Saber 27: A Memoir

Captain Anne "Chichi" Armstrong, a determined Marine pilot, fights to balance her combat dreams, military career, and love life in Afghanistan.

Captain Anne “Chichi” Armstrong, a newly minted AH-1W SuperCobra attack helicopter pilot in the United States Marine Corps, dreamt of flying in combat after living through the terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers a decade earlier. Eager to “make it”, especially after her struggles in flight school, she can think of no greater challenge, and reward, than flying her Cobra over the skies of Afghanistan.

When a chance opportunity to fight, and fly, in Helmand Province is suddenly offered, Chichi eagerly accepts. She spends six months in Camp Leatherneck behind a desk in a plywood office writing the Air Tasking Order flight schedule. Despite her initial frustration, she begins to enjoy her time deployed. Even better, she flies with the skid squadrons in-country, finally realizing her dream of becoming a combat attack helicopter pilot. She’s made it. Or so she thinks.

Chichi returns to her parent squadron fresh from combat and eager to progress her flight qualifications, only to realize she’s been blacklisted for abandoning them – she’s not the priority and will never get a chance to fulfil her true potential. Ten months after returning Stateside, Chichi volunteers to return to Afghanistan.

Chichi quickly re-establishes her combat lifestyle working in yet another plywood office. She fights her way back into the cockpit and flies enough to earn the prestigious Air Medal. Mid-deployment, a British Royal Navy officer joins her shift who she falls for fast, making her reevaluate what really matters in life. Before she leaves the desert, they decide to pursue a long-distance relationship, motivating her to begin the painful process of clearing the skeletons out of her closet that she hasn’t acknowledged for years. But when she stops denying her past, will her dark truth ruin both her career in the military and her future with her beloved?