Over the years many books have been written about the Air National Guard. Most are so general that they can be of little value for both the aviation enthusiast and the Guard community themselves. Jake Melampy's book on the F-16 in the Air National Guard (ANG) has to be, in my opinion, the most comprehensive book on the subject to date, even more so than any magazine or journal that I have seen. This book will have appeal for an enthusiast, military historian or to any one who is around the F-16.
A preconception that I had before I saw the final copy of the book was it would be a modern collection of Jake's photos. Don't get me wrong, Jake is an excellent photographer and seeing his photos is proof enough. My concern was a simple truth that no matter how good a photographer, one person cannot cover every aspect of the Air National Guards history. This preconception was quickly dispelled and I was pleasantly surprised to find his book was a collection of photos from all eras of the F-16 from numerous photographers whose photos are rarely seen in other books. Photographers like Mike Kopack Sr., who is an incredibly good photographer who captured many early F-16 photos in his quest for Phantom II photos, are showcased in the book. Specific examples of how superior some of the coverage is of squadrons would be how many rare photos of the 107th TFS/FS when they had their F-16A/Bs. Or how often do you see photos of the 112th FS when they had their block 25s. The book is full of these types of examples.
Part of what makes this publication appealing is its ability to cover each ANG F-16 Squadron fairly and equally. There are several squadrons that over the years have had little exposure when books are generated on this topic. Generally each Wing has eight pages and the edges of the pages are color coded to help separate each unit. All Wings begin with a concise written history which includes the associate squadrons inception dates, type of aircraft operated over the years, bases and when possible deployments occurred. After this, there is a stunning series of photos for each squadron each one specifically chosen to tell a story. This includes photos that cover all of the various tail flashes the squadrons wore, and when room permitted, any special markings that were applied to ANG F-16s over the years.
When viewing this book, it is easy to judge the effort that Jake has put into his work. He has researched the history of each serial number and made sure it is up to date at the time of publication in spite of all the current changes in the ANG. Extra details of close ups of mission markings and nose art was a very nice touch that I feel gets ignored all too often in such books. I have been studying the F-16 history for over fifteen years and saw nose art that I’ve never seen before. For the hard core research guys, this book contains many serials, dates and other important information for each photo. Every time I revisit the book I find details in photos I missed before.
This is the kind of book you will want to keep in good condition and make sure your hands are clean before it is handled. I can't wait to see the remaining parts that will cover the remaining American units and hopefully foreign operators. Bottom line is this is a must have book for who worked the F-16 or aficionado.
A copy can be ordered directly from the publisher (reidairpublishing.com), author (jakemelampy.net/books.html), on-line retailers (afterburnerdecals.com) and eventually, local book stores.
Jonathan Somerville
F-16.net editor
