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Viper Pilot: The Autobiography of One of America's Most Decorated F-16 Combat Pilots

by Dan Hampton

4.0 of 5 stars 4.00 · rating details · 812 ratings · 97 reviews

151 combat missions
21 hard kills on surface-to-air-missile sites
4 Distinguished Flying Crosses with Valor
1 Purple Heart

Sure to rank as one of the greatest aviation memoirs ever written, Viper Pilot is an Air Force legend's thrilling eyewitness account of modern air warfare

From 1986 to 2006, Lt. Col. Dan Hampton was a leading member of the Wild Weasels, the elite Air Forc 151 combat missions
21 hard kills on surface-to-air-missile sites
4 Distinguished Flying Crosses with Valor
1 Purple Heart

Sure to rank as one of the greatest aviation memoirs ever written, Viper Pilot is an Air Force legend's thrilling eyewitness account of modern air warfare

From 1986 to 2006, Lt. Col. Dan Hampton was a leading member of the Wild Weasels, the elite Air Force fighter squadrons whose mission is recognized as the most dangerous job in modern air combat. Weasels are the first planes sent into a war zone, flying deep behind enemy lines purposely seeking to draw fire from surface-to-air missiles and artillery. They must skillfully evade being shot down—and then return to destroy the threats, thereby making the skies safe for everyone else to follow. Today these vital missions are more hazardous than direct air-to-air engagement with enemy aircraft. Hampton's record number of strikes on high-value targets make him the most lethal F-16 Wild Weasel pilot in American history. This is his remarkable story.

Taught to fly at an early age by his father, Hampton logged twenty years and 608 combat hours in the world's most iconic fighter jet: the F-16 "Fighting Falcon," or "Viper" as its pilots call it. Hampton spearheaded the 2003 invasion of Iraq, leading the first flight of fighters over the border en route to strike Baghdad. In the war that followed, he engaged in a series of brilliantly executed missions that earned him three Distinguished Flying Crosses with Valor; he notably saved a U.S. Marine unit from certain death by taking out the surrounding enemy forces near Nasiriyah. Two years earlier, on 9/11, Hampton's father was inside the Pentagon when it was attacked; with his dad's fate unknown, Hampton was scrambled into American skies and given the unprecedented orders to shoot down any unidentified aircraft. Hampton also flew critical missions in the first Gulf War, served on the Air Combat Command staff during the Kosovo War, and was injured in the 1996 Khobar Towers terrorist attack.

With manned missions rapidly giving way to remote-controlled UAV drones, Viper Pilot may be the last memoir by a true hero of the skies. Gripping and irreverently humorous, it is an unforgettable look into the closed world of fighter pilots and modern air combat. ...more

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Published September 1st 2012 by William Morrow & Company

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Oct 22, 2012 Cheryl rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I am a fan of aviation and military history that is focused on aviation. Thus the reason that I wanted to check this book out. I found this book very informative and Mr. Hampton has a talent for story telling. Even though what he is sharing about are real life events. He makes the reader feel like they are viewing everything though his eyes. This is what I liked so much about this book.

Reading this book I did not feel like events or information was glossed over to hide. With other military type ...more

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Dec 31, 2012 Miles rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I bought this for my 15 year old son who has a particular interest these days in books about combat and war, in Iraq and Afghanistan. For my part, the only war stories that have ever really interested me involve airplanes. So I thought I could get something we'd both like.

The story of Dan Hampton's air force career is filled with cockpit narratives of electronic warfare and aerial combat, and much discussion of training and education and career building in the air force. It's also VERY full of I bought this for my 15 year old son who has a particular interest these days in books about combat and war, in Iraq and Afghanistan. For my part, the only war stories that have ever really interested me involve airplanes. So I thought I could get something we'd both like.

The story of Dan Hampton's air force career is filled with cockpit narratives of electronic warfare and aerial combat, and much discussion of training and education and career building in the air force. It's also VERY full of Dan Hampton, because he is a fighter pilot, and there is nothing that fighter pilots are more full of than themselves. That's just the way it is with those guys - if you have a problem with it, then don't spend time with their stories. You get to be a fighter pilot by believing you are God's gift to the military and then being able to prove it in a jet, beating out many, many other similarly cocky competitors. On the way, you become a Bush admiring, Arab-trashing, loud-mouthed military guy, and when you're all done, if you write a book, you are not shy about sharing the amazingness of you with the reader.

(As a democratic socialist and anti-imperialist I choose not to reconcile my dislike of American imperialism with my interest in stories about military aviation, technology and combat. Some contradictions must remain unresolved.)

