Skip to main content
Back to Published Books
Cleared Hot

Cleared Hot

by Brian Slade

About This Book

One in three will experience a significant trauma in their life. For Army Apache Pilot Brian Slade, his first was in Afghanistan.
Offering a unique perspective on preparing one’s mind for trauma, Cleared Hot puts readers in the cockpit of the most lethal helicopter in the world as Slade learns on the job, flying over an unforgiving landscape.
Follow Slade as he navigates the ugliness of combat while working to preserve a difficult marriage to a wife suffering from mental illness. Witness the challenges that taught him universal lessons on resilience and coping—and how they equipped him to think fast under pressure and maneuver through a curtain of enemy fire that crippled his aircraft and wounded his co-pilot, ultimately earning him the Distinguished Flying Cross.
Cleared Hot offers readers an exhilarating ride while giving them tools they can use to survive the traumas of their own lives.

Memoir Military Auto and Aerospace
Brian Slade

Brian Slade

In five combat deployments, Brian L. Slade has piloted both the army Apache gunship helicopter and the air force Pave Hawk rescue helicopter, and has held command positions in both branches. He’s received the Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star, and 14 combat air medals. The oldest of eight siblings, Brian enlisted in the Army Reserves at 19, served a two-year LDS mission in Brazil, then joined the ROTC at Utah State where he earned a BA and was commissioned an Army Aviation 2nd lieutenant. He’s also earned an MA in Aviation Instruction. He is the custodial parent of his adopted son, Axel, and currently serves as a lieutenant colonel for Air Force Combat Search and Rescue.

Michael Hirsh, a lifelong journalist, earned his Combat Infantryman Badge as an army combat correspondent with the 25th Inf. Div. in Vietnam. Among his military-related books are NONE BRAVER and THE LIBERATORS. He’s produced numerous network TV documentaries, and is the recipient of the Peabody and Writers Guild Awards, and the Vietnam Veterans of America Excellence in the Arts Award.

View full profile