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About the author


Col. Scott "Rooster" Saunders, USAF (Ret) is a retired colonel in the U.S. Air Force where he served as a fighter pilot flying the F-4 (combat), F-5, and F-15, a Headquarters USAF Requirements Program Element Manager, the USAF Requirements Directorate Executive Officer at The Pentagon, and the Deputy Commander in Chief for the United Nations Command Executive Officer in the Republic of Korea. He is author of Creation of a French Aggressor Squadron and a Proposal Handbook. He flew 25 combat missions in Southeast Asia and has flown over 10,000 air-to-air training engagements as a T-38A/F-5E/F Aggressor and F-15 A/B/C/D pilot. He also was influential at The Pentagon, spearheading the incorporation of a breakthrough air-to-air gunsight while serving on the Air Staff. He completed his service to his country as the Vice Wing Commander of the 36th Air Base Wing at Andersen AB, Guam, a strategic forward base in Asia. Since his retirement from the Air Force, he has acted as Proposal Manager for sixty-five proposals for defense contracts. Rooster-Fighter Pilot is a riveting story about a boy who had a dream about flying. He lived out his dream by going to the U.S. Air Force Academy, becoming a fighter pilot flying and fighting in air-to-ground combat and air-to-air training in the U.S., Europe, Middle East, and Asia. He is still flying today instructing and flying Angel Flight patients to their doctors. He has a Bachelor of Science from the U.S. Air Force Academy, a Master of Science in International Relations from Troy State University and has graduated from the French War College program at École Militaire in Paris France. He completed two courses of instruction. The first one was the École Supérieure de Guerre Aérienne (Superior School of Air Warfare) and the second one was the Cours Supérieur Interarmées (Superior Inter-army School, or Senior Joint Warfare School). He has had Air Force assignments in five overseas countries and travelled to 43 countries. He speaks fluent French, which helped earn him the highest grade a foreign student ever won for his thesis on creating a French Aggressor squadron. He was also awarded the highest honor in the Federal Aviation Agency for a pilot, the prestigious Wright Brothers "Master Pilot" Award. He also won the Academic trophy in Undergraduate Pilot Training and The Commandant's Award at the Defense Language Institute. Rooster provides flight instruction in single-engine and multi-engine aircraft and flies patients to their doctors. He has flown 3,800 hours in the Air Force and 1,400 hours in General Aviation. He has flown 125 Angel Flights. He is married to Rhonda Saunders and has three children (Jennifer, Scott III, and Matt) and seven grandchildren (Isabella, Caroline, Ethan, Amelia, Catherine, Adalyn, and Evan) from his late wife Patty Saunders.

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Rooster - Fighter Pilot
Flying and Fighting for the USA
by Col. Scott Saunders USAF (Ret)
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Overview


Rooster-Fighter Pilot is a riveting story about a boy who had a dream about flying. He lived out his dream by going to the U.S. Air Force Academy, becoming a fighter pilot flying and fighting in air-to-ground combat and air-to-air training in the U.S., Europe, Middle East, and Asia. He is still flying today instructing and flying Angel Flight patients to their doctors.

Read more

Description


Rooster-Fighter Pilot is a story about a boy whose dream about flying has remained in his heart and soul even until today. As a young boy he would concentrate while dreaming and lifted off the ground and flew over the fields and farms where he lived in France. He lived out his dream by going to the U.S. Air Force Academy and learned about flying through his aeronautical engineering course and by obtaining a private pilot license while at the Academy in the T-41 aircraft, a military version of the popular Cessna 172 General Aviation aircraft. The story continues at Undergraduate Pilot Training, where he learned how to fly low- performance and high-performance jet aircraft, the T-37 and T-38. He covers the challenges, trials, tribulations and victories involved with earning your pilot wings. After graduating from pilot training, Rooster takes an assignment in a vintage trainer, the T-33 just barely missing a front-line fighter slot. He sharpens his skills in instrument flying and 12 months later finally moves into the combat F-4 Phantom aircraft. Once completing the 12-month upgrade to the F-4, he proceeds to Thailand to fly 25 combat missions up to the end of hostilities on August 15, 1973. His follow-on assignment places him in the elite Aggressor force emulating the enemy and acting as a trainer and adversary for our own Blue Forces in the U.S. Air Force. He continues this role at Nellis Air Force Base and on to Europe at Royal Air Force Base Alconbury in the United Kingdom. After five years of flying Dissimilar Air Combat Training air-to-air training against the Blue Forces, he is able to rejoin them at Bitburg Air Base in the F-15 Eagle. Flying regularly against Aggressor adversary forces and our allies in Europe, he rises to a high level of proficiency and is promoted to major. That meant it was time for a staff tour out of the cockpit temporarily. He is assigned to an organization within the Air Staff at The Pentagon responsible for developing new weapons and avionics for the fighter pilot community. He takes this opportunity to field an advanced gunsight for our fighters and finishes his Air Staff tour as the Executive Officer for the Director of Operational Requirements for the Air Force. Finishing up at The Pentagon, he rejoins the Blue Forces once again in the cockpit of an F-15 and serves as the 12th Tactical Fighter Squadron (known better as the Dirty Dozen) Operations Officer. He implements pride, spirit, and discipline into the unit and an impeccable safety record for the three years he serves there. Rooster is still flying today instructing student pilots and flying Angel Flight patients to their doctors. The book finishes with the bottom line that he will always be a fighter pilot and continue flying as long as he can.

