Tom Young (born 1962 in

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the List of North Carolina county seats, seat of Wake County, North Carolina, Wake County in the United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most ...

) is an American novelist. He is known primarily as the author of the military thrillers ''The Mullah's Storm'', ''Silent Enemy'', ''The Renegades'', ''The Warriors'', and ''Sand and Fire''. Young served in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars with the West Virginia Air National Guard. Young's military experience inspired his debut novel, ''The Mullah's Storm'', which garnered positive reviews. ''The Mullah's Storm'', ''Silent Enemy'', and ''The Renegades'' received Gold Medal awards from the

Military Writers Society of America The Military Writers Society of America, also known as the MWSA, is non-profit, 501(c)3 association of authors, poets, and artists, many of whom are U.S. military veterans or family members of veterans. Membership is open to anyone with an interest ...

. ''Silent Enemy'', ''The Renegades'', and ''The Warriors'' received starred reviews from ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...

''.

Career

Young began his writing career as a journalist. He received BA and MA degrees from

the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...

, and he worked as a reporter and anchor at

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Radio in

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

. Young also worked as a writer, editor, and newsroom supervisor for the broadcast division of the

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for ten years. During his time at AP, Young joined the

Air National Guard The Air National Guard (ANG), also known as the Air Guard, is a federal military reserve force of the United States Air Force, as well as the air militia of each U.S. state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the ter ...

, where he served as a crew chief and flight engineer on the

C-130 Hercules The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 ...

with the

Maryland Air National Guard The Maryland Air National Guard (MD ANG) is the aerial militia of the State of Maryland, United States of America, and a reserve component of the United States Air Force. It is, along with the Maryland Army National Guard, an element of the Maryla ...

and later on the

C-5 Galaxy The Lockheed C-5 Galaxy is a large military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed, and now maintained and upgraded by its successor, Lockheed Martin. It provides the United States Air Force (USAF) with a heavy intercontinental-ran ...

with the West Virginia Air National Guard. Young retired from the Air National Guard in 2013. Since 2010, Young has written a series of military procedurals that dramatize modern combat operations. Prior to that, his published works about the Iraq and Afghanistan wars were nonfiction. The anthology ''Operation Homecoming: Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Home Front in the Words of U.S. Troops and Their Families'' included Young's first-person account of flying over Iraq, titled "Night Flight to Baghdad." A panel of celebrated authors, guided by historian Andrew Carroll, chose the 89 contributors who were published in Operation Homecoming. "Night Flight to Baghdad" was also excerpted in

Stars and Stripes (newspaper) ''Stars and Stripes'' is a daily American military newspaper reporting on matters concerning the members of the United States Armed Forces and their communities, with an emphasis on those serving outside the United States. It operates from insi ...

. (See also Operation Homecoming (book).) Young's nonfiction book ''The Speed of Heat: An Airlift Wing at War in Iraq and Afghanistan'' is an oral history of the 167th Airlift Wing's missions in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.McFarland and Company (publisher) website http://www.mcfarlandpub.com/book-2.php?id=978-0-7864-3798-6

Novels

# ''Trash-Hauler's Ball: A Tale of Modern War'' (2003) # ''The Mullah's Storm'' (2010) # ''Silent Enemy'' (2011) # ''The Renegades'' (2012) # ''The Warriors'' (2013) # ''Sand and Fire'' (2014) # ''Phantom Fury'' (2014) (short novel published as an e-book) # ''The Hunters'' (2015) # ''Silver Wings, Iron Cross'' (2020) # ''Red Burning Sky'' (2022)

Nonfiction

# ''The Speed of Heat: An Airlift Wing at War in Iraq and Afghanistan'' (2008)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Young, Tom 1962 births Living people American military writers American thriller writers 21st-century American novelists West Virginia National Guard personnel American male novelists 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American male non-fiction writers