Dale Brown – author, pilot, volunteer

New York Times Bestselling author Dale Brown does far more than sell a lot of books. In this interview, he described himself as follows. “I am an American, a Dad, a husband, an author, a pilot, a military veteran, and a volunteer serving my country and my community. I donate my skills, aircraft, and time to serve others Every Day.” As a command pilot in Angel Flight West, a group that volunteer their time, skills, and aircraft, Brown flies needy medical patients free of charge to receive medical treatment. He is also a mission pilot and deputy squadron commander in the Civil Air Patrol, which performs search and rescue, disaster relief, humanitarian assistance, surveillance, and many other missions in support of the U.S. Air Force and other federal agencies. When he’s not flying, Brown is on the ground as a youth soccer referee and referee instructor.

So when does he get time to write or think up ideas for techno-thrillers? “Tiger’s Claw” is Brown’s latest release. The book describes a potential future conflict with China over the South China Sea. That potential future conflict is something Brown sees as a frightening possibility and, given current events, something he felt compelled to address. He said, “With the South China Sea conflicts and China’s military and economic resurgence, I wanted to describe the problems the U.S. military will face if an all-out conflict develops. A fight with China would not be an easy one, and I don’t think we are doing enough to prepare for one. Tiger’s Claw is also about Patrick’s son Bradley becoming a major character. It’s a challenge. Patrick McLanahan started out as a more or less fully-formed character—I get to spend some time forming Brad’s character.”

“Starfire,” Brown’s 25^th novel, features Brad. He calls the book, which has a 2014 release date, “‘Top Gun’ in Earth Orbit.” Fans will likely be pleased with the direction the book is headed. He said, “My goal in ‘Starfire’ was to introduce the son Brad McLanahan as a major character in the next 20 novels. His father Patrick was a fully-formed character when he was introduced back in 1987, but I had the chance to build Brad’s character beginning in ‘Tiger’s Claw’ and further in ‘Starfire.’ I am having a BLAST doing that. That’s what you will love in ‘Starfire.’”

Brown is very concerned about where our military is headed. He said, “Pondering the future of the U.S. military, do I write about the Pentagon’s so-called ‘future’ of the military—the F-35, the Littoral Combat Ship, and the Long Range Bomber? No way. These weapon systems are already obsolete and they haven’t even been deployed yet. I want to write about what I feel should be the future of the U.S. military: space and cyberspace. Anything else is way old-school—way, way, way old-school.”

Once Brown’s passion for what he does comes out, it’s apparent that he could only do one thing to answer the question about time to write or ideas—make the time. He said, “I try to stay out of partisan politics, but when it comes to the military or geopolitics, I put everything into it. I have strong feelings about the future of the U.S. military and I put every ounce of those feelings in my books.”

More information

Dale Brown’s website is at www.AirBattleForce.com.