Read more

Overview


Rooster-Fighter Pilot is a riveting story about a boy who had a dream about flying. He lived out his dream by going to the U.S. Air Force Academy, becoming a fighter pilot flying and fighting in air-to-ground combat and air-to-air training in the U.S., Europe, Middle East, and Asia. He is still flying today instructing and flying Angel Flight patients to their doctors.

Read more

Description


Rooster-Fighter Pilot is a story about a boy whose dream about flying has remained in his heart and soul even until today. As a young boy he would concentrate while dreaming and lifted off the ground and flew over the fields and farms where he lived in France. He lived out his dream by going to the U.S. Air Force Academy and learned about flying through his aeronautical engineering course and by obtaining a private pilot license while at the Academy in the T-41 aircraft, a military version of the popular Cessna 172 General Aviation aircraft. The story continues at Undergraduate Pilot Training, where he learned how to fly low- performance and high-performance jet aircraft, the T-37 and T-38. He covers the challenges, trials, tribulations and victories involved with earning your pilot wings. After graduating from pilot training, Rooster takes an assignment in a vintage trainer, the T-33 just barely missing a front-line fighter slot. He sharpens his skills in instrument flying and 12 months later finally moves into the combat F-4 Phantom aircraft. Once completing the 12-month upgrade to the F-4, he proceeds to Thailand to fly 25 combat missions up to the end of hostilities on August 15, 1973. His follow-on assignment places him in the elite Aggressor force emulating the enemy and acting as a trainer and adversary for our own Blue Forces in the U.S. Air Force. He continues this role at Nellis Air Force Base and on to Europe at Royal Air Force Base Alconbury in the United Kingdom. After five years of flying Dissimilar Air Combat Training air-to-air training against the Blue Forces, he is able to rejoin them at Bitburg Air Base in the F-15 Eagle. Flying regularly against Aggressor adversary forces and our allies in Europe, he rises to a high level of proficiency and is promoted to major. That meant it was time for a staff tour out of the cockpit temporarily. He is assigned to an organization within the Air Staff at The Pentagon responsible for developing new weapons and avionics for the fighter pilot community. He takes this opportunity to field an advanced gunsight for our fighters and finishes his Air Staff tour as the Executive Officer for the Director of Operational Requirements for the Air Force. Finishing up at The Pentagon, he rejoins the Blue Forces once again in the cockpit of an F-15 and serves as the 12th Tactical Fighter Squadron (known better as the Dirty Dozen) Operations Officer. He implements pride, spirit, and discipline into the unit and an impeccable safety record for the three years he serves there. Rooster is still flying today instructing student pilots and flying Angel Flight patients to their doctors. The book finishes with the bottom line that he will always be a fighter pilot and continue flying as long as he can.

Read more

Book details

Genre:BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY

Subgenre:Military

Language:English

Pages:164

eBook ISBN:9781667862521

Hardcover ISBN:9781667862514


Overview


Rooster-Fighter Pilot is a riveting story about a boy who had a dream about flying. He lived out his dream by going to the U.S. Air Force Academy, becoming a fighter pilot flying and fighting in air-to-ground combat and air-to-air training in the U.S., Europe, Middle East, and Asia. He is still flying today instructing and flying Angel Flight patients to their doctors.

