Line #174 Creator/DaleBrown


1	[[AlmostFamousName Not to be confused with the ''other'' author]] named [[Creator/DanBrown D. Brown]]. Also not to be confused with Dale Brown, former basketball coach at Louisiana State University.
2
3	Once upon a time, there was a member of the United States Air Force. He spent his days as a member of the Strategic Air Command, specifically a navigator-bombardier. He was rather good at it.
4
5	Then he retired and started writing books. These books involve super-planes, such as the EB-52 Megafortress, a [[MilitaryMashupMachine stealth escort bomber]]. They also sometimes involve [[NukeEm nukes being let off.]] The main plotline through most of his stories involves USAF bomber navigator Patrick Shane [=McLanahan=] and his involvement with the supersecret High Technology Aerospace Weapons Center "Dreamland". After [=McLanahan=] went his own ways from "Dreamland", Brown also collaborated with Jim Defelice to write more stories centred on Dreamland.
6
7	He made the plot for a RealTimeStrategy game, ''VideoGame/ActOfWar'', which features some of the tropes found in his books.
8
9	[[folder:His books:]]
10	* ''Flight of the Old Dog'': When a Soviet laser cannon threatens the deterrent value of American strategic forces and other means of destroying it fail, disillusioned bomber navigator Patrick [=McLanahan=] is brought into a secret programme to take a SuperPrototype stealth bomber on an AirstrikeImpossible against it.
11	* ''Silver Tower'': In which an American space laser mounted on a space station does battle against space Russians InSpace.
12	* ''Day of the Cheetah'': In which a Russian spy attempts to steal an advanced, mind-controlled fighter jet. [[Film/{{Firefox}} Does that sound familliar?]]
13	* ''Hammerheads'': In which drug runners are taken out by V-22s launched from an oil-rig air base.
14	* ''Literature/SkyMasters'': When an overconfident Chinese Admiral is put on the ropes by the Filipino navy, he resorts to [[NukeEm nuking 'em]] to save his bacon. Emboldened, communist elements within the Filipino government stage a coup. The resultant escalation draws contenders on both the American and Chinese sides, with an early version of the B-2 as Dreamland's dog in the race. Comes with hilariously inaccurate portrayal of both nations' governments and militaries.
15	* ''Night of the Hawk'': In which a friend thought dead is still alive but in Soviet hands, seemingly having defected, and the Dreamland crew must save him before the CIA get to him and terminate the traitor apparent.
16	* ''Chains of Command'': Back in Desert Storm, Daren Mace rightfully aborted a secret mission and was ostracised for it, dropped into the USAF reserves where his path crosses with Rebecca Furness, the USAF's first female combat pilot. When a border skirmish between Russia, Ukraine and Moldova goes nuclear, them and theirs are hurled headlong into the power plays of the Russians.
17	* ''Storming Heaven'': In which drug lord Henri Cazaux causes the unplanned destruction of the San Francisco International Airport, decides that EvilFeelsGood, and becomes a super-villain powered by the sexual energy of Satan. No, seriously.
18	* ''Shadows of Steel'': When Iran gets frisky with its new aircraft carrier, a secret commando unit is sent by the US to try and deal with it. Unfortunately, things go horribly wrong. In response, people close to the POTUS ask [=McLanahan=] out of retirement to support special operations against it. Can he get over his trouble with his hostile copilot before it's too late for the rest of the Gulf?
19	* ''Fatal Terrain'': When Taiwan finally decides to declare independence from China, a cunning Chinese Admiral comes up with an EvilPlan to nuke Taiwanese bases, North Korea and Guam while painting the US and Taiwan as the aggressors.
20	* ''The Tin Man'': In which [=McLanahan=]'s cop brother gets shot by terrorists and he breaks out the eponymous PoweredArmor in search of the culprits.
21	* ''Battle Born'': [=McLanahan=] is out to pick up some new talent for Dreamland and sets his eyes on a group of maverick National Guard pilots. However, South Korea pulls off a plan to forcibly reunite the penisula, earning China's ire. As the situation goes FromBadToWorse, the only hope of averting a full-blown war seems to lie in the hands of these unreliable upstarts.
22	* ''Warrior Class'': In which a Russian oilman plans to restore Russia's glory with a Balkan pipeline and some SovietSuperscience of his own, and will brook no interference from the West.
23	* ''Wings of Fire'': After the previous book's events, [=McLanahan=] has become part of a new "Night Stalkers" NGOSuperpower, dedicated to "firefighting" across the world. When they act against Libyan aggression, however, disaster causes the mission to turn dangerously personal, not helped by the return of an old enemy.
24	* ''Air Battle Force'': In which a seemingly straightforward strike against a Taliban group becomes much more complicated when the Russians use action against that group as a pretext to take on Turkmenistan.
25	* ''Plan of Attack'': {{The Neidermeyer}}s above Patrick have finally gotten tired of him showing them up, not helped by the events of the previous book, and have him grounded, confined to an insignificant desk job. When his CassandraTruth about rapid Russian remilitarisation comes true in a brief burst of brutality, though, Dreamland are the only ones able to repay Moscow for their atrocity.
26	* ''Act of War'': When eco-terrorists nuke a major installation of a big conglomerate, it inspires a tough response from the US, who stand up a high-tech joint FBI-Army unit to search for the culprits. However, the mishmash of young hotshots, barely kept in check by an old wardog, may not be up to the task of battling this elusive, resourceful foe, and the rabbit hole goes deeper than anyone initially knows.
27	* ''Edge of Battle'': In which US-Mexico relations grow horribly tense thanks to the warmongering of a drug smuggler masquerading as a revolutionary.
28	* ''Strike Force'': In which [=McLanahan=] is asked to intervene in an Iranian power struggle, one where he has to go EnemyMine with the former BigBad from ''Shadows of Steel'' against the Russian-backed theocrats.
29	* ''Shadow Command'': In which a new Russian president plots the destruction of Dreamland while the Iranian power struggle continues.
30	* ''Rogue Forces'': In which [=McLanahan=]'s new PMC, Scion, is called into action over Iraq when Turkey's fight against Kurd rebels spills dangerously into Iraqi territory.
31	* ''Executive Intent'': The testing of a new American KillSat has GoneHorriblyWrong, giving China and Russia the leverage to challenge American domination of space.
32	* ''A Time for Patriots'': The US economy has gone down the sewer some time between the previous book's events and this one. In the face of growing anti-government dissatisfaction, [=McLanahan=] forms a group to keep the peace against terrorists and {{Right Wing Militia Fanatic}}s. However, the biggest threat to him and his may instead come from overly paranoid FBI agents lashing out blindly after a sting operation gone wrong, dragging his son Bradley James into the crossfire in the process.
33	* ''Tiger's Claw'': China, having reached an all-new height of power, successfully deploys an antiship ballistic missile, just one of several prongs in their plan to hold off American naval objections to their aggression against Southeast Asia. With the US still mired in economic trouble, though, can its outdated, underfunded forces offer any useful resistance?
