Just ten days out of land-based training and on the eve of the Persian Gulf War, Lieutenant Junior Grade Sherman Baldwin was assigned to Air Wing Five's EA-6B Prowler Squadron - call sign Ironclaw - aboard the USS MIDWAY. Flying the Prowler attack aircraft, Baldwin, his crew of three flight officers, and the rest of their squadron were responsible for identifying, jamming, and destroying enemy radar.

Ironclaw is one of the most compelling accounts yet of life on a carrier at war. For the readers of Flight of the Intruder and Yeager, Baldwin brilliantly captures the excitement and risk faced by naval aviators. He takes the reader from below decks in the mission-planning room, where the day's combat assignment is handed out, to the deck of the MIDWAY, where jets are catapulted over the Persian Gulf, and into the cockpit - offering an unprecedented look at what it feels like to control one of the world's most sophisticated - and powerful - military machines.

Life on the MIDWAY is not without its lighter moments, however, and Baldwin shows how humor and camaraderie are a naval tradition. Populated with characters like "Beast," "Chief Rat," and "Simba," the bunk rooms, mess halls, and planning rooms present as much of a challenge to a "nugget," or rookie, as the cockpit of the Prowler.

Ultimately, Desert Shield becomes Desert Storm, and Baldwin propels the reader full force into combat. Whether he is refueling from a KC-135 tanker in midair, flying through flak over enemy territory, or landing on the pitching deck of the MIDWAY at night, Baldwin's experiences are as unforgettable as they are thrilling. Told with an intensity and expertise that even Tom Clancy would envy, Ironclaw is combat writing at its best.