That said, the idea of whipping an F-16 through the sky, dodging missiles and attacking ground radars, is fun to imagine. I guess the problem here is that air warfare is ultimately a three dimensional art/game/fight, and rendering it in a one dimensional string of words is just hard to do well. Unless you can see the action in three dimensions, and only to that extent, it is difficult to fully assimilate the reality that is being conveyed. Hampton does an OK job in this respect but maintaining positional and situational awareness is difficult for the reader.

True, an inordinate and unnatural love of military acronyms will help. But unless you've paid attention, at least at an amateur level, to the variety of SAM types, gun types, aircraft types, and the like, the distinctions upon which the author's life, and this narrative depend, this book may seem impossibly obscure. Sad to say, I have paid attention to those details so the narrative is fully coherent to me on that level.

I doubt that my son will pick it up when I toss it on his desk, casually, so as not to suggest that I care one way or another if he reads it, and all the while secretly hoping that he does read it. I think he is attracted to the camaraderie of the ground combat war stories he reads - this is a story of a lone wolf. Maybe his lack of interest would be a good thing - I've been trading off the encouragement of reading (anything, even war stories) against exposing him to the world of militarism. But in the end, if I have to choose I'd rather risk the militarism if that's what draws him into reading and more reading. There's plenty of time for him to sort out his real political and moral beliefs in the future.

If I hadn't had a lifelong fascination with airplanes I probably wouldn't have stuck this one out. But I did and I do and it was a moderately interesting telling of a 20 year career that concluded in about 2004 in Iraq, as a Wild Weasel anti-missile fighting F-16CJ pilot. It's readable enough if you're into that kind of thing. ...more

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Oct 12, 2012 Kathleen (Kat) Smith rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: biography , historical-non-fiction , non-fiction , personal-memoir

First of all I wanted to say that having men like Dan Hampton in the Air Force and military for the United States of America is what makes our country the greatest nation in the world! I could not believe the stories that Dan has told throughout the book about all of the missions he has been on, along with all of the other fighters in his unit and in Iraq! From the moment you read this book, you get a thrill ride that puts you in the back seat (if there was one) of the F-16 “Fighting Falcon” or First of all I wanted to say that having men like Dan Hampton in the Air Force and military for the United States of America is what makes our country the greatest nation in the world! I could not believe the stories that Dan has told throughout the book about all of the missions he has been on, along with all of the other fighters in his unit and in Iraq! From the moment you read this book, you get a thrill ride that puts you in the back seat (if there was one) of the F-16 “Fighting Falcon” or Viper as the fighters call it! Thank you Dan and all of the other fighters, front line and support groups for all that you do to take it to our enemies and keep the fighting away from our homeland! You all deserve the highest honors our country has to offer and I for one am honored to call you a fellow American!

From 1986 to 2006 Lt. Col. Dan Hampton performed 151 combat missions as a Wild Weasel fighter pilot, flew over 600 combat hours around the world and has logged over 3000 flight hours while in the USAF from 1986-2006. He has 21 hard kills on surface-to-air-missile sites. 4 Distinguished Flying Crosses with Valor, 1 Purple Heart, and more medals and accommodations than I can list. He is a graduate of the USAF Fighter Weapons School, USN Top Gun School (TOGS), and USAF Special Operations School. Dan spearheaded the 2003 invasion of Iraq, leading the first flight of fighters over the boarder and deep into Iraq and Baghdad and also has several awards for tactical innovation.

Now retired, he has time to write about all of his experiences within the USAF and all of his missions while in Iraq and other places around the world. This book, if not to tell you how dangerous his combat missions really are, will make you realize that men like Dan risk their lives on a daily basis for our freedoms we hold so dear in this country. So sit down, buckle up, and hold on for a kick ass ride so to speak! I could not put the book down when I started to read the real life story of this amazing man who not only lived through every mission and ordeal, but wrote about each mission as if he can recall every detail that happened at every moment within that mission. I am sure that each time he went up it was like tattooing a mental image of all of his surroundings when his life was on the line. Each mission he describes puts you in the cockpit with him and brings you into the life and times of Dan’s life while in Iraq!

From actually flying an F-16 that goes into battle to not only be used as a target for surface-to-air-missiles (SAMS), and all other types of rockets, and gunfire being aimed at him to hunting, targeting and destroying these sites. Their acronym of “YGBSM” (You Gotta be Shittin Me!) is perfect for the type of Wild Weasel fights these fighters incurred on a daily basis. Who else but the Wild Weasels would go into a heavily defended area, have missiles and all other types of gunfire target them and try to destroy them while they seek out each missile site and destroy them! Dan I had respect for you and all of the other fighters like you, but this book gives me a new found respect for all of our military.

