Artist Paints the National Anthem
The Adventures of Duncan Hunter
Monday, October 24, 2016
Thursday, October 13, 2016
A little more Feedback....
Some other feedback I've received (from multiple sources) centered around a lack of explicit sex scenes. Sex between Duncan and Nazy. There's "enough" nudity and off-screen sex, and whatever is there, is there for a reason. I don't see the need to go "there." There's too many other things happening to wander off on some X-rated chapter. Though I had such a scene in Special Access but it was erased during editing. Before Duncan met Nazy, he played in a racquetball tournament, wandered over to the local chiropractor for a massage, and the masseuse "took advantage of Duncan" while he was sleeping on his belly on the table. She really did like his ass. Apparently.
During an earlier post I said I'm trying to be as "real world" as possible, and that there is "a little something extra" for those "in the know." I find it useful to add a little aviation history or intelligence community history or special operations history, give them a twist, to start or add to the narrative. Many of the scenes are accurate. Some of the players are real. In No Need to Know, readers are introduced to Pete Ortiz, Marine Captain, working for the Office of Strategic Services, the precursor to the CIA. He was a real guy. The scene where he forces a handful of Nazis to drink toasts is supposed to be "very historically accurate." I added the briefcase and its contents. The point I wanted to convey is that Greg Lynche, the DCI, told Duncan he didn't know Pete Ortiz. But the wily Lynche knew Ortiz was the most highly decorated member of the OSS. His decorations included two Navy Crosses, the Legion of Merit, the Order of the British Empire, and five Croix de Guerre. He also was made a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur by the French.
When Colonel Peter Ortiz was laid to rest, a large French delegation honored him (I recall a hundred Frenchmen from the war and other French politicians) as he was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery. It was noteworthy that the delegation was the largest of its kind for a "non-presidential" level death. He was a Marine and like my Bill McGee character, was a real man, a manly man, not a pajama boy or a girlie man. He was one of the last of his kind. A swashbuckler and a patriot. And in the book, Duncan Hunter as an F-4 pilot flew with his son. Another real patriot, a chip off the old block.
Maverick out!
Some other feedback I've received (from multiple sources) centered around a lack of explicit sex scenes. Sex between Duncan and Nazy. There's "enough" nudity and off-screen sex, and whatever is there, is there for a reason. I don't see the need to go "there." There's too many other things happening to wander off on some X-rated chapter. Though I had such a scene in Special Access but it was erased during editing. Before Duncan met Nazy, he played in a racquetball tournament, wandered over to the local chiropractor for a massage, and the masseuse "took advantage of Duncan" while he was sleeping on his belly on the table. She really did like his ass. Apparently.
During an earlier post I said I'm trying to be as "real world" as possible, and that there is "a little something extra" for those "in the know." I find it useful to add a little aviation history or intelligence community history or special operations history, give them a twist, to start or add to the narrative. Many of the scenes are accurate. Some of the players are real. In No Need to Know, readers are introduced to Pete Ortiz, Marine Captain, working for the Office of Strategic Services, the precursor to the CIA. He was a real guy. The scene where he forces a handful of Nazis to drink toasts is supposed to be "very historically accurate." I added the briefcase and its contents. The point I wanted to convey is that Greg Lynche, the DCI, told Duncan he didn't know Pete Ortiz. But the wily Lynche knew Ortiz was the most highly decorated member of the OSS. His decorations included two Navy Crosses, the Legion of Merit, the Order of the British Empire, and five Croix de Guerre. He also was made a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur by the French.
When Colonel Peter Ortiz was laid to rest, a large French delegation honored him (I recall a hundred Frenchmen from the war and other French politicians) as he was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery. It was noteworthy that the delegation was the largest of its kind for a "non-presidential" level death. He was a Marine and like my Bill McGee character, was a real man, a manly man, not a pajama boy or a girlie man. He was one of the last of his kind. A swashbuckler and a patriot. And in the book, Duncan Hunter as an F-4 pilot flew with his son. Another real patriot, a chip off the old block.
Maverick out!
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
A little Feedback
I've received several quick "book reviews" via Amazon following the release of No Need to Know. You have to love, "Need to Know" is a "Yes Need to Read!" as well as "A page turner from start to finish." Please know "thank you" for the five star ratings and kind words.
After reading Special Access, one of my friends (who is also a very successful businessman who runs a top aviation company) commented that the book and the use of quiet airplanes was "a business case." I suppose that was the MBA in me coming out. But the observation is probably valid, too. Maybe I wasn't as subtle as I tried to be. I'm trying to convey that my books are "real world" as possible and not just a story with characters and plots and such. But there is "a little something extra" for those "in the know."
