The official web site for Catchers in the Sky, Mission: Korea, the first novel on the Airborne Laser and Directed Energy warfare
Buy a copy of the novel from Amazon.com (JON60081), and get a FREE Airborne Laser mug*
ABL or Airborne Laser in combat during anti-ballistic missile patrol
Key words: Airborne Laser, ABL, Tom Clancy novels, North Korea, DPRK, Laser Weapons, Directed Energy Weapons, DEW, High Energy Lasers, HEL, Larry Bond novels, USAF, Air Force Research Laboratory, AFRL, Directed Energy Directorate, AFRL/DE, Ballistic Missiles, Missile Defense Agency, MDA, Kirtland Air Force Base, Airborne Laser (Experimental), ABL (X), White Sands Missile Range, WSMR, Osan AB, 7th Air Force, Yakota AB, Kadena AB, Dale Brown novels, Seoul, Panmunjom, DMZ, JSA, Pyongyang, Yongbyon, U.S. Department of State, DoS, The Agreed Framework, IAEA, Sandia National Laboratories, ROKA Special Forces, Japanese Air Self-Defense Force, JASDF, National Defense Committee, Ministry of Peoples' Armed Forces, MPAF, DPRK Special Forces (Combatants)
"A great read! This story could have been taken directly from today's headlines. It has everything: adventure, combat, humanity, fanaticism, and provides a unique look into one of the world's most dangerous nations — North Korea."
Joseph S. Bermudez, Jr., Senior Analyst Jane's Information Group, and author of 'North Korean Special Forces,' and 'The Armed Forces of North Korea.'
"This is an exciting adventure story, illustrating the changes which Directed Energy may bring to modern warfare. The book painlessly educates the reader on the basics of Directed Energy warfare and slips in some geo-political concerns about the complex Korean environment.
Read it - you will enjoy it and learn a lot."
George B. Harrison, Maj. Gen., USAF (Ret)
Director, Strategic Initiatives, Georgia Tech Research Institute
Hello and Welcome to Jonathan Damien's writer's site
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The Novel 'Catchers in the Sky, Mission: Korea' |
*FREE MUG! |
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The world of the Korean DMZ and its armistice is one of huge poised forces. In the most heavily armed, most militarized place on Earth, the war machines—decades in preparation and as delicately balanced as giant tectonic plates—await the slightest tremor to trigger the earthquake. Lying under this deadly fault-line of poised missiles, air forces, and armored divisions, are a fratricidal hatred, and the festering memories of atrocities and wars—all sharpened by an history of paranoid brinksmanship. At this fault zone—where millions of innocents work, live, and play—even a slight miscalculation can quiver the vast tectonic plates of ancient rivalry, sliding the giant war machines effortlessly into action—and in this quake tips the world. From inside the world of the race to field a boost-phase laser missile defense shield—and the world of Airborne Laser (Experimental) and its raucous and rambunctious crew—a master of tech weaponry and conventional arms spins a plot driven by high action and low politics, yet from a perspective only a Pentagon insider could have. |
If you order Catchers in the Sky, Mission: Korea, we will send you FREE a beautiful 4-color 11oz mug. The image wrapped around the mug is the one above: ABL (X) in combat (email me your receipt & address, or buy on Amazon.com, and we'll send it to you.) |
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Arms, love, politics, science, and international conflict… Foreword
At the dawn of the 21st Century, science fiction depicted lasers as a standard weapon of future warfare.
In fact no laser weapons existed.
Yet.
Who, then, will be The First Laser Warriors?
What will be their story?
Back Cover
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Front Cover
Dr. Jonathan Damien has, for over twenty years, served as a member of an elite cadre of ‘Turban Wearers’ who provide vision and direction for techno-warfare development projects for the U.S. Air Force, DoD, and National Security Agencies of the U.S. Government.
If you buy the novel new from Amazon.com, or autographed from Seller JON60081, you will get a free mug*!