I received Viper Pilot: A Memoir of Air Combat by Dan Hampton compliments of William Morrow, a division of Harper Collins Publishers for my honest review. I rate this book a 5 out of 5 stars and would give an additional 5 stars if I could! Thank you Dan for such a well written, action packed and authentic in every detail memoir of your life as a fighter pilot! READ THIS BOOK!!!!! ...more

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Oct 29, 2012 Paul rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

As an aircraft geek, I'm not a huge fan of the F-16; gimme an F-15 variant any day. But I still have much respect for the men and women of our armed forces that fly these and other machines, and more so for the "Wild Weasels", the small cadre of aviators whose primary mission is seeking out and destroying the AAA and SAM sites that other pilots generally go out of their way to avoid. From F-100Fs, to F-105Gs, to F-4Gs, and now F-16CJs, the Weasels have made it their business of playing cat and m As an aircraft geek, I'm not a huge fan of the F-16; gimme an F-15 variant any day. But I still have much respect for the men and women of our armed forces that fly these and other machines, and more so for the "Wild Weasels", the small cadre of aviators whose primary mission is seeking out and destroying the AAA and SAM sites that other pilots generally go out of their way to avoid. From F-100Fs, to F-105Gs, to F-4Gs, and now F-16CJs, the Weasels have made it their business of playing cat and mouse with radar operators and gunners, and to put those threats out of commission...permanently.

While I've read books covering Vietnam and 1st Gulf War Weasels, I'd never seen anything covering contemporary operations until I came across "Viper Pilot" on Amazon.com. And I'm glad I did; I must say, this is one of the most gripping books I've read in a long time. One of those books you pick up during a slow moment in the office, thinking you'll read a couple of pages, only to get so engrossed in the story, you end up spending an hour or more reading. Lt. Col. Hamilton is an excellent storyteller, bringing the reader along with him on deployments overseas, and into the cockpit of his F-16CJ as he and his comrades take on Iraqi air defenses. He goes into great detail of various missions, and I can almost feel the Gs, and feel the button pushes as he dodges SAMs, drops chaff, and returns the favor in the form of HARMs and CBUs.

Even the non-combat aspects of his career are interesting and well-told, including his deployment to Egypt as an instructor; the fact American pilots are (or were) used as guinea pigs to test fly freshly-overhauled Egyptian F-16s was eye-opening, especially when the flights don't go as planned! Lt. Col. Hamilton has had a distinguished career, spanning from the 1st Gulf War, graduation from Fighter Weapons School, to Operation Iraqi Freedom, and he pretty much tells it all. I'd heartily recommend this book to any aviation fan, or anyone looking for an excellent read. ...more

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Oct 26, 2013 Melissa rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I skimmed through most of this book because my son chose to be Dan Hampton for Historical Halloween at school. We found few reference to this "Top Gun" Ace Fighter Pilot in our search aside from what was in this book. As every other word was fuck this and fuck that it was completely inappropriate for me to read it to him. So I just went through it and highlighted the important facts about his career so that my 8-year old & I can read just the highlights to write his report.

I think that unles ...more

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Oct 16, 2012 Christine rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I received the book Viper Pilot: A Memoir of Air Combat By Lt. Col.Dan Hampton From A GoodReads giveaway.
Thank You.

There was a lot of technical information about combat aviation and the aircraft used by these pilots but I felt that this was important to the story he told. The meat of the book was indeed the thrilling, terrifying and deadly combat missions that Lt. Col. Dan Hampton was involved in. These were so descriptive that you felt a part of the event. I truly cannot imagine what Hampton ...more

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Feb 09, 2013 Steve Crane rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I love military books in general but more so the ones that are anecdotal and read like fiction. This book is one of those. The author is not only a gifted pilot, but a funny guy too and I found myself chuckling in many places.

I listened to the audiobook version from Audible read by John Pruden who did an excellent job. No mispronunciations of military terms one sometimes finds in similar audiobooks and the combat scenes are read in a way that have you feeling you're in the cockpit.

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Oct 29, 2012 Michaela Eby rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I received this book in a Goodreads First Reads giveaway.

I was thoroughly impressed by the author's style of writing and his ability to convey emotion while still stating raw facts. Hampton allowed for me as the reader to understand terminology that I otherwise may have not been able to fully comprehend. He made me feel as though I was viewing the scenes and events through his eyes. Overall, it was a very impressive read and I look forward to reading more of Dan Hampton's work!

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Mar 24, 2014 Ru rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Lt. Dan Hampton gives a pretty thorough account of his time in the Air Force, and does so with a great mix of suspense, danger, and humor. This is not just a book about flight, as Lt. Hampton recounts stories from his perspective of bureaucracy and his experiences in combat in foreign lands.

With the mystery surrounding the fate and whereabouts of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370, I thought this book would detail the unique perspective of a pilot, especially one who has to make snap life-or-death ...more

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