34	* ''Starfire'': After a major loss in the previous book, [=McLanahan=]'s son Bradley now leads a team of engineers designing Earth's first orbital solar power plant, which will transmit unlimited inexpensive energy to the whole planet and serve as an important stepping stone to further space exploration. When this industrialisation of space sparks a retaliatory arms race from America's enemies, however, global war once again looms on the horizon.
35	* ''Iron Wolf'': When Russia sends commandos disguised as 'pro-Russia activists' to intervene in Ukraine and Moldova, NATO's response is outraged but ultimately tepid. Ex-president Martindale will have none of that, however, and comes to an agreement with Poland to deploy a retaliatory covert force of his own, one equipped with [[MiniMecha CIDs]].
36	* ''Price of Duty'': When Russia starts a massive cyberwarfare attack on the West in preparation for military action, Bradley and his Scion comrades must rise to the challenge.
37	* ''The Moscow Offensive'': Russia enacts a secret plan to sneak a new hi-tech attack force into the US, and Bradley and co must thwart him without being able to count on the support of the ineffectual current US government.
38	* ''The Kremlin Strike'': A bold new US President is determined to make up for lost time regarding the Russian threat, but with the Russian deployment of a heavily-armed space station, it might be too little, too late for freedom.
39	* ''Eagle Station'': New blood in the ranks of China and Russia's leadership has led to a new Sino-Russian alliance bent on controlling Earth's orbitals by force.
40	[[/folder]]
41
42	As a LongRunningBookSeries -- ''Flight of the Old Dog'' was released in 1987 -- '''beware {{Late Arrival Spoiler}}s'''.
43	----
44	!!His books contain examples of:
45	* ATeamFiring: PlayedForDrama in ''Executive Intent'', where [[spoiler:a Mjolnir/Kingfisher KillSat misses its target of terrorists holding on to commandeered missiles and kills many civilians.]]
46	* AdventureFriendlyWorld: One in which conventional conflicts are still ongoing and repeated nuclear releases have not doomed the world to death in nuclear fire.
47	* AirborneAircraftCarrier: Bombers and transport planes carrying miniature [=UCAVs=].
48	* AirstrikeImpossible
49	* AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs
50	* AlternateHistory: Has touches of this. For example, the mess with Libya in ''Wings of Fire'' started when apparent BigBad Zuwayy carried out a coup against then RealLife ruler [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muammar_al-Gaddafi Gaddafi]] in the backstory... well ahead of his actual deposal and death in the 2011 Arab Spring.
51	* AmericaSavesTheDay: Especially the Patrick [=McLanahan=] Series, which also has a heavy dose of Pax Americana flavor within it.
52	* AnOfferYouCantRefuse: Pavel Kazakov from ''Warrior Class'' does this several times.
53	* AndThisIsFor: Chris Wohl says this when {{Vigilante Execut\|ion}}ing [[spoiler:Pavel Kazakov]] in ''Wings of Fire''.
54	* AndYourLittleDogToo:
55	** The Libyans from ''Wings of Fire'' kill [[spoiler:Paul [=McLanahan=]]] and abet [[spoiler:Pavel Kazakov's henchwoman]] in killing [[spoiler:Wendy [=McLanahan=]]].
56	** Gryzlov from ''Air Battle Force'' threatens Patrick [=McLanahan=] this way.
57	** In ''Starfire'', Gryzlov's son wants to have Patrick's son assassinated too.
58	* AnyoneCanDie: Dale Brown is not afraid to have multiple-book characters, like [[spoiler:Brad Elliott, Paul and Wendy [=McLanahan=]]] face the reaper.
59	** ''A Time for Patriots'' has [[spoiler:Leo, Ron and Jon Masters]] getting killed off.
60	** ''Tiger's Claw'' takes out [[spoiler:Patrick himself!]]
61	** Went a little overboard in ''Day of the Cheetah,'' which was the end of his original book contract and veered into EverybodyDiesEnding territory. Later retconned.
62	** As of ''Starfire'', [[spoiler:ALL of the characters]] from ''Flight of the Old Dog'' have died.
63	* ArsonMurderAndLifeSaving
64	* AttackDrone: Dreamland operates several, such as the [=StealthHawks=] and [=FlightHawks=], all the way up to eventually remote-piloting full Vampires.
65	* AuthorAppeal:
66	** Clearly favours bombers.
67	** In [=McLanahan=] 'verse not only has his hometown Buffalo Sabres won at least one Stanley Cup (mentioned briefly in Shadows of Steel) but Dale's hometown of Grand Island NY (population 20,000 with battles fought there in American history) has a Ticonderoga-class Missile Cruiser named after it, despite the fact that every other ship in the class is named after a land or naval battle.
68	* AvengingTheVillain: The BigBad Russian PresidentEvil in ''Starfire'' is the son of a previous Russian PresidentEvil who was killed by Patrick [=McLanahan=].
69	* AuthorAvatar: Brown was a USAF navigator aboard B-52s and FB-111s before becoming a writer. Patrick [=McLanahan=] begins the series as a B-52 navigator before being recruited by HAWC. Similarly, Daren Mace is an FB-111 navigator when introduced in ''Chains of Command''.
70	* {{BFG}}: Tin Men and [=CIDs=] have the option of using a man-portable anti-tank [[MagneticWeapons railgun]].
71	* BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork: The Chinese assault on Somalia and Yemen in ''Executive Intent'' is likened to this InUniverse -- one character notes that the rest of the world really wanted to stomp a hole in those {{Wretched Hive}}s, but only China was willing to do the politically unpalatable thing.
72	* BaitTheDog: General Gryzlov gets this the first time he appears in ''Air Battle Force''
73	* BaldOfEvil: Pavel Kazakov from ''Warrior Class''.
74	* BeamSpam: In ''Flight of the Old Dog'' the Ice Fortress supposedly can do this to defeat ballistic missiles. [[spoiler:Supposedly, because it gets sabotaged before it can do anything.]] It gets the chance to shine in ''Silver Tower''. The Dragon aircraft ''can'' do this, but it causes a SuperPowerMeltdown.
75	* BestServedCold: Zakharov and [[spoiler:Chamberlain's]] motivation in ''Act of War''.
76	* BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler:Turabi]] gets saved by Tin Men in ''Air Battle Force'' and ''Plan of Attack''.
77	* BittersweetEnding: While Dreamland almost always wins in the end, it's rarely without sacrifice or outright fatality. For example:
78	** ''Flight of the Old Dog'': [[spoiler:The Soviet laser cannon is destroyed, but Dave Luger sacrifices himself to get the team out.]]
79	** ''Fatal Terrain'': [[spoiler:The Chinese attack is stopped, but not before Brad Elliot crashes the crippled "Old Dog" into a Chinese ICBM site.]]