Just email us your address after you buy!
Please email or write any comments to
jon@jonathandamien.com
Damien Productions, LLC
PO Box 5364
Arlington, VA 22205
Photo Section
“There are only two revolutionary weapons systems in the entire DOD budget: the F-22 and the Airborne Laser. There are no others.”
Gen Ronald R. Fogelman, Former Chief of Staff, USAF
The roots of Airborne Laser (Experimental), or ABL(X), and 'Catchers in the Sky.'
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The A.L.L., or Airborne Laser Laboratory (its shield in the upper left, and the aircraft upper right), and its tough crew of idealists were the inspiration for 'Catchers in the Sky, Mission: Korea,' along with the more modern maturing of Air Combat Command and Missile Defense Agency's upcoming Airborne Laser (lower picture) The A.L.L., an early airborne project at the Air Force Weapons Laboratory at Kirtland AFB in New Mexico, showed that an airborne laser could indeed shoot down missiles, and paved the way for the ABL(X) and 'Catchers'. http://www.fas.org/spp/starwars/program/all.htm |
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KOREAN PICTURES
"There will come a time, when all the peoples of the world, regardless of the political systems under which they live, will have to learn to live together in peace."
Dr. Martin Luther King
The three Chinese characters (Korean Hanja) above the altar name this place:
'The Gazing over the Distance Worshiping Altar.'
At the closest point to the DMZ that South Koreans may go, a man has come to honor and remember his family in North Korea. Facing north, dressed in black, he has put aside his hat and poured a drink for each of his five family members he has not seen or talked to in fifty years, and cannot write to, send money to, or phone.
There is no equivalent altar in North Korea.
Photo by Jonathan Damien
A nice model of the JSA, or Joint Security Area, in the DMZ. It's commonly called Panmunjom, for the now defunct nearby village where negotiators for the Korean War Armistice first met.
The MDL is the Military Demarcation Line, the actual north-south border, running directly through the Armistice and Negotiation buildings. The robin's egg blue is actually United Nations' blue, and marks the UNC AOR (Area of Responsibility).
If you want to get a feel for the difference in life from South Korea to North Korea, consider the architectural spaces created on either side of the border as reflected in this model. Note the modern materials, landscaping, and graciousness of the south, against the formalist de-individualized and stark spaces of the north.
You see here a side-by-side of Seoul and Pyongyang.
Photo by Jonathan Damien
Young rice grows amidst the power lines just south of the DMZ. North Korea is just visible as hazy distant mountains. Demand for living and agricultural space in a densely populated Korea has pushed the civilian population dangerously close to the border.
Photo by Jonathan Damien
From Dora Observation Platform, tourists crowd to see over to North Korea just beyond the river and green belt of the DMZ. The JSA is just visible to the far right by the building.
Photo by Jonathan Damien
The 'Happy Forever' building in dynamic (Korea's favorite word) downtown Seoul. Note the Caucasian businessman, the South Korean cars, and the fine landscaping.
Photo by Jonathan Damien
The Koryo Hotel in downtown Pyongyang. Walking is the main mode of transport in North Korea, and there are virtually no foreigners. One of the Koryo's towers has a revolving restaurant with a good Korean Barbecue. It used to close promptly at 9pm, whether you were finished eating or not. Recently, with the introduction of tipping, you can stay and drink all night.
Photo courtesy of flicr.com
A recent view of Pyongyang from the top of the Juche Tower. The May Day Stadium, the world's largest, holding more than 150,000 people, is in the distance.
Photo courtesy of flicr.com
Thanks for visiting!
Please return again to visit as the site will continue to grow:
RESEARCH LINKS AND STUDY QUESTIONS:
Glossary and Acronyms from the world of Airborne Laser (X)
Bibliography for 'Catchers in the Sky, Mission: Korea'
Study Questions: For High-School & College Students For Military Students For Reading Groups
Copyright Damien Productions, LLC, 2008