They say you can't ever go back. Well, they (whoever "they" are) were wrong in this case.

For several years I had carried this idea around, like a secret talisman: I would go back to my old Navy squadron. I'd revisit the ready room and officers' club and carrier flight deck. I'd join the new generation of fighter pilots, live and drink and fly with them - and then write a book about the whole experience.

The only trouble was, I had been long out of contact with anyone in the Navy. In fact, the only living person I knew still on active duty was a guy named "Sweepea" Allen, with whom I'd served as a newly winged Ensign flying A-4s back at Cecil Field and aboard the U.S.S. Saratoga.

But lo! It turned out that Sweapea - now Vice Admiral Allen - commanded all the naval air forces in the Atlantic fleet. And as it turned out, it was he who facilitated my journey back in time. For the next six months I lived with the eight members of Class 2-95, at VFA-106, Cecil Field, Florida, undergoing FA-18 strike fighter training. My "nuggets" (newly designated naval aviators) were a cross-section of the modern military: three Marines, five Navy students. One African-American, one Hispanic, two women (yes, women fighter pilots - something unimaginable in my day), one ex-helicopter pilot with no prior jet experience.

What happened to my eight fighter pilot candidates turned out to be more dramatic than a work of fiction. Without giving away the story... not all made it through the rigorous program. Not all lived through it.

Bogeys and Bandits was published in June 1997 by Viking Penguin. It was acquired for foreign language reprint in Sweden and Finland, and came out in paperback in June, 1998.

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING ABOUT
BOGEYS AND BANDITS:

"Bogeys and Bandits is simply the best explanation in print of why naval aviation is the ultimate challenge, and what it takes to get there. Perceptive, witty, insightful, the book is a delightful journey into the hearts of some great young people learning to fly hot jets. This superb book is for everyone who is, was, or wants to be a part of the glorious adventure that is naval aviation. Gandt makes me wish I were doing it all over again."
-- Stephen Coonts, Author of Flight of the Intruder


"Gandt manages to evoke both awe at and sympathy for these young yet distinguished aviators, so that readers will agonize over their defeats and cheer their triumphs."
-- Publishers Weekly


"Informative, compelling, and thought provoking, this book offers an insider's perspective on what it takes to make the grade, and a number of interesting insights on key events and trends in today's Navy."
-- Sea Power


"Gandt transports readers into the cockpit... Bogeys and Bandits is about as close as one gets without arming the ejection seat."
-- San Diego Union-Tribune


"This is a terrific read, and the reader has to continually be reminded that this is true. It is fact, but reads like fiction... Be sure to strap this one on for a great ride."
-- Flight Journal

"Gandt expertly weaves human emotions onto the pages to bring the men and women in the class to life on his pages. He lives with them, laughs with them and cries with them as he tells a story that is not easy to forget."
-- Lake Worth Herald


"No fiction-based book can give you more excitement and drama than this detailed account of what eight earnest flyers go through to reach their dream: to be that one-person-in-a-million - a fighter pilot in command of a FA-18 Hornet."
-- The Press/Observer


"A fascinating look into an arcane, risky, high-tech world inhabited by bright, brave youngsters."
-- Kirkus Reviews