80	** ''Battle Born'': [[spoiler:Nuclear war over Korea is averted, but Rinc Seaver gives his life in the process.]]
81	** ''Wings of Fire'': [[spoiler:The villains' defeat comes at the cost of Paul and Wendy.]]
82	** ''A Time for Patriots'': [[spoiler:The true terrorists are found and stopped, but not before they kill Jon Masters.]]
83	** ''Starfire'': [[spoiler:Armstrong Space Station is brought down by Russian attack and Casey and Vice President Page are killed, but not before taking out the attackers and the Russian base coordinating the attack. Chris Wohl is killed by an assassin targeting Bradley.]]
84	* {{Brainwashed}}: [[spoiler:Dave Luger]] after getting captured by Soviets. He gets rescued and fixed eventually, but the effects still linger.
85	* BroadStrokes: ''VideoGame/ActOfWar'' (the games) are this to the book of the same name. The factions are the same but the continuity has differences.
86	* CallBack: Occurs a few times, one of these being [[spoiler:Dave Luger]]'s reaction to seeing a former captor in ''Warrior Class''. In ''A Time for Patriots'' there are a few, such as the nanotransponders from ''Edge of Battle'' being used on [[spoiler:the FBI agents]] and Pat being reminded of [[spoiler:Hal Briggs's]] death.
87	* CanonDiscontinuity:
88	** ''Day of the Cheetah'' was replaced with ''Sky Masters'' which was replaced with ''Night of the Hawk''. Except...
89	** ''Silver Tower'' was initially thought dropped from continuity, but the titular space station has reappeared in recent books. A character in ''Tiger's Claw'' also makes clear reference to events in ''Sky Masters''.
90	* CanonWelding: Characters from works originally not involving Pat [=McLanahan=], such as Rebecca Furness, have made their way into the main continuity.
91	* CassandraTruth: At the end of ''Flight of the Old Dog'', Pat casually mentions to his mother that his absence was due to bombing Russia. Played seriously in ''Plan of Attack'' regarding the impending Russian attack and ''Edge of Battle'' regarding the seriousness of Comandante Veracruz's plan.
92	* TheCavalry
93	* TheCavalryArrivesLate: In ''Strike Force'' [[spoiler:Hal Briggs]] dies under Iranian fire before air support and reinforcements can arrive.
94	* TheChessmaster:
95	** Admiral Sun Ji Guoming from ''Fatal Terrain''.
96	** [[spoiler:National Security Adviser Robert Chamberlain]] from ''Act of War''.
97	* ChildProdigy: Jon Masters was one. [[spoiler:Dr. Kelsey Duffield]] from ''Wings of Fire'' turns out to be one.
98	* ChinaTakesOverTheWorld: The Chinese are a recurring threat.
99	* ColdBloodedTorture: [[spoiler:Dave Luger]] faced this during his involuntary stay as a guest of the USSR. ''Wings of Fire'' has some redshirts tortured to death by the Libyans. [[spoiler:Wayne Macomber]] experiences this from GRU agents in ''Executive Intent'', to the degree he needs a Tin Man exoskeleton to move around in the next book.
100	* ColonelBadass: Pat [=McLanahan=] spends some time in earlier books as this before his promotion to the stars. He's not the only one though.
101	* ComingInHot: In ''Air Battle Force'' Pat lands a damaged Vampire on Diego Garcia despite being repeatedly told not to.
102	* CoolPlane: The Megafortress. Eventually heavily-modded B-1B Lancers show up. Plus the Black Stallion {{Space Plane}}s. The Russians sometimes have these, like the Fisikous/Metyor-179 ''Tyenee''/Shadow. Then there are the real-world ones jetting about.
103	* CorruptCorporateExecutive:
104	** Pavel Kazakov from ''Warrior Class''.
105	** Harold Kingman from ''Act of War''.
106	* CouldHaveAvoidedThisPlot: In ''Shadows of Steel'' BigBad Buzhazi is told that he could have avoided getting into trouble with the US had he only [[spoiler:destroyed their spy ship but let the crew be, since the US would have swallowed the destruction of the ship in exchange for not letting the truth about it out.]]
107	* CrimeOfSelfDefense: In ''Starfire'' Bradley gets into trouble for taking down two muggers, even after the muggers kick around one of his disabled friends and slash his arm with a knife.
108	* CynicismCatalyst: Patrick [=McLanahan=] ''almost'' losing his younger brother is what drives him on his vigilante quest in ''The Tin Man'', and eventually [[spoiler:both his wife and brother get killed]].
109	* DarkActionGirl: Ivana Vasilyeva from ''Wings of Fire''.
110	* DarkLordOnLifeSupport: In ''Starfire'' [[spoiler:this is inverted; Pat is revealed to be Not Quite Dead but so badly mangled from his injuries in the previous book that he needs to be hooked up to a CID's life support systems nearly all the time.]]
111	* DavidVersusGoliath: Played with in ''Flight of the Old Dog'' where the Old Dog, despite being much larger than the pursuing [=MiG-29=] Fulcrum, is the David because it [[YouCanBarelyStand Can Barely Stand]].
112	* DeadGuyJunior: [[spoiler:Bradley]], Patrick and Wendy's son, after [[spoiler:Brad Elliott]].
113	* DeadPersonImpersonation: The Kenneth Francis James who joins HAWC in ''Day of the Cheetah'' is actually a Soviet mole. The real James was killed by the KGB to allow the mole to take his place at the Air Force Academy.
114	* DeathOfAThousandCuts: It is possible to drain Tin Men of power, after which they become vulnerable to small arms.
115	* DeceptiveDisciple: [[spoiler:Zakharov]] from ''Act of War''.
116	* DeepCoverAgent: One infiltrates [=HAWC=] in ''Day of the Cheetah''.
117	* DefiantToTheEnd: [[spoiler:Hal Briggs]] in ''Strike Force'' flips off the antiaircraft cannon about to kill him.
118	* DesperatelyLookingForAPurposeInLife: Pat at the start of ''Flight of the Old Dog''.
119	* DirtyBusiness: Some attackers on a Dreamland facility express regret that the EMP device used to disable a CID will also fry the operator.
120	* DirtyCommunists: Essentially what his Patrick [=McLanahan=] Series runs on -- Chinese and Russians tend to be portrayed as irredeemable, unintelligent, or both.
121	* DisproportionateRetribution
122	* DissonantSerenity: Thorn demonstrates this in ''Warrior Class''; it's noted that some find it calming/comforting, while others find it annoying.
123	* TheDogBitesBack: At the end of ''Edge of Battle'', [[spoiler:Zakharov gets killed by a sheriff who he had shot InTheBack earlier.]]
124	* TheDogWasTheMastermind: [[spoiler:Judah Andorsen]] in ''A Time for Patriots''.
125	* DragonInChief: Zakharov from ''Act of War''.
