVQN6S&pd_rd_w=p2r2i&pd_rd_wg=efvEa&psc=1&refRID=8WMAQ52QBK32SPHVQN6S

and this one is on my wish list...

https://smile.amazon.com/Hunter-Killers-Extraordinary-Maverick-Dangerous/dp/0062375121/ref=pd_bxgy_14_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=0062375121&pd_rd_r=0MV8ENFG0Q747QE4WRAJ&pd_rd_w=d7Byq&pd_rd_wg=NA79Y&psc=1&refRID=0MV8ENFG0Q747QE4WRAJ