Sustaining the Carrier War

Stan Fisher, a commander in the U.S. Navy, is an assistant professor of naval and American history at the United States Naval Academy.  Before transitioning to classroom, he accumulated over 2,500 flight hours as a Navy pilot, mainly in SH-60B & MH-60R Seahawk helicopters. He earned a commission through the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps in 1997 and has multiple deployments on frigates, cruisers, and aircraft carriers. Fisher has also served as a weapons and tactics instructor, squadron maintenance officer, and operational test director. Additionally, he has completed tours of duty in engineering and acquisitions at the Naval Air Systems Command.  He is a past recipient of the Samuel Eliot Morison Naval History Scholarship and earned his PhD from the University of Maryland.

“Many historians have covered the carriers, planes, and pilots engaged in the naval war in the Pacific. Now, for the first time, an historian tells the stirring tale of the recruitment, training, and work of the fourth vital element in the US Navy’s victory - the enlisted maintenance technicians who kept the planes flying."—Kathleen Broome Williams, naval historian and author of Painting War“At the Battle of Midway, the great majority of Japanese pilots actually survived, but almost all the highly trained and skilled aircraft maintainers died, with profound negative strategic consequences. This book masterfully shows how the U.S. Navy overcame a myriad of problems to belatedly create the critical aircraft maintenance capability vital for victory."—Rear Admiral Sam Cox, U.S. Navy (Ret.) - Naval Historian and former Commander of the Office of Naval Intelligence.“Much has been written about American carriers in WWII, but practically nothing has been produced regarding how that carrier aviation force was kept in the fight. In this unique volume, Fisher “looks under the hood” to see how the USN adapted during the war years to produce the necessary aviation techs to support the world’s mightiest carrier force."—Jonathan Parshall, co-author, Shattered Sword, the Untold Story of the Battle of Midway"Delving deeply into unpublished unit and command histories from World War II, Dr. Fisher’s book shines a light on the under-studied and under-appreciated role of the enlisted maintainer in supporting the immense aerial armada that played such a large role in the victory over Japan."—Laurence M. Burke II, author of At the Dawn of Airpower: The U.S. Army, Navy, and Marine Corps’ Approach to the Airplane, 1907–1917