126	* TheDreaded: Pavel Kazakov from ''Warrior Class'', to the point that even the Russian higher-ups don't dare to mess with him.
127	* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:Jeremiah Paulson]] from ''A Time for Patriots''.
128	* DroppedABridgeOnHim: Most of the characters get to die in combat. [[spoiler:Jon Masters,]] on the other hand, suffers the ignominy of dying to a car bomb.
129	* ElaborateUndergroundBase: One of these shows up in ''Fatal Terrain''.
130	* EliteArmy: Dreamland rely on extremely high tech equipment to make up for their few numbers.
131	* EmergencyRefuelling: Happens twice in ''Flight of the Old Dog'' alone -- first when the crew of the titular plane have to convince a suspicious base commander to send up a tanker, later when they're forced to land at a Soviet airfield for fuel to get home.
132	* TheEndingChangesEverything: The final exchange in ''Starfire'' reveals that [[spoiler:the eponymous device was always intended to be a weapon first and a power transmitter second, instead of the other way around as Bradley and his team had been led to believe.]]
133	* EnemyMine:
134	** In ''Air Battle Force'' [[spoiler:the Taliban detachment]] end up working with the Turkmen and Americans against Russian invaders.
135	** ''Edge of Battle'' has [[spoiler:Zakharov]] working with Task Force TALON after Commandant Veracruz's double-cross.
136	** ''Strike Force'' is centered on former enemy Buzhazi asking for American assistance.
137	* EnergyWeapon: Anti-ballistic missile and later anti-satellite lasers get used by various factions.
138	* EnsignNewbie: Hal Briggs is a Major in ''Shadows of Steel'', but being given command of a Marine-comprised commando unit leads to this, especially with his experience coming from Army and Air Force.
139	* EstablishingCharacterMoment: Gryzlov from ''Air Battle Force'' has this. His BaitTheDog shows his care for his people, as well as his utter ruthlessness against the Rodina's enemies.
140	* EvenEvilHasStandards: Russian general Stepashin from ''Plan of Attack'', a man with no qualms against nuclear sneak bombings against the US, is disgusted by Gryzlov's [[spoiler:use of nukes on Russian soil and the man's apathy about possible Russian survivors]].
141	* EveryoneHasStandards: [=McLanahan=] is a major MilitaryMaverick, but even he finds the National Guard pilots he's scouting out in ''Battle Born'' too lax and defiant for anyone's good. At least at first.
142	* EvilIsPetty: In ''Starfire'', [[spoiler:the Russian president orders Patrick [=McLanahan=]'s tomb robbed and desecrated, not for any military or political advantage, but just because he wanted to use the urn as a paperweight and literally piss on the medals.]]
143	* FalseFlagOperation: The Chinese do this in ''Fatal Terrain'' to make it seem that Taiwan and the US are attacking them. Pavel Kazakov from ''Warrior Class'' does this to trigger a [[spoiler:Albania-Macedonia conflict]]. Zakharov from ''Edge of Battle'' does this to make it seem that the American Watchdogs are killing illegal immigrants.
144	* FamedInStory: Pat experiences this.
145	* FemmeFatale: Homeland Security agent Cassandra Renaldo in ''A Time for Patriots'', who seduces Bradley to use against Pat.
146	* FireForgedFriends: Pat and Tony Jamieson in ''Shadows of Steel''.
147	* {{Foreshadowing}}: [[spoiler:Brad Elliott's death]] in ''Fatal Terrain'' gets this. [[spoiler:Hal Briggs's]] too, though it's many books before the cheque gets cashed; see HarsherInHindsight.
148	* ForeignCussWord: Shows up quite often. GratuitousRussian is just one kind.
149	* FourStarBadass: Pat [=McLanahan=], amongst others, although the rank means that he isn't in combat as much as before. (Actually retired with three stars.)
150	* FunWithAcronyms: HAWC
151	* GeneralRipper: General Park from ''Battle Born'' will go as far as [[spoiler:having his president killed to get the codes needed for NukeEm]] in order to fight Chinese aggression.
152	* GenreShift: ''The Tin Man'' was the first one to be almost entirely focused on the dirtside perspective, unlike previous titles that were almost solely the flyboys' game. More infantry-centric content started creeping in after that.
153	* GodzillaThreshold: ''Battle Born'' has two. The Korean GeneralRipper, seeing all conventional attempts failing to stop a Chinese invasion, carries out a coup so he can get the nuclear launch codes. In turn, to stop him from making things go nuclear, [=McLanahan=] has Dreamland forces attack his command centre even though Korea is supposed to be America's ally.
154	* GoneHorriblyRight: The mess with Kingfisher-Eight in ''Executive Intent''.
155	* GoneHorriblyWrong:
156	** The mission at the start of ''Wings of Fire'' was to simply destroy some Libyan missiles. Then [[spoiler:Paul gets killed and Wendy goes missing...]]
157	** In ''Executive Intent'' [[spoiler:a Mjolnir/Kingfisher KillSat misses its target of terrorists holding on to commandeered missiles and kills many civilians.]]
158	* GoodAllAlong: [[spoiler:Jeremiah Paulson]] in ''A Time for Patriots'' was never the real enemy.
159	* GreaterScopeVillain: The Chinese presidents and high commands that tacitly condone the generals' and admirals' actions are portrayed as this, in contrast to the Russian presidents who have directly been {{Big Bad}}s.
160	* TheGreatestStoryNeverTold: Pat experiences this. [[spoiler:Even after his death and immortalisation as a hero, there's still a lot he did that the public doesn't get to know about.]]
161	* HappilyMarried: Pat and Wendy [[spoiler:[[AnyoneCanDie for as long as it lasts anyway.]]]]
162	* HarsherInHindsight:
163	** InUniverse In ''Shadows of Steel''. [[spoiler:Hal Briggs]] is chastened for taking a risk that gets him hurt by a ZSU-23 antiaircraft gun. Guess how he dies, several books later?
164	** ''Chains of Command'', published in 1993, concerns an invasion of Ukraine by a newly hardline and belligerent Russia.
165	* HeelRealization: Fursenko from ''Warrior Class'' experiences this.
166	* HeroWithBadPublicity: [=McLanahan=] and team(s) face this problem, as do Jason Richter and Task Force TALON.
167	* HeroicSacrifice:
168	** In ''Flight of the Old Dog'' [[spoiler:Dave Luger]] leaves the Old Dog to deal with Soviets and let the others get away.
169	** In ''Fatal Terrain'' [[spoiler:Brad Elliot crashes the crippled "Old Dog" into a Chinese ICBM site]]
170	** In ''Battle Born'' [[spoiler:Rinc Seaver]] "de-stealths" his plane to lure missiles away from their intended target.
171	* HostageForMacGuffin: In ''Edge of Battle'' Jason is made to give up the CID activation code or let some children get killed. [[spoiler:He gives in... and, surprisingly enough, Zakharov ''doesn't'' backstab him after letting him and the children go.]]
