Bases of the World, Volume 1
Kadena Air Base

by Jake Melampy

Reid Air Publications

Reviewed by Darren Mottram

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Before anything else, I need to be up-front and point out that I accompanied Jake Melampy on the trips he did to Kadena to capture the photos and information used to put this book together and he has also used some of my own photos within the book so, whilst that doesn't change the fact that I will try to be as honest and objective in my comments as possible, you are free to determine the validity of my comments for yourself.

The latest book from the ever expanding portfolio of Reid Air Publications is the first in what the author hopes may be a continuing series entitled "Bases of the World", with this premier volume being dedicated to Kadena. This American base, on the Japanese island of Okinawa, is prime example for the initial book in this series as it truly is one of the great "super-bases" of the world with a large cross section of aircraft types, capabilities and facilities which, combined with its location, make it a key, strategic cornerstone of American military capability in the region.

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For those familiar with the previous titles from Reid Air, which have concentrated more on the finer details of specific types, aimed mostly at the scale modeller, or more general, in-service coverage of specific types, such as the F-16, the first thing you may notice is the different format of this volume, being landscape Vs portrait (although, admittedly, this was also used for Neil Dunridge's A-10 "21st Century Warthog" book, also published by Reid Air). This format allows for a better presentation of the many photos, allowing them to be larger and clearer than the more traditional format as they can be shown in their natural format which is a great benefit to the reader (viewer?) as, like all of Reid Air's books, this is primarily a book of photographs with the informative text being place strategically, but unobtrusively amongst the hundreds of colour photos throughout the book's 132 pages.

The major unit at the core of Kadena's operations is the 18th Wing which most aviation enthusiasts may immediately associate with the "ZZ" coded F-15 Eagles sometimes seen at airshows throughout the region. This is quite misleading though as the Wing's assets are far greater and more diverse than just the high profile fighters and cover a wide range of capabilities such as aerial refuelling, combat rescue, combat airspace control, electronic intelligence and more. After a brief introduction and overview of the history and background of this key and historic island base, the book covers the major units of the 18th Wing, unit by unit, with an overview of each followed by several pages of photos covering the operations of each, ranging from the expected, but still spectacular, air-to-air images to "behind the scenes" shots and information, covering the more people-oriented aspects such as maintenance and support. Whilst the 18th Wing is the major, host unit, it is not the only one which has aircraft based at Kadena and these other, co-based units are also covered with sections on the US Navy's Orions and USAF's Special Operations Command as well as the various electronic surveillance types which operate from the base.

The significance of Kadena's strategic importance lies, not just in the units based there, but in the fact that its other purpose is as a base of operations to allow forward deployment of other units should the need arise and this is seen by the wide variety of external units which often deploy to Kadena for exercises and support operations as well as the constant stream of transport and refuelling assets which regularly stage through the base in support of America's operations within the region, and these are represented in the book with sections on visiting tankers and transports, visiting F-22 and Aggressor F-16 units and US Marine AV-8Bs and F/A-18s. As such, whilst the book's purpose is to document the units and aircraft of Kadena itself, it also provides quite a good photographic overview of current American military hardware in general.

The book is a "softback" with a card cover and the pages are high quality paper with a satin finish and the many photos are well printed, clear and with good colour and some of the air-to-air shots in particular are spectacular. One thing I might suggest for future volumes though would perhaps be a clearer indication of the various sections on each unit. It's not always clear (when flicking through the book, perhaps looking for something in particular) where the division from one unit to another is as the unit crests and titles which are presented on the first page of each section, are sometimes towards the spine of the book so not immediately visible.

Overall I would say that, apart from an interesting and informative overview of the units and operations of Kadena specifically, I believe that this book should also appeal to anyone with an interest in modern American military hardware in general with the many, large and clear images of a wide variety of current types and it is a fitting debut to the series. The only problem now is "what's next?"

With thanks to Jake Melampy / Reid Air Publishing for the review sample.

Review Copyright © 2011 by Darren Mottram
This Page Created on 29 September, 2011
Last updated 8 September, 2014

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