Looking for cold war USAF/SAC books...

[fritzthefox]

Can anyone recommend some good books regarding the early cold war air defense of the U.S.? I'd especially be interested in anything about USAF or SAC units based in Alaska during the fifties, although anything about SAC or the USAF during that decade is cool.

Less interested in anything after the fifties.

[viking73]

Well I've got one that's maybe not a/c related but was a very important part of the U.S. air defense system during the early part of the Cold War. Check out the book "Rings of Supersonic Steel" that covers the Nike Missile (SAM) system that was deployed around the country...

-Derek

[Clifford Bossie]

USAF INTERCEPTORS A Military Photo Logbook (1946 -1978) (Marty J. Isham and David R. McLean) does try to cover air defense. It has a few pages on P-61s, P-47s, P-82s and P-51s, then goes into jets. It is a good, quick history of the Air Defense Command. PEACE WAS THEIR PROFESSION STRATEGIC AIR COMMAND: A TRIBUTE (Mike Hill, John M Campbell and Donna Campbell) and A COLD WAR LEGACY: A TRIBUTE TO THE STRATEGIC AIR COMMAND 1946-1992 (Alwyn T. Lloyd) are both good (though a little pricey) references on SAC. And as Derek recommended. RINGS OF SUPERSONIC STEEL is an interesting book on the Nike missile systems.

[The Inspector]

It's too bad no one has seen fit to do an in depth book about Air Defense Command, and it's largely ignored role in keeping the bear at bay in the 50's and 60's.

[JohnB]

I can recommend the USAF Interceptors book previously mentioned.

And two others:

Northrop F-89 Scorpion: A Photo Chonicle by Marty J Isham and David R. McLaren
Lockheed F-94 Starfire: A Photo Chonicle by the same authors.
Both published by Schiffer.

Oddly, neither book gives you what most readers would expect, a detailed nut and bolt description of the aircraft's genesis, design and testing (although the F-94 gives you about 20 pages or what you might expect to find in an old Wings or Airpower magazine artice).
Instead, both focus on the operational history of the jets with a squadron by squadron breakdown of ADC units, Alaska and the NEAC, and ANG units. The F-94 book also gives details of Korean war operations.
They gives details and name names that only could have come from the official squadron histories. Still, they're both readable.

If you want to learn about the F-84 in ADC service, there is a 10 page history of it in Republic F-84 A Photo Chonicle by David R. McLaren. Also published by Schiffer.
It follows the format of the other two books but unlike the Scorpion book, gives you a developmental history. But since the straight-wing F-84s weren't used a great deal by ADC, the type's interceptor use doen't get a lot of mention.

[TonyM]

Mission With LeMay by General Curtis E. LeMay and MacKinlay Kantor (1965) gives great insight into SAC, readiness and deterrence and the R&D programs to keep ahead of the CCCP.
LeMay was head of USAF R&D before he was the commander of SAC. A good, no nonsense read. Highly recommended.

TM