172	* IfIWantedYouDead: In ''Shadows of Steel'' a back-channel envoy between the Iranians and the US is told that if the President were not in control of the situation, the US would have carried out overt military action already.
173	* ImmuneToBullets: Tin Men and [=CIDs=] have this, although bigger guns still work. One entering the field is usually a sign that it's time to break out the anti-tank weapons.
174	* ImplacableMan: Tin Men and [=CIDs=] can appear to be this.
175	* ImpossiblyGracefulGiant: [=CIDs=]
176	* InASingleBound: Tin Men and [=CIDs=] can do this through different means.
177	* InSpiteOfANail: Though UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush's presidency and his policies never occurred, the US of 2012 is somehow still recovering from a major recession.
178	* InspectorJavert: The FBI agents in ''A Time for Patriots'' are obsessed with putting Pat away.
179	* InstantDeathBullet: [[spoiler:Fursenko]] from ''Warrior Class'' averts this by surviving a bullet in the left lung.
180	* InterserviceRivalry: ''All the time''. The Navy comes in for it more than any other service.
181	* InvincibleHero: Subverted. The team almost never wins overwhelmingly despite their definite advantages.
182	* ItsAllMyFault: In ''Starfire'', [[spoiler:Jerry takes very poorly the realisation that his being too truthful about Starfire using Armstrong Space Station's power generator started off a chain of disastrous events.]]
183	* ItsPersonal: In ''Shadows of Steel'', being told that Hal Briggs is with the group he is being asked to help convinces Pat to come out of "early retirement" where more nebulous appeals fail.
184	* JustPlaneWrong: For a man of his background, he knows surprisingly ''little'' about aircraft that originated from outside of the US border. One of the most infamous examples is his portrayal of the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanchang_Q-5 Chinese Q-5 Fantan]] as a copy of the Su-22; considering the Q-5 has been exported to Pakistan even before ''Flight of the Old Dog'' came out, he has no excuse for ignorance of this magnitude.
185	* KarmaHoudini: Chinese {{President Evil}}s, repeatedly, unlike their Russian counterparts. Also, the Iranian general Buzhazi, who survives ''Shadows of Steel'' and returns to benefit from an EnemyMine.
186	* KarmicDeath: [[spoiler:General Gary Houser]] from ''Plan of Attack'' dies in the same Russian attack that he kept denying would occur.
187	* KillAndReplace: In the prologue of ''Day of the Cheetah'', the real Kenneth Francis James is killed by the KGB just before he enters the US Air Force Academy so that a specially trained double can take his place and act as a deep cover agent.
188	* KillSat: The Kingfisher satellites. Silver Tower/Armstrong Space Station is looked on as one during ''Silver Tower'', but once the giant-ass laser is stripped off it simply becomes the ultimate AWACS.
189	* KlingonPromotion
190	* KnightInSourArmor: Pat. The world never gets permanently better, an awful lot of people are {{Ungrateful Bastard}}s at best, hostile and traitorous at worst, and he's seen too many friends and family die violently, but he keeps fighting to make the world better nevertheless.
191	* KnightTemplar: The US finds itself on the slippery slope to this in ''Edge of Battle'', but ultimately avoids it.
192	* UsefulNotes/TheKoreanWar, or restarting thereof
193	* LaResistance: In ''Wings of Fire'' the Night Stalkers are aided by the Sanusi Brotherhood who are fighting the usurping Libyan dictator.
194	* LaserSight: Pavel Kazakov's men in ''Warrior Class'' use these to keep some enemies off their principal.
195	* LastBreathBullet: In ''Starfire'' a fatally-wounded [[spoiler:Chris Wohl]] gets up one last time to hit [[spoiler:an assassin going after Bradley]] on the back of the head, distracting her enough that her target can turn the tables.
196	* LastSecondChance: Offered to Admiral Tufayli in ''Shadows of Steel'' and naturally rejected.
197	* LateArrivalSpoiler: Don't even pick up ''Starfire'' if you haven't read ''Tiger's Claw'' yet. The blurb itself spoils the identity of the major death in the previous book.
198	* TheLawOfDiminishingDefensiveEffort: Invoked in ''Wings of Fire'' where Hal tells a Night Stalker new to the Tin Man suit to focus on the job and let the suit shrug off small-arms fire rather than obsessing over cover like a normal foot mobile.
199	* LightningGun: From ''Warrior Class'' on, Tin Men have shoulder-mounted electrodes that can fire electric blasts.
200	* LikeRealityUnlessNoted: A more generous interpretation, given the clear AlternateHistory elements already in place.
201	* LittleUselessGun: In ''Shadows of Steel'', the BigBad survives an assassination attempt because of this. It's noted that, had a more powerful weapon been used, the attempt would probably have succeeded.
202	* LoopholeAbuse: The Soviets in ''Flight of the Old Dog'' refuse to deactivate the Kavaznya laser under the excuse that the strategic arms treaties never banned ground-based laser systems. The Iranians in ''Shadows of Steel'' got their weapons from post-Soviet states that were not covered in the arms control treaties.
203	* LudicrousGibs: 23mm rounds make a mess of American airmen in ''Fatal Terrain'' and ''Warrior Class''. In ''Strike Force'' [[spoiler:Hal Briggs]] goes down this way. Also, anything less than an armored vehicle that takes a hit from a Tin Man's railgun. During a Tin Man assault in ''Wings of Fire'' (the same one as mentioned above), the team leader admonishes one of the relative newbies for responding to small-arms fire with railgun fire instead of letting the [[ShockAndAwe suit's automated defense systems handle it.]]
204	* MacrossMissileMassacre: In ''Plan of Attack'', Russian missile spam inflicts heavy casualties on [[spoiler:the Air Battle Force.]]
205	* MakeItLookLikeAnAccident: In ''Starfire'', two FSB assassins try to kill Bradley in a way that looks like a drug overdose.
206	* MakeTheBearAngryAgain
207	* MamaBear: In ''Rogue Forces'', former Kurdish separatist commando Zilar Azzawi retakes her sword after a Turkish airstrike kills her husband and her children.
208	* MentorOccupationalHazard: Befalls [[spoiler:Brad Elliott]].
209	* MightAsWellNotBeInPrisonAtAll: In ''Wings of Fire'' we eventually learn that this is true of [[spoiler:Pavel Kazakov]].
210	* MilitaryMaverick: [=McLanahan=] and the Dreamland old-timers to a tee. The ease with which they disobey orders (admittedly getting the job done, but still) gets them in trouble. A lot.
211	* MisguidedMissile: In ''Shadow Command'' the superiority of the Black Stallions over older planes is vividly demonstrated when Boomer guides a pair of Russian missiles back to the planes that had fired them.
212	* MissingMom: [[spoiler:Wendy [=McLanahan=] becomes this after her death.]]