Read more

Description


Rooster-Fighter Pilot is a story about a boy whose dream about flying has remained in his heart and soul even until today. As a young boy he would concentrate while dreaming and lifted off the ground and flew over the fields and farms where he lived in France. He lived out his dream by going to the U.S. Air Force Academy and learned about flying through his aeronautical engineering course and by obtaining a private pilot license while at the Academy in the T-41 aircraft, a military version of the popular Cessna 172 General Aviation aircraft. The story continues at Undergraduate Pilot Training, where he learned how to fly low- performance and high-performance jet aircraft, the T-37 and T-38. He covers the challenges, trials, tribulations and victories involved with earning your pilot wings. After graduating from pilot training, Rooster takes an assignment in a vintage trainer, the T-33 just barely missing a front-line fighter slot. He sharpens his skills in instrument flying and 12 months later finally moves into the combat F-4 Phantom aircraft. Once completing the 12-month upgrade to the F-4, he proceeds to Thailand to fly 25 combat missions up to the end of hostilities on August 15, 1973. His follow-on assignment places him in the elite Aggressor force emulating the enemy and acting as a trainer and adversary for our own Blue Forces in the U.S. Air Force. He continues this role at Nellis Air Force Base and on to Europe at Royal Air Force Base Alconbury in the United Kingdom. After five years of flying Dissimilar Air Combat Training air-to-air training against the Blue Forces, he is able to rejoin them at Bitburg Air Base in the F-15 Eagle. Flying regularly against Aggressor adversary forces and our allies in Europe, he rises to a high level of proficiency and is promoted to major. That meant it was time for a staff tour out of the cockpit temporarily. He is assigned to an organization within the Air Staff at The Pentagon responsible for developing new weapons and avionics for the fighter pilot community. He takes this opportunity to field an advanced gunsight for our fighters and finishes his Air Staff tour as the Executive Officer for the Director of Operational Requirements for the Air Force. Finishing up at The Pentagon, he rejoins the Blue Forces once again in the cockpit of an F-15 and serves as the 12th Tactical Fighter Squadron (known better as the Dirty Dozen) Operations Officer. He implements pride, spirit, and discipline into the unit and an impeccable safety record for the three years he serves there. Rooster is still flying today instructing student pilots and flying Angel Flight patients to their doctors. The book finishes with the bottom line that he will always be a fighter pilot and continue flying as long as he can.

Read more

About the author


Col. Scott "Rooster" Saunders, USAF (Ret) is a retired colonel in the U.S. Air Force where he served as a fighter pilot flying the F-4 (combat), F-5, and F-15, a Headquarters USAF Requirements Program Element Manager, the USAF Requirements Directorate Executive Officer at The Pentagon, and the Deputy Commander in Chief for the United Nations Command Executive Officer in the Republic of Korea. He is author of Creation of a French Aggressor Squadron and a Proposal Handbook. He flew 25 combat missions in Southeast Asia and has flown over 10,000 air-to-air training engagements as a T-38A/F-5E/F Aggressor and F-15 A/B/C/D pilot. He also was influential at The Pentagon, spearheading the incorporation of a breakthrough air-to-air gunsight while serving on the Air Staff. He completed his service to his country as the Vice Wing Commander of the 36th Air Base Wing at Andersen AB, Guam, a strategic forward base in Asia. Since his retirement from the Air Force, he has acted as Proposal Manager for sixty-five proposals for defense contracts. Rooster-Fighter Pilot is a riveting story about a boy who had a dream about flying. He lived out his dream by going to the U.S. Air Force Academy, becoming a fighter pilot flying and fighting in air-to-ground combat and air-to-air training in the U.S., Europe, Middle East, and Asia. He is still flying today instructing and flying Angel Flight patients to their doctors. He has a Bachelor of Science from the U.S. Air Force Academy, a Master of Science in International Relations from Troy State University and has graduated from the French War College program at École Militaire in Paris France. He completed two courses of instruction. The first one was the École Supérieure de Guerre Aérienne (Superior School of Air Warfare) and the second one was the Cours Supérieur Interarmées (Superior Inter-army School, or Senior Joint Warfare School). He has had Air Force assignments in five overseas countries and travelled to 43 countries. He speaks fluent French, which helped earn him the highest grade a foreign student ever won for his thesis on creating a French Aggressor squadron. He was also awarded the highest honor in the Federal Aviation Agency for a pilot, the prestigious Wright Brothers "Master Pilot" Award. He also won the Academic trophy in Undergraduate Pilot Training and The Commandant's Award at the Defense Language Institute. Rooster provides flight instruction in single-engine and multi-engine aircraft and flies patients to their doctors. He has flown 3,800 hours in the Air Force and 1,400 hours in General Aviation. He has flown 125 Angel Flights. He is married to Rhonda Saunders and has three children (Jennifer, Scott III, and Matt) and seven grandchildren (Isabella, Caroline, Ethan, Amelia, Catherine, Adalyn, and Evan) from his late wife Patty Saunders.