Those in "the business" know of the CIA's history when it comes to manned airplanes. Gary Powers gets shot down over the USSR and the intelligence gathering paradigm shifted overnight. Manned aircraft over hostile territory was instantly deemed "not acceptable." Thus the Powers incident provided a major spark for the CIA to develop unmanned surveillance aircraft when satellites weren't a very good solution either. Only makes sense. This is not a secret.
In the beginning, the Hunter & Lynche team "provide a stopgap" for the intelligence community until such time they are able to develop a more robust unmanned capability. So long as they are working on that solution, the YO-3A and Hunter have work to do. And because of the success of the YO-3A manned flights, the new President in my book has some other ideas on finding and eliminating terrorists before they can turn into the next bin Laden.
And I get a little feedback on my blog. This one was in response to the UAV topic: "I loved your post on what UAVs are and what they aren’t. Too true. I laughed out loud. It’s hard to explain the nuances to a neophyte in 140 characters." Again, the causal reader may not get the nuances on what UAVs are and what they aren’t but the big brain guys that fly (or flew) high performance aircraft or even fly unmanned systems as a remote pilot know of the (obvious) limitations of the aircraft. This is not a secret either. Some aircraft are perfectly suited for specific mission; other aircraft are often "shoehorned" into trying to make a program work. Such is the problem with the Customs and Border Protection Guardian unmanned aircraft, purchased to patrol the border. They are so effective they increased the cost of "air assistance" when detecting and apprehending an illegal alien from a couple of Hamiltons per illegal alien to a few 1934 Salmon P. Chases, per illegal alien.
Yes, that is a sarcasm.
Maverick out!
I've received several quick "book reviews" via Amazon following the release of No Need to Know. You have to love, "Need to Know" is a "Yes Need to Read!" as well as "A page turner from start to finish." Please know "thank you" for the five star ratings and kind words.
After reading Special Access, one of my friends (who is also a very successful businessman who runs a top aviation company) commented that the book and the use of quiet airplanes was "a business case." I suppose that was the MBA in me coming out. But the observation is probably valid, too. Maybe I wasn't as subtle as I tried to be. I'm trying to convey that my books are "real world" as possible and not just a story with characters and plots and such. But there is "a little something extra" for those "in the know."
Those in "the business" know of the CIA's history when it comes to manned airplanes. Gary Powers gets shot down over the USSR and the intelligence gathering paradigm shifted overnight. Manned aircraft over hostile territory was instantly deemed "not acceptable." Thus the Powers incident provided a major spark for the CIA to develop unmanned surveillance aircraft when satellites weren't a very good solution either. Only makes sense. This is not a secret.
In the beginning, the Hunter & Lynche team "provide a stopgap" for the intelligence community until such time they are able to develop a more robust unmanned capability. So long as they are working on that solution, the YO-3A and Hunter have work to do. And because of the success of the YO-3A manned flights, the new President in my book has some other ideas on finding and eliminating terrorists before they can turn into the next bin Laden.
And I get a little feedback on my blog. This one was in response to the UAV topic: "I loved your post on what UAVs are and what they aren’t. Too true. I laughed out loud. It’s hard to explain the nuances to a neophyte in 140 characters." Again, the causal reader may not get the nuances on what UAVs are and what they aren’t but the big brain guys that fly (or flew) high performance aircraft or even fly unmanned systems as a remote pilot know of the (obvious) limitations of the aircraft. This is not a secret either. Some aircraft are perfectly suited for specific mission; other aircraft are often "shoehorned" into trying to make a program work. Such is the problem with the Customs and Border Protection Guardian unmanned aircraft, purchased to patrol the border. They are so effective they increased the cost of "air assistance" when detecting and apprehending an illegal alien from a couple of Hamiltons per illegal alien to a few 1934 Salmon P. Chases, per illegal alien.
Yes, that is a sarcasm.
Maverick out!
Tuesday, October 11, 2016
The New President of the United States
President Javier Hernandez is the President in the Duncan Hunter books. He rose through the Congressional ranks to become Speaker of the House. If his election as Speaker took Washington DC by surprise, no one was more surprised when he woke up one morning to find out he would be sworn in as President. He had been just a good old Spanish-speaking Texas boy in black alligator boots. He won a congressional seat as a Republican. The district had been safely in democratic hands for two generations. He attended Yale Law School and joined the Young Republicans, giving liberals fits for being a Republican Hispanic. A mark that he was an exceptional attorney with an exceptional mind, he clerked for a Supreme Court Justice and tried hundreds of cases as a city prosecutor in San Antonio.
