U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel (Ret.) Dan Hampton flew more than 150 combat missions during his twenty years (1986–2006) as a Wild Weasel fighter pilot. For his service in the Iraq War, Kosovo conflict, first Gulf War, and elsewhere, Colonel Hampton received four Distinguished Flying Crosses with Valor, a Purple Heart, eight Air Medals with Valor, five Meritorious Service Medals, and numerous other citations.
He is a graduate of the USAF Fighter Weapons School, USN Top Gun School (TOGS), and USAF Special Operations School. A recipient of several awards for tactical innovation, Hampton pioneered air-combat tactics that are now standard, and he was named his squadron’s Instructor Pilot of the Year six times. Hampton served on the Air Combat Command staff in Langley, Virginia, during the 1999 Kosovo War and designed the NATO campaign that destroyed the Yugoslav army’s air defenses around Sarajevo.
A graduate of Texas A&M University, he has published articles in The Journal of Electronic Defense, Air Force Magazine, and Airpower magazine, as well as several classified tactical works for the USAF Fighter Weapons Review.
Books in order of publication:
Viper Pilot: A Memoir of Air Combat. William Morrow. 2012.
The Mercenary: a Novel. HarperCollins. 2013.
Lords of the Sky: Fighter Pilots and Air Combat, from the Red Baron to the F-16. William Morrow. 2014.
The Hunter Killers: The Extraordinary Story of the First Wild Weasels, the Band of Maverick Aviators Who Flew the Most Dangerous Missions of the Vietnam War. William Morrow. 2015.
The Flight: Charles Lindbergh’s Daring and Immortal 1927 Transatlantic Crossing. William Morrow. 2017.
Chasing the Demon: A Secret History Of The Quest For The Sound Barrier And The Band Of American Aces Who Conquered It. HarperCollins, 2018.
Operation Vengeance: The Astonishing Aerial Ambush That Changed World War II. HarperCollins, 2020.
Valor: The Astonishing World War II Saga of One Man’s Defiance and Indomitable Spirit. St. Martin’s Press, 2022.
Vanishing Act: The Enduring Mystery Behind the Legendary Doolittle Raid over Tokyo – 2024
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