|
Ordering Information
Speed is Life,
More is Better
By John Scanlan
Secure Transaction or
call toll free 1(800)247-6553
Price: $23.95 US
304 Pages | ISBN: 0-9755405-0-5
|
Jet fuel, testosterone, and alcohol do not mix.
Bama - the testosterone - is the best pilot in a Marine Corps F-18D squadron. He desires nothing more in life than to shoot down a Russian Mig, and then become an instructor at “Top Gun”. However, he constantly confronts Buick - the alcohol. As the best back-seater in the squadron, he disagrees with Bama’s methods.
Although depicting the squadron as it enforces a NATO no-fly zone imposed over Bosnia in the mid 90’s, Speed is Life, More is Better is timeless. It explores how men “cope”, and could just as easily have taken place in Vietnam as Iraq. Speed is Life, More is Better is a modern day Catch 22, simultaneously possessing the excitement and drama of Top Gun.
Speed is Life, More is Better begins on a Monday, with an unknown narrator reminiscing about his former F-18D squadron. On Tuesday and Wednesday, from a humorous perspective, the narrator entwines Bama’s quest with the depression, loneliness, danger, depravity, boredom, and frustration experienced by the likes of fellow aviators Ghost, Pope, Dago, Joisey, Hick Boy, Spine Ripper, Butt Munch, Hollywood, Shitscreen, and others.
Thursday explodes with five tragic and unforeseen events within the squadron, all of which complicate Friday’s deadly offensive air operations.
Speed is Life, More is Better ends years later with a “where are they now?” epilogue, where a pensive and reflective narrator reveals his identity.
About the Author:
 John M. Scanlan was born in Columbus, Ohio, on August 8, 1959. After growing up in rural, southern Ohio as the oldest of eight children, he graduated from Logan Elm High School as an honor student with letters in football and wrestling.
John graduated from the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland, on May 25, 1983 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering and a varsity letter in Rugby. He accepted a commission into the United States Marine Corps as a Second Lieutenant.
Scanlan reported to the Marine Corps Basic School in July of 1983. Upon graduation six months later, he reported to flight training at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola, Florida. He received his wings as a Naval Flight Officer in April of 1984.
That same month, he reported to the Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, Arizona, for follow-on training in the F-4S Phantom II fighter attack jet. In October of 1985, Scanlan was designated a Radar Intercept Officer in the F-4S.
Second Lieutenant Scanlan was assigned to the Marine Corps Air Station in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, from 1985 to 1989. There, First Lieutenant Scanlan amassed approximately one thousand hours in the F-4S and completed two overseas deployments to Iwakuni, Japan, with VMFA-212. The historical second deployment was the last one ever in history for the F-4S. Lastly, he was designated as an Air Combat Tactics Instructor, and a Weapons and Tactics Instructor in the F-4S while with VMFA-212.
In October of 1988, Captain Scanlan reported to the First Battalion of the Third Marine Regiment in Hawaii to serve as a Forward Air Controller, and then later as the Battalion Air Officer. There, Captain Scanlan participated in an overseas deployment to Camp Hansen, Okinawa.
In March of 1990, Captain Scanlan reported to the Marine Corps Air Station at El Toro, California, for transition training into the new F-18D Hornet fighter attack jet. After being designated as a Weapons and Sensors Officer, he joined VMFA-121 at El Toro to accept the new jets.
With VMFA-121, he deployed to Shaik Isa Airfield, Bahrain, for Operation Desert Storm. In February of 1991, while flying a combat mission over Kuwait, Captain Scanlan was in an F-18D that was hit by a surface-to-air missile.
Upon returning to the United States, Scanlan was designated as an Air Combat Tactics Instructor, and a Weapons and Tactics Instructor in the F-18D. Furthermore, he attended the United States Navy Fighter Weapons School, better known as Top Gun. He went on to accumulate approximately one thousand hours in the F-18D, and participated in the first ever, overseas deployment of the F-18D to Iwakuni.
In the summer of 1993, Captain Scanlan accepted orders to the Marine Corps Air Station in Beaufort, South Carolina. There, he joined VMFA-224 in their acceptance of the new F-18D, and made two overseas deployments to Aviano Air Base, Italy, in support of the NATO no-fly zone imposed over Bosnia-Herzegovinia. While in Beaufort, Scanlan was designated as a Night Tactics Instructor, and accrued approximately one thousand more hours in the F-18D.
In July of 1996, Major Scanlan, became a student at the Marine Corps Command and Staff College in Quantico, Virginia. After graduation in May of 1997, he served for three years as the Joint Doctrine Officer in the Doctrine Division of the Marine Corps Combat Development Command at Quantico.
 In 2000, after completing refresher training in the F-18D, Lieutenant Colonel Scanlan became the Executive Officer for VMFA-332 in Beaufort.
Upon completion of that assignment, he joined the staff of Marine Aircraft Group Thirty-one in Beaufort; where he was subsequently sent to the Marine Central Command in Tampa, Florida, as a future operations planning officer for combat operations in Afghanistan.
Lieutenant Colonel Scanlan retired from the Marine Corps in 2003, and commenced a second career as a writer. He currently resides on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.
|