213	* MoeGreeneSpecial: [[spoiler:Zakharov]] from ''Act of War'' gets shot in the left eye, but survives. Justified, in that the round apparently ricocheted off a helicopter's rotor and thus lost most of its energy.
214	* TheMole:
215	** In ''Flight of the Old Dog'' one of these allows for the critical damaging of a space station, gives away two stealth bombers en route to the plot-critical SovietSuperscience WaveMotionGun and forces the eponymous AirstrikeImpossible to get going while YouCanBarelyStand... and the whack-a-mole subplot is effectively nonexistent.
216	** ''Day of the Cheetah'' is centred on one of these getting his hands on a SuperPrototype CoolPlane.
217	** ''Act of War'' has [[spoiler:National Security Adviser Chamberlain]] turn out to be the one giving information away to the terrorists.
218	** [[spoiler:Michael Fitzgerald]] from ''A Time for Patriots'' [[spoiler:is an agent of the right-wingers. He does a HeelFaceTurn.]]
219	* MookHorrorShow: When Tin Men and [=CIDs=] are around.
220	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone
221	* NGOSuperpower: Night Stalkers/Scion/Whatever approaches this. In ''A Time for Patriots'', the Knights of the True Republic are a RightWingMilitiaFanatic group with resources at least on par with the FBI.
222	* TheNeidermeyer:
223	** General Gary Houser, who upon having a demoted Patrick reassigned to his command in ''Plan of Attack'' proceeds to be a {{Jerkass}} and disregard Patrick's warnings as him crying wolf [[spoiler:[[KarmicDeath until he dies in the same nuclear attack Patrick was warning him about]].]]
224	** Terrill Sampson, who apparently only regarded Dreamland as "a stepping stone" to his next general's star, allowing the high-tech projects to stagnate under his command. [[spoiler:He's on the same plane as Houser.]]
225	** The short story "Leadership Material" has one such officer sitting on a promotion board for Patrick [=McLanahan=]. Not cleared to know about Patrick's service at HAWC and disturbed by what seems on paper to be a lackluster and stagnating career - one with virtually none of the "right" assignments checked off - he goes from wanting to recommend against promotion to outright advocating for Patrick's dismissal from the Air Force. [[spoiler:In the end, his superiors - who ''are'' privy to everything Patrick has done - convince him to tear up his scathing report and submit a glowing endorsement of [=McLanahan=].]]
226	* NeutronBomb: Used by the Libyans in ''Wings of Fire''. The results were most unpleasant.
227	* NiceJobBreakingItHero:
228	** In ''Air Battle Force'' the ABF prevents a Russian airstrike by destroying the bombers at Engels AFB, but this motivates Gryzlov to do what he does in ''Plan of Attack''.
229	** In ''Rogue Forces'', former Kurdish separatist commando Zilar Azzawi retakes her sword after a Turkish airstrike [[MamaBear kills her husband and her children]].
230	* NiceJobFixingItVillain: The Russian attempted nuclear strike on Eareckson AFB in ''Plan of Attack'' convinced [=McLanahan=] that the stated intention for their prior acts was so much bullshit and gave him the casus belli to go back on the warpath.
231	* NoOneCouldSurviveThat: Why no one thinks to look for [[spoiler:Dave Luger]] after his HeroicSacrifice in ''Flight of the Old Dog'' -- crashing a fuel tanker into another vehicle, causing a large explosion, should be something that isn't survivable... right?
232	* NoOneGetsLeftBehind:
233	** Subverted in ''Warrior Class'', where Pat goes back for [[spoiler:Annie and Dev]] after they get shot down in Russian territory... and gets into serious trouble with the higher-ups for it.
234	** Zigzagged with ''Flight of the Old Dog'' and ''Night of the Hawk''. The former sees David Luger left for dead on a Soviet airfield when the Old Dog is forced to land and refuel there; in the latter novel, once his comrades learn he survived and has been brainwashed by the Soviets, they risk everying to rescue him.
235	* NoPlansNoPrototypeNoBackup: Subverted; the first Fisikous plane is stolen in ''Night of the Hawk'', but they had a second one, as revealed in ''Warrior Class''.
236	* NotMyDriver
237	* NotNowKiddo: In ''A Time for Patriots'', a civvie pilot keeps holding off on listening to his son even after the son has proven that his observations are correct. It doesn't end well for the family.
238	* NotQuiteDead: The discovery that [[spoiler:Dave Luger]] is this and the subsequent rescue attempt form the plot for ''Night of the Hawk''.
239	* NotQuiteSavedEnough: In ''Starfire'', [[spoiler:Sondra and Vice President Page are revealed to have survived the Russian attack on their spaceplane, and Boomer manages to get them docked at Armstrong Space Station. When the second Russian attack hits, Armstrong is sent spinning out of control, and there's no way to save them this time.]]
240	* NotSoInvincibleAfterAll: Pat gets this while using the first version of the Tin Man suit in ''The Tin Man''. [[spoiler:Hal Briggs]] gets this in ''Strike Force'' after running into a Russian trap.
241	* NothingPersonal: In ''Warrior Class'', one of the aircrew of the Russian stealth bomber says so after [[spoiler:shooting down an AWACS plane.]]
242	* PapaWolf: In ''A Time for Patriots'', [[spoiler:when the FBI agents hurt and threaten Bradley, Pat pays them right back, forcing them to bug out.]]
243	* PayEvilUntoEvil: Chris Wohl's killing of [[spoiler:Pavel Kazakov]] in ''Wings of Fire'' is undeniably vicious and yet very much the least the scum deserves. In ''Executive Intent'' the Chinese respond to a Somali pirate attack on one of their vessels by carrying out a massive aerial and amphibious assault and takeover of Somalia.
244	* OurPresidentsAreDifferent: Gardner is President Playboy in a big way, as was Martindale. Thorn however, used to be a Badass Special Force officer.
245	* PoweredArmor: The BERP "Tin Man" suits.
246	* PrettyLittleHeadshots: Averted with near-loving consistency.
247	* PrisonerExchange: At the end of ''Fatal Terrain'', Patrick and his comrades, who were forced to parachute out over Chinese territory after the final attack on Chinese ballistic missile silos and got captured for their trouble, are set free after the US trades some Chinese captives back.
248	* PrisonRape
249	* PrivateMilitaryContractors: Pat [=McLanahan=] is official head of the Scion PMC in ''Rogue Forces''.
250	* RabidCop: In ''A Time for Patriots'', a group of FBI agents are so desperate to find a scapegoat for the WesternTerrorists' dirty bomb attack they failed to stop that they go after [=McLanahan=] and his son.
251	* RagtagBunchOfMisfits: Task Force TALON starts as a mish-mash of FBI agents, "lab-bound mavericks" and hardened veterans.