But his real passion was politics, conservative politics. Before he ran for office, he was featured frequently on the local television station as a photogenic "legal" news personality. Hernandez turned heads and became an overnight sensation as a no-nonsense guy who was pro-gun, pro-military, and was hard on criminals. As a congressman for the 23rd District, he reversed decades of democratic malfeasance and political sabotage, and fought for more manpower, facilities and equipment for the U.S. Border Patrol and U.S. Customs to do their job.
Several re-elections later Hernandez became the first Latin-American Speaker of the House; less than a year later he was President of the United States of America. He was POTUS with an agenda—-he would protect Americans wherever they were. And he would send out the nation's best warriors to kill or neutralize terrorists before they could turn into the next Osama bin Laden.
For President Hernandez, killing master terrorists was personal. He lost his baby sister when someone shot down a TWA 747 off the coast of Long Island. The democratic administration covered up the surface-to-air missile attack on the commercial jet and thus, provided the spark--more of a red star cluster--for him to go into politics. On Inauguration Day, as President, he vowed he would make amends and take the fight to the terrorists wherever they lurked and hid. He just had to assemble the right team. He had an idea who could do the work, beginning with one of his constituents, Duncan Hunter.
With Duncan Hunter, Nazy Cunningham, Greg Lynche, Bill McGee, and Hunter's YO-3A, President Javier Hernandez now had his team.
Maverick out!
President Javier Hernandez is the President in the Duncan Hunter books. He rose through the Congressional ranks to become Speaker of the House. If his election as Speaker took Washington DC by surprise, no one was more surprised when he woke up one morning to find out he would be sworn in as President. He had been just a good old Spanish-speaking Texas boy in black alligator boots. He won a congressional seat as a Republican. The district had been safely in democratic hands for two generations. He attended Yale Law School and joined the Young Republicans, giving liberals fits for being a Republican Hispanic. A mark that he was an exceptional attorney with an exceptional mind, he clerked for a Supreme Court Justice and tried hundreds of cases as a city prosecutor in San Antonio.
But his real passion was politics, conservative politics. Before he ran for office, he was featured frequently on the local television station as a photogenic "legal" news personality. Hernandez turned heads and became an overnight sensation as a no-nonsense guy who was pro-gun, pro-military, and was hard on criminals. As a congressman for the 23rd District, he reversed decades of democratic malfeasance and political sabotage, and fought for more manpower, facilities and equipment for the U.S. Border Patrol and U.S. Customs to do their job.
Several re-elections later Hernandez became the first Latin-American Speaker of the House; less than a year later he was President of the United States of America. He was POTUS with an agenda—-he would protect Americans wherever they were. And he would send out the nation's best warriors to kill or neutralize terrorists before they could turn into the next Osama bin Laden.
For President Hernandez, killing master terrorists was personal. He lost his baby sister when someone shot down a TWA 747 off the coast of Long Island. The democratic administration covered up the surface-to-air missile attack on the commercial jet and thus, provided the spark--more of a red star cluster--for him to go into politics. On Inauguration Day, as President, he vowed he would make amends and take the fight to the terrorists wherever they lurked and hid. He just had to assemble the right team. He had an idea who could do the work, beginning with one of his constituents, Duncan Hunter.
With Duncan Hunter, Nazy Cunningham, Greg Lynche, Bill McGee, and Hunter's YO-3A, President Javier Hernandez now had his team.
Maverick out!
Monday, October 10, 2016
The Former President of the United States
An hour before midnight, on June 30, 2011, the former President boarded Air Force One for Hawaii. He resigned his office in advance of getting impeached for fraud--he claimed he was one person however a thick CIA file proved he was someone else. A constitutional crisis erupted in America as hundreds of classified and confidential documents spanning the five decades of the President’s life were released to several law-enforcement agencies, a hundred members of Congress, and 100 newspapers and TV stations across the country. Duncan Hunter released the file, a la Eric Snowden. These documents outlined the President’s Muslim roots and also provided a comprehensive list of bogus or counterfeit documents which had been used to establish his American identity. Not surprisingly, based on the former President's actions when he was in office, the intelligence services of Great Britain and Israel validated the documents in the released file as authentic. That is the "world," the backdrop for the Duncan Hunter books.
