War for the Hell of It; A Fighter Pilot's View of Vietnam

by Ed Cobleigh

Ed, "Fast Eddie," Cobleigh served two tours of duty during the Vietnam air war, logging 375 combat sorties in the F-4 Phantom fighter/bomber. In War for the Hell of It, Cobleigh shares his perspectives in a deeply personal account of a fighter pilot's life, one filled with moral ambiguity and military absurdities offset by the undeniable thrill of flying a fighter aircraft. With well-crafted prose that puts you into the Phantom's cockpit, Cobleigh vividly recounts the unexplainable loss of his wingman, the useless missions he flew, the need to trust his reflexes, eyesight, and aggressiveness, and his survival instincts in the heat of combat. He discusses the deaths of his squadron mates and the contradictions of a dirty, semi-secret war fought from beautiful, exotic Thailand. This is an unprecedented look into the state of mind of a pilot as he experiences everything from the carnage of a crash to the joy of flying through a star-studded night sky, from the illogical political agendas of Washington to his own dangerous addiction to risk. Cobleigh gives a stirring and emotional description of one man's journey into airborne hell and back, recounting the pleasures and the pain. the wins and the losses. and ultimately, the return.

275 pages, Paperback

Published January 22, 2016

About the author

Ed Cobleigh was born in New Orleans, Louisiana and grew up in Chattanooga, Tennessee. After graduating from Chattanooga High School, he earned a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Georgia Tech and a Masters Degree in Management at the University of Southern California.

Ed earned his pilot’s wings with the United States Air Force and eventually achieved the rank of Lt Col. As a fighter pilot, he flew the F-104 Starfighter, the F-4 Phantom, the A-4 Skyhawk, the Anglo-French Jaguar, and the F-16 Fighting Falcon.
He flew 375 combat missions in South East Asia during the Vietnam War in the Phantom, earning two Distinguished Flying Crosses. He was assigned as a Fighter Weapons Instructor Pilot with the USAF Fighter Weapons School, the US Navy Fighter Weapons School (Top Gun), and the Royal Air Force Qualified Weapons Instructor Course (Jaguar). He has flown with the US Navy, the Royal Air Force, the Imperial Iranian Air Force, and the French Air Force. Cobleigh also served as an Air Intelligence Officer working with the CIA, FBI, and the British MI6 branch on a variety of covert intelligence projects.

Ed Cobleigh resides with his wife, Heidi, in the Paso Robles, California wine country with their Arabian horses and Catahoula/Border Collie dogs.

Reviews

[Geoff Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Many of the author's observations on life, war, flying and the associated thought processes resonated with me. A good and refreshingly honest insight into the persona of the single seat fighter pilot.