252	* RageBreakingPoint: In ''Tiger's Claw'' a DrillSergeantNasty has it in for Bradley, accusing him of {{nepotism}} and insulting Patrick to his face. Bradley tries to rein in his anger at having his father badmouthed, oh he tries, even swallowing his pride and apologising for near-assault even when the other guy stuffs in a bunch of deliberately humiliating extra conditions... but when the DrillSergeantNasty just refuses to let it go and sneaks in one last barb sotto voce, oh, it was on.
253	* {{Ranger}}: Hal Briggs and Trevor Griffin have gone for the Ranger course. Ray Jefferson was one too.
254	* RealMenWearPink: Chris Wohl is surprisingly good at looking after kids.
255	* RecursiveAmmo: Wolverines are cruise missiles that contain submunitions and can themselves be used to attack once their submunitions are used up.
256	* RecursiveCanon: ''Chains of Command'' makes a reference to Dale Brown novels existing within the universe of the book. While none of Brown's usual characters appear in this particular work, Rebecca Furness and some of her fellow National Guard pilots would join forces with [=McLanahan=] and company as of ''Battle Born''.
257	* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler:General Stepashin]] from ''Plan of Attack''.
258	* RefugeInAudacity: At least twice, the Dreamland team shanghai Soviet/Russian resources to keep themselves going.
259	* RenegadeRussian: Zakharov from the ''Act of War'' books.
260	* RequiredSecondaryPowers: The Wolverines have to be limited below their maximum maneuverability because their explosives will prematurely cook off otherwise.
261	* RightHandVersusLeftHand: Americans often trouble Pat [=McLanahan=] and his team.
262	* RightWingMilitiaFanatic: The Knights of the True Republic, the antagonists of ''A Time for Patriots'', are these.
263	* RippedFromTheHeadlines: Every story is prefaced by extracts from news articles that came out shortly before publication, establishing the relevance of the events and equipment featured.
264	* RunningGag: Ray Jefferson repeatedly being called a Sergeant in ''Act of War''.
265	* ScarsAreForever: In ''Starfire'', Wohl still carries radiation burns from his experiences in ''Plan of Attack''.
266	* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: Pavel Kazakov from ''Warrior Class'' actually makes something of a system for his regular bribing.
267	* ScrewTheRulesImDoingWhatsRight: At least OnceAnEpisode from the Dreamland old-timers.
268	* SelfDeprecation: In ''Chains of Command'', one character thinks the current crisis to be sufficiently far-fetched as to be "like something out of a Dale Brown novel."
269	* SelfFulfillingProphecy: In ''Starfire'', the Russians attacking the space station that the eponymous solar power collector is installed on out of fear that it gets weaponised against them is exactly what leads to it being weaponised in self-defense.
270	* SergeantRock: Chris Wohl and Ray Jefferson.
271	* SequelHook
272	* ShootTheBullet: Often, though failure does occur at times.
273	* ShoulderCannon: Tin Men have their shoulder electrodes from ''Warrior Class'' on, while [=CIDs=] have a backpack that allows this.
274	* ShroudedInMyth: Pavel Kazakov from ''Warrior Class''.
275	* ShutUpHannibal: Tufayli from ''Shadows of Steel'' and Leonid Zevitin from ''Shadow Command'' fall victim to this.
276	* SlashedThroat: In ''Wings of Fire'' [[spoiler:Wendy gets this, but doesn't die of it. Pavel Kazakov]] takes a much more severe version.
277	* SoLastSeason: Subverted; the "Old Dogs" are still lethal despite the emergence of the Vampires and the Black Stallions have not obsoleted the Vampires.
278	* SomethingOnlyTheyWouldSay: Brad Elliot uses some choice oaths in ''Flight of the Old Dog'' to let a certain colonel recognize him and bring up tanker support.
279	* SomethingWeForgot: Manuel Pereira in ''Act of War'' disappears, is noticed as missing... [[SubvertedTrope and nothing ultimately comes of it]].
280	* SovietSuperscience: While most of their new toys are reverse-engineered from American tech, the former-Soviets-now-Russians did build their anti-sat lasers themselves.
281	* SpannerInTheWorks: In ''Executive Intent'' bumping into a random civilian leads to [[spoiler:Wayne Macomber]] getting captured by the GRU.
282	* SpottingTheThread: In ''Edge of Battle'', Jason tries to disguise himself as a Mexican to infiltrate a meeting by the villains, which works until one mook notices that he has a ''gringo'''s blue eyes.
283	* SpySchool: One appears in the prologue of ''Day of the Cheetah'', when "Kenneth Francis James" is training to infiltrate the United States and impersonate his namesake.
284	* StealthSequel: ''Chains of Command'' is by all appearances a standalone novel, one more grounded in reality than any previous novels. None of Brown's usual cast of characters are present; likewise, neither HAWC nor any of its high tech gadgetry play a part in the story. The prologue is set in the real life conflict of Desert Storm[[note]]aside from the Cold War, no previous novel had included a real life conflict[[/note]] and where previous novels featured an entirely fictional US President, here the President and First Lady, while unnamed, are clearly modeled on the Clintons. By any measure, this novel appears to be in a separate continuity from the [=McLanahan=] series... until the epilogue, in which the Lithuanian general from ''Night of the Hawk'' appears, and a brief nod is given to the events of that book. Rebecca Furness and Daren Mace would later appear in the main [=McLanahan=] series.
285	* StrawmanPolitical: Oddly enough, both sides -- Brown does not like isolationism.
286	* SunglassesAtNight: Commandant Veracruz from ''Edge of Battle''.
287	* SuperpowerMeltdown: A problem with the plasma field-powered Dragon in ''Wings of Fire''.
288	* SuperweaponSuspenseSubversion: Occurs twice in ''Chains of Command'':
289	** Midway through the book, Colonel Daren Mace and Major Rebecca Furness watch helplessly as a Russian jet overflies their base and drops something that, between its appearance and the fact that the Russians have already used nuclear weapons elsewhere, they are convinced is a parachute-retarded nuclear bomb. Cut to the next chapter, where an incredulous US President is told that the aircraft actually dropped leaflets.
290	** A second, downplayed example occurs in the book's climactic mission. Prior to takeoff, Furness and Mace are inspecting two nuclear weapons that have been loaded aboard their aircraft when they are interrupted by a pilot from the allied Ukrainian Air Force. To their horror, they discover that neither he nor anyone outside their direct chain of command is aware of their nuclear attack orders, and the three pilots rush off to correct this oversight. The mission is launched, and Furness and Mace release their weapons... only for it to be revealed that a last minute switch has been made - a nuclear attack is still taking place, but it is the Ukrainian pilot who will carry it out.
291	* SurprisinglySuddenDeath
292	* SurroundedByIdiots: Pavel Kazakov from ''Warrior Class'' says "I'm surrounded by cowards and incompetents" after [[spoiler:Tin Men take over one of his oil tankers.]]
293	* SuspiciouslySpecificDenial: Jon Masters is insistent about what the Loser introduced in ''Rogue Forces'' is not.