Unlike Snowden, no one ever claimed responsibility for the release of the President’s CIA file. Senior liberal Democrats have been in an uproar over the release of the documents, seemingly indifferent to the fact that the head of their party was not only, in the technical sense, an illegal alien, a communist, and a Muslim, but one who consorted with the world’s worst terrorists while holding a British passport. The DNC Chairwoman accused the FBI of dragging their feet investigating the identity of the person who released the file. Again, that is the "world," the backdrop for the Duncan Hunter books.
The message, the lesson learned was the CIA file's documents painted a picture of a coordinated effort that senior media executives were likely responsible for not subjecting the candidate to the normal vetting process expected of a Presidential candidate. The Presidential candidate took full advantage of a complicit press who only reported favorably for the Democratic candidate while the Republican candidate suffered under a withering and aggressive media assault. Of course, a critical review of the released file revealed extensive and unprecedented collaboration between remnants of the former Soviet Union, Islamists groups operating in the Middle East, and several senior Democratic Party members.
He's quite a character. And when he's gone, some actual counterterrorism missions can be conducted. The key piece of the Duncan Hunter books is that the former president wasn't interested in pursuing terrorists. By contrast, the new president is very aggressive.
Maverick out!
An hour before midnight, on June 30, 2011, the former President boarded Air Force One for Hawaii. He resigned his office in advance of getting impeached for fraud--he claimed he was one person however a thick CIA file proved he was someone else. A constitutional crisis erupted in America as hundreds of classified and confidential documents spanning the five decades of the President’s life were released to several law-enforcement agencies, a hundred members of Congress, and 100 newspapers and TV stations across the country. Duncan Hunter released the file, a la Eric Snowden. These documents outlined the President’s Muslim roots and also provided a comprehensive list of bogus or counterfeit documents which had been used to establish his American identity. Not surprisingly, based on the former President's actions when he was in office, the intelligence services of Great Britain and Israel validated the documents in the released file as authentic. That is the "world," the backdrop for the Duncan Hunter books.
Unlike Snowden, no one ever claimed responsibility for the release of the President’s CIA file. Senior liberal Democrats have been in an uproar over the release of the documents, seemingly indifferent to the fact that the head of their party was not only, in the technical sense, an illegal alien, a communist, and a Muslim, but one who consorted with the world’s worst terrorists while holding a British passport. The DNC Chairwoman accused the FBI of dragging their feet investigating the identity of the person who released the file. Again, that is the "world," the backdrop for the Duncan Hunter books.
The message, the lesson learned was the CIA file's documents painted a picture of a coordinated effort that senior media executives were likely responsible for not subjecting the candidate to the normal vetting process expected of a Presidential candidate. The Presidential candidate took full advantage of a complicit press who only reported favorably for the Democratic candidate while the Republican candidate suffered under a withering and aggressive media assault. Of course, a critical review of the released file revealed extensive and unprecedented collaboration between remnants of the former Soviet Union, Islamists groups operating in the Middle East, and several senior Democratic Party members.
He's quite a character. And when he's gone, some actual counterterrorism missions can be conducted. The key piece of the Duncan Hunter books is that the former president wasn't interested in pursuing terrorists. By contrast, the new president is very aggressive.
Maverick out!
Sunday, October 9, 2016
A Word about Unmanned Aerial Systems....
Those in the business know there are inherent problems with unmanned systems. (Amazon will find out the hard way too.) When we hear about them used in combat, the media will usually report a missile took out a terrorist and that it was launched from a drone, an unmanned system. It is the proverbial problem that when you are a hammer, everything is a nail. In the world of unmanned systems, when you're a sledgehammer, everything is a huge railroad spike. There is no "in between." The media usually glosses over reports about civilian casualties when a missile is launched against a target. Duncan Hunter is no fan of unmanned systems, not because they would put him out of the terrorist killing business, but because when they're used indiscriminately innocents, women and children, get killed.
The YO-3A is everything the unmanned system is not. Better and more accurate pictures than the best high altitude optics. Think about being able to look at someone in the face rather than the top of their head. It provides more accurate intelligence. Why the YO-3A sensors can look right under the overhang, right in the window of Osama bin Laden's house when those wonderful satellites and high flying unmanned systems can only tell you what laundry is on the roof. That's the key piece of the book--when hunting the world's worst terrorists, you have to bring out the old stuff. Sometimes, the old stuff is much better than the new stuff.
