Armstrong, Anne J. Saber 27: A Memoir

A Female Cobra Pilot's Story of Betrayal, Redemption, and Combat in the War on Terror

Captain Anne Chichi Armstrong, a newly qualified AH-1W Super Cobra combat helicopter pilot in the United States Marine Corps, dreamed of flying in combat after witnessing the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers ten years earlier. She was determined to make it, especially after her difficulties in flight school, and could think of no greater challenge and reward than flying her Cobra over the skies of Afghanistan. When the opportunity to fight and fly in Helmand Province suddenly arises, Chichi eagerly accepts. She spends six months at Camp Leatherneck behind a desk in a plywood office, writing the flight plan for the Air Tasking Order. Despite her initial frustration, she begins to enjoy her time on deployment. Even better, she flies with the Skid Squadrons in the country and finally realises her dream of becoming a combat helicopter pilot. She has made it. At least, she thinks so. Chichi returns to her home squadron fresh from combat and eager to improve her flying qualifications, only to find that she has been blacklisted for leaving she has no priority and will never get the chance to reach her true potential. Ten months after returning to the US, Chichi volunteers to return to Afghanistan. Chichi quickly finds her way back into her combat routine while working in yet another plywood office. She fights her way back into the cockpit and flies enough to earn the prestigious Air Medal. In the middle of her deployment, an officer from the British Royal Navy joins her shift, and she quickly falls in love with him, causing her to rethink what is really important in life. Before she leaves the desert, they decide to have a long-distance relationship, which motivates her to begin the painful process of confronting the skeletons in her closet that she has been repressing for years. But when she stops denying her past, will her dark truth ruin both her military career and her future with her lover?