1950s 9/11 action action-packed adrenaline adrenaline-fueled adrenaline-rush adventure aerial-combat aerial-maneuvers aerial-warfare afghan-conflict afghan-war afghanistan afghanistan-war air-combat air-force air-warfare aircraft aircraft-carriers al-qaeda ambition american-literature anthony-shaffer army atmospheric aviation aviators betrayal black-operations black-ops bravery brotherhood camaraderie character-driven cia classified classified-documents classified-information classified-missions classified-operations combat combat-operations coming-of-age competition comradeship conflict counterinsurgency counterintelligence counterterrorism courage covert covert-missions covert-operations danger dangerous-missions death destiny determination drama duty emotional espionage excitement exhilarating existential existentialism fate fear fiction fighter-jets fighter-pilots flying friendship frontlines government government-secrecy government-secrets grief gripping heroism honor hunters insider-account insider-perspective insurgency intelligence intelligence-analysis intelligence-community intelligence-gathering intelligence-officer intelligence-operations intense intensity international-relations james james-salter korean-war literary literary-fiction literature loss love love-affairs love-triangle loyalty masculinity maverick-aviators memoir middle-east military military-fiction military-history military-intelligence military-memoir military-operations military-strategy military-tactics military-technology mission missions morality mortality national-security non-fiction nonfiction novel obsession operation operation-dark-heart operations passion path-to-victory perseverance pilots political-intrigue politics psychological pursuit redemption relationships resilience risk risk-taking rivalries rivalry romance sacrifice salter secret-missions secret-operations secrets security-clearance self-discovery special-forces special-operations special-ops spies spy spycraft strategic-bombing strategy struggle suppression-of-enemy-air-defenses surveillance survival suspense suspenseful tactical-operations tactics taliban teamwork tension terrorism the-hunters thrill thriller thrilling top-secret tragedy trauma triumph true-story undercover undercover-missions undercover-operations united-states us-army us-military victory vietnam vietnam-war war war-in-afghanistan war-memoir war-on-terror warfare wild-weasels world-war-ii