~ Terrific look at America's best
This is an extraordinarily well written first person account of life as a Naval Aviator. Have you ever wondered what kind of men we send into harm's way, what they're like and where they come from? Are they different from the rest of us? What's it like to fly and fight a Naval aircraft in a real shooting war? Sherman Baldwin has your answers. Rather than the bravado common to other first-person combat stories, Baldwin's account is told with a great deal of humanity. Certainly there are the accounts of combat and carrier operations that will have you on the edge of your seat. But this is really the story of a man (not a machine) in an extraordinary situation doing extraordinary things on behalf of his country. I know men like this. They are my heroes, and Sherman Baldwin captures their lives and experiences as well as his. If you want to feel proud about America, read this book.

~ Mostly Interesting
When not distracted, Baldwin delivers an honestly written and interesting account of his experience as a naval aviator during the gulf war. His stories of the missions flown are both interesting and thrilling. The problem, in my eyes, is that it seems like he spends half the book telling us all how amazingly wonderful his then girlfriend, now wife, is. Certainly the connection to home and family are an integral part of any military story, but he takes it way too far. He crows on and on about how this girl is the most beautiful, wonderful, greatest thing on the planet. I have no doubt she is, but I was trying to read a book about Naval Aviation.

~ The Best Book About Carrier Life
I loved this book. It was very interesting to see how life on the carrier was in peace as well as war. A great read!

~ I was hooked on the very first page of the book
A spellbinding autobiography of a Navy pilot's experiences during the Gulf War. It was an eye opening account for me (I'm in the USAF) of the difficulties of aircraft carrier based operations. Although there is little discussion of Gulf War military strategy, this is a very easy reading, engrossing story that will keep you so spellbound, you will not be able to put it down.

~ Engrossing and fascinating yet not grandiloquent
I recently read Sherman Baldwin's "Ironclaw : A Navy Carrier Pilot's War Experience" and I was completely at a loss for words on what a great book it is. This book was action-packed and was to the point, unlike many other fighter books I have read. It also has an uncomparable description of what life on the aircraft carrier the "MIDWAY" was really like during Operation Desert Storm. When I read the first chapter, I really felt my head being thrown back into the seat as Sherman was catapulted off the deck of the old and worn aircraft carrier, and I felt the jolt of the Prowler slamming against the deck during landing. One word to describe the author's writing? Succinct. His writing was extremely clear and precise yet was not boring or grandiloquent. After reading Ironclaw, I felt a sense of pride for my country, and I have much greater respect for the men and women of today's armed services, especially the devoted people who risk their lives everyday for my protection and liberty. The chapters are rather short, allowing you to catch ten or so pages on a break or at school or anytime you have 15 minutes. Being only 15 years old, I still have a long way to go in my life, I hope. I am interested in fighter planes and this is above all the crème de la crème of fighter books, the best I have read so far. The plot is extremely riveting and action-filled. Please don't take my word for it: read it!

~ Better than a novel
This book was so exciting I had to force myself to stop in the middle of reading it in order to go to sleep. But it's not just an adventure story. Its message is, like the author, understated but audacious: character still counts.

~ A strap in, hold on thrill ride experience of a USN "nugget"
Sherman Baldwin, a United States Navy EA-6B Prowler pilot, portrays his experience as a "nugget" (first deployment pilot) aboard the USS MIDWAY. Baldwin used real life peace and war time experiences to create one of the most exciting and outstanding military novels of all time. Ironclaw straps you into one of the most sophisticated, electronically crammed, cockpits in the world. This book will take you to the edge and back. As an aspiring pilot, I recommend you pick up a copy today.

~ Inside the cockpit with Navy flyer
There has got to be a rush that comes from taking off from an aircraft carrier in a jet, being accelerated by a steam catapult and a pair of screaming afterburners to nearly 170 m.p.h. in less than 2 seconds. Nor does it take a Stephen King to imagine the stress involved in trying to get back aboard a carrier on an inky night in a plane low on fuel. Among naval aviators, this is what separates those who can "hack it" from those who cannot. For carrier pilots do not land their planes so much as slam them aboard heaving, yawing ships at sea. So it is that night landings, in which vertigo and optical illusion are routine and depth perception nonexistent, become "the practice of overcoming the fear of death," writes Lt. (j.g.) Sherman Baldwin, who spent his nugget - maiden - cruise aboard the USS MIDWAY during the Persian Gulf War. If Baldwin's introspection sets "Ironclaw" (the call sign of his squadron) apart from others of its ilk, make no mistake: This is a book about flying. It begins with the author's first night catapult shot aboard the MIDWAY and with great perception describes life for those who come and go on a seaborne aircraft carrier at war.

~ Vivid... gritty & visceral memoir
Baldwin was fresh out of pilot training as a lieutenant j.g. when, on Dec. 10, 1990, he was assigned to the aircraft carrier USS MIDWAY in the Persian Gulf. A skilled aviator, the young "nugget" - a pilot on his first sea cruise - nevertheless had much to learn before becoming proficient at carrier operations. The process would be short and intense. Operation Desert Shield had begun months earlier and Baldwin, along with his shipmates, knew that the U.S. could go to war against Iraq at any time. When Operation Desert Storm was launched in January 1191, Baldwin found himself in the thick of the action. By then, he had logged numerous hours on carrier launches, aerial refueling and landings performed at night on the pitching deck of "the smallest carrier in the fleet." As related here, these tasks are as terrifying as the later wartime missions. Baldwin's account of his attempt to hook up to a refueling tanker in the dark, while running out of gas and hampered by nervous jitters, is among the most vivid in aviation literature. His running tale of his long-distance courtship of his wife is less engaging, but it doesn't hamper the appeal of this gritty and visceral memoir.

~ Navy pilot courts danger & his wife from the USS MIDWAY
Navy pilot Sherm Baldwin ushers you silently into the cockpit of his Navy Jet Prowler in the Gulf War as he lands and takes off both day and night onto the smallest aircraft carrier in our fleet. You feel all his experiences at first hand, right along with him and his crew. My twelve year old son likes the book as much as I do ("the best book I ever read," he told me) probably in spite of the fact that "Tank" Baldwin courts his wife to be Alice by daily letter from the Gulf War. No surprise to me that the Military Book Club has chosen IRONCLAW as its lead selection this Fall. Give it a try ... the first chapter will have you gripping your seat wondering if he can land this damn plane.