The YO-3A is finesse--it can slip in and slip out of a town or a country undetected. And it is specific. When you just cannot blow up everyone you think might be a terrorist worthy of blowing up, you bring out the Yo-Yo to go in and have a "look-see." The YO-3A has the tools to take out a single problem, a single terrorist, with a single bullet. Who wouldn't want that capability? The better question is, why would the CIA director expose that unique capability? Especially when the President also has an agenda.
James Bond has little toys to escape and fight bad guys. Duncan Hunter has his manly toys to find and kill terrorists.
Maverick out!
Those in the business know there are inherent problems with unmanned systems. (Amazon will find out the hard way too.) When we hear about them used in combat, the media will usually report a missile took out a terrorist and that it was launched from a drone, an unmanned system. It is the proverbial problem that when you are a hammer, everything is a nail. In the world of unmanned systems, when you're a sledgehammer, everything is a huge railroad spike. There is no "in between." The media usually glosses over reports about civilian casualties when a missile is launched against a target. Duncan Hunter is no fan of unmanned systems, not because they would put him out of the terrorist killing business, but because when they're used indiscriminately innocents, women and children, get killed.
The YO-3A is everything the unmanned system is not. Better and more accurate pictures than the best high altitude optics. Think about being able to look at someone in the face rather than the top of their head. It provides more accurate intelligence. Why the YO-3A sensors can look right under the overhang, right in the window of Osama bin Laden's house when those wonderful satellites and high flying unmanned systems can only tell you what laundry is on the roof. That's the key piece of the book--when hunting the world's worst terrorists, you have to bring out the old stuff. Sometimes, the old stuff is much better than the new stuff.
The YO-3A is finesse--it can slip in and slip out of a town or a country undetected. And it is specific. When you just cannot blow up everyone you think might be a terrorist worthy of blowing up, you bring out the Yo-Yo to go in and have a "look-see." The YO-3A has the tools to take out a single problem, a single terrorist, with a single bullet. Who wouldn't want that capability? The better question is, why would the CIA director expose that unique capability? Especially when the President also has an agenda.
James Bond has little toys to escape and fight bad guys. Duncan Hunter has his manly toys to find and kill terrorists.
Maverick out!
Saturday, October 8, 2016
The amazing YO-3A
Duncan Hunter uses a "quiet aircraft" to perform the CIA's most difficult counter-narcotics and counter-terrorism missions. I introduced the remarkable YO-3A in Special Access and it anchors the other Duncan Hunter books. In fact, the YO-3A (affectionately called the Yo-Yo) is what separates the Hunter books from other novels. Duncan Hunter is a contract pilot for the CIA. The Yo-Yo gets into places where other aircraft cannot. But there is more to it than that. A little history is necessary. Quiet airplanes came from a program that developed the "Quiet Thrusters." Declassified program.
The real YO-3As were built by the Lockheed Aircraft Company in 1969 for Vietnam. Many of those in uniform know of the U.S. Air Force's U-2s and SR-71s spy planes. The idea for those aircraft came out of an office at the CIA in the 1950s and 60s. They were developed at a time when manned flight over hostile territory was standard operating procedure--until Gary Powers was shot down and CIA directors vowed to "never again" put a man in an airplane to fly over the USSR or China. Basically, the CIA's spy plane program was killed off and those assets and missions were transferred to the Air Force, they became the beneficiary of the spy plane technology that Lockheed built.
Check out the Quiet Aircraft Association website: www.YO-3A.com
Maverick out!
Duncan Hunter uses a "quiet aircraft" to perform the CIA's most difficult counter-narcotics and counter-terrorism missions. I introduced the remarkable YO-3A in Special Access and it anchors the other Duncan Hunter books. In fact, the YO-3A (affectionately called the Yo-Yo) is what separates the Hunter books from other novels. Duncan Hunter is a contract pilot for the CIA. The Yo-Yo gets into places where other aircraft cannot. But there is more to it than that. A little history is necessary. Quiet airplanes came from a program that developed the "Quiet Thrusters." Declassified program.
The real YO-3As were built by the Lockheed Aircraft Company in 1969 for Vietnam. Many of those in uniform know of the U.S. Air Force's U-2s and SR-71s spy planes. The idea for those aircraft came out of an office at the CIA in the 1950s and 60s. They were developed at a time when manned flight over hostile territory was standard operating procedure--until Gary Powers was shot down and CIA directors vowed to "never again" put a man in an airplane to fly over the USSR or China. Basically, the CIA's spy plane program was killed off and those assets and missions were transferred to the Air Force, they became the beneficiary of the spy plane technology that Lockheed built.
Check out the Quiet Aircraft Association website: www.YO-3A.com
Maverick out!
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