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Book Reviews

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GCH
Rooster: Fighter Pilot Enjoyed reading Scott Saunders account of his career as a USAF fighter pilot. His recall of the details of those years is uncanny and his description of his many hours of air combat flying is clear and well written. This is must reading for all of you who love the concept of flying fast. Read more
KLUSO
Rooster - Fighter Pilot For Military-Aviation enthusiasts who’ve always wondered ... “what is it like to have an Air Force career as a Fighter Pilot?” – this book will answer that question. The unique breadth of Col. Scott ROOSTER Saunders’ experiences flying multiple high performance fighter jets across the expanse of the entire world is inspiring and illuminating. ROOSTER – Fighter Pilot is not just a flying history book, but a Life Story that weaves layers of chance encounters, what-ifs, lessons learned, leadership opportunities, and most important - our common shared life connections and challenges. At the end ROOSTER wishes ... “I hope you have enjoyed my story.” I did. Read more
Jeff
Rooster Fighter Pilot A great read. I lived in the world of flying fighters for 20 years and can attest to the authenticity of what Rooster writes about. I think you’ll enjoy this book written by a great American and great fighter pilot! Read more
Nathan
Rooster - Fighter Pilot Loved this book from start to finish. So many great stories of adventure. Enjoyed reading about a world I've never known. Great book! Thank you Col. Scott Saunders! Read more
Ron
Rooster-Fighter Pilot Brought back a lot of memories of "Back in the Day". Rooster did a super job of capturing the history of the time and the issues and challenges of being a fighter pilot. and then an Aggressor. A fast moving and on-target read for both the "Been there, Done that" crowd as well as anyone interested in learning about "Done that". .. or how one gets a callsign like "Rooster"! Read more
Jeffrey
Great Read Rooster - Fighter Pilot is an interesting and accurate book about the life of a USAF fighter pilot in the Vietnam era up to the 1990's, and one who got to be on the tip of spear. I served with Rooster in the mid-80s in the Dirty Dozen and very much enjoyed this account of his career. Rooster describes in detail his varied assignments in combat in the F-4, as an Aggressor pilot in the F-5, and an F-15 pilot both in Europe and in the Pacific, and his interesting staff assignments as well. Highly recommended! Read more
Joe
Rooster- Fighter Pilot Just finished reading Rooster - Fighter Pilot. It is well written, fast moving , interesting and easy to read. I served with Rooster at several locations in the Air Force, and the career he outlines here is about as varied a one as you could hope to find. That’s probably why I had trouble putting it down....I kept wondering what came next. If you are veteran or don’t have a clue about the military, this book is jam packed with history and information that is simple to understand and digest. Buy it! You won’t be disappointed. Read more
Tim
Rooster-Fighter Pilot I really enjoyed Scotts's book, "Rooster-Fighter Pilot". His book takes you through the struggles, triumphs and rewards of a career fighter pilot. As a former fighter pilot myself, Rooster's story had me cringing as he describes his combat missions in Vietnam. Later as Rooster was part of the intial cadre of fighter pilots in the Agressor program, he was instrumental in developing the skills of young fighter pilots, preparing them for combat. His stories made me recall my own excitement and strguggles flying against the F-5 Agressors. I truly believe Scott's book is a great read for any aviation enthusiast, as he takes you through the his chilhood ambition to become a fighter pilot, combat missions in Vietnam and a challenging and exciting career as an F-5 and F-15 instructor pilot. I highly recommend "Rooster-Fighter Pilot". Tim "Stroke" Warren, USAF Read more