294	* SympathyForTheDevil:
295	** In ''Rogue Forces'', Patrick [=McLanahan=] sympathises with the antagonistic Turks, recognising that they have a nation-level DudeWheresMyRespect that drove them to act. A marked difference from TheUsualAdversaries Russia and China that get no such sympathy.
296	** Pat and Jeremiah Paulson in ''A Time for Patriots'' eventually manage to agree that they have common ground, including being wrongfully hounded by the FBI.
297	* TakeThat: A character in ''Chains of Command'' remarks that, "This is not some Tom Clancy fantasy."
298	* TakingYouWithMe
299	* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: Zakharov from ''Act of War'' sends several squads with anti-tank weapons and a helicopter gunship to kill one man. ''Executive Intent'' has a Russian fighter jet thoroughly obliterated by a Mjolnir/Thor's Hammer orbit-to-surface kill vehicle, as well as the Chinese approach to taking over Mogadishu.
300	* TitleDrop
301	* TooDumbToLive:
302	** Zakharov from ''Edge of Battle'' thinks that the illegal immigrants who tried to take on a CID rather than run away were this.
303	** The Yemeni in ''Executive Intent''. After the Chinese prove they're not going to be soft-hearted like the West with their DisproportionateRetribution takeover of Mogadishu, the Yemeni still bomb a Chinese frigate. No prizes for guessing whose shit is going to get wrecked.
304	* TurnInYourBadge: Terrill pulls this on [=McLanahan=] and Dave Luger in ''Warrior Class''.
305	* TheUnfettered: Brad Elliott.
306	* UnwittingPawn: A lot of people act as this in ''Act of War''. POTUS Gardner acts as one in ''Shadow Command''.
307	* VigilanteExecution: Befalls [[spoiler:Pavel Kazakov and Leonid Zevitin]].
308	* VillainBall
309	* VillainWithGoodPublicity: The Chinese try to paint themselves as this in ''Fatal Terrain''. Commandant Veracruz from ''Edge of Battle'' masquerades as a Mexican nationalist to do this.
310	* VillainousValour: Shown by the Taliban forces in ''Air Battle Force''.
311	* WarIsHell
312	* TheWarHasJustBegun: The ending of ''Wings of Fire''. The BigBad and TheManBehindTheMan are dead, but the Libyan resistance still have a long way to go to bring peace to their nation.
313	* WasItReallyWorthIt: In ''Wings of Fire'' Pat says this after the Night Stalkers get very large paychecks for the mission that saw [[spoiler:Paul killed and Wendy missing]].
314	* WaveMotionGun: The Soviets' Kavaznya laser system in ''Flight of the Old Dog'' is rated at hundreds of megawatts and able to serve anti-satellite duties.
315	* WeaponOfMassDestruction:
316	** In ''Battle Born'', among the weapons used are "plasma bombs" that are explicitly described as transferring the objects their blast converts into the titular form of matter ''into an alternate universe''. And which [[ForgottenPhlebotinum are never so much as mentioned again]] in several later books... [[TheBusCameBack only to be brought back]] to boost the output of one of the Dragon ABM aircraft ([[SuperPowerMeltdown it gets messy]] if they try BeamSpam) and playing a larger role in ''Plan of Attack''.
317	** Nuclear weapons figure prominently in ''Chains of Command''. The first section of the novel deals with an aborted nuclear attack during Desert Storm, with tremendous consequences for the character involved.[[labelnote:*]]In a twist, ''not'' launching a nuclear weapon gets the character in trouble, as he is judged to have done so without proper orders.[[/labelnote]] Later chapters depicted aircrew on nuclear alert and the novel culminates in a secondary protagonist launching a nuclear missile at the bunker in which the BigBad has taken shelter. Zig-zagged with the neutron bombs used by the Russians, which cause minimal property damage but the same horrific casualties as any other nuke.
318	* WellIntentionedExtremist: GAMMA from ''Act of War'' is not above using backpack nukes against the big corporations it believes are ruining the environment. [[spoiler:Then it turns out that this was the DeceptiveDisciple's idea and the apparent BigBad is also horrified to learn of it.]]
319	* WhatASenselessWasteOfHumanLife: [[spoiler:Zakharov]] expresses this sentiment in ''Edge of Battle'' when [[spoiler:Frank Falcone]] is DrivenToSuicide.
320	* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: We never find out what happened to Fursenko after ''Warrior Class'', and Dave Luger seems to have fallen off the map as of ''Rogue Forces''.
321	* WhatTheHellHero: At least OnceAnEpisode, someone will bitch about Dreamland's methods. Some of them have more of a point than others, as the Dreamland crew's disregard for orders and the chain of command gets the job done, but on multiple occasions has caused more problems down the line.
322	* WhatYouAreInTheDark: [=McLanahan=] warns his group about the lack of recognition at best for their success in ''Fatal Terrain''. This fails to dissuade them.
323	* WiseBeyondTheirYears: Bradley [=McLanahan=] shows this.
324	* WithGreatPowerComesGreatInsanity: Yegorov from ''Warrior Class'' is suspected of this.
325	* WrenchWhack: In ''Starfire'', Bradley defends himself from an assassin using a wrench.
326	* WriterOnBoard: The books, particularly ''Starfire'', don't shy from demonstrating the dangers of appeasement and Chamberlainian giving ground to aggressors. Made explicit in [[http://dalebrown.info/essay108.htm this response of Brown's to a reader's letter.]] Whether this is {{Anvilicious}} is left as an exercise to the reader.
327	* WriteWhoYouKnow: The novels, particularly early on, focus heavily on the US Air Force, particularly on bomber aircraft. Brown himself was a USAF bomber navigator.
328	* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: Ken Phoenix is told in ''A Time for Patriots'' that he should stop beating himself up over the violence and deaths caused by [[RightWingMilitiaFanatic right wing milita fanatics]].
329	* YouCanBarelyStand: The titular ''Flight of the Old Dog'' starts with both the plane and the crew not at optimal condition and only gets worse.
330	* YouHaveFailedMe: One Russian general gets this in ''Plan of Attack''.
331	* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Pavel Kazakov from ''Warrior Class'' threatens and eventually does this. Commandant Veracruz from ''Edge of Battle'' tries this on [[spoiler:Zakharov, prompting an EnemyMine.]]
332	* YouKeepTellingYourselfThat: Zakharov from ''Edge of Battle'' criticises Commandant Veracruz as not actually believing the ultranationalist rhetoric he spouts.
333	* YouKilledMyFather: Defied in ''Warrior Class'', where Pavel Kazakov claims his strike against Albania was '''not''' because their guerillas killed his father.
334	* YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters: A key theme of ''Shadows of Steel''. Discussed by various characters in ''Warrior Class''.
335	* YouWatchTooMuchX: In ''Executive Intent'', a State Department official summarizes parts of a supposed plot by China and Russia (which is actually happening), and says the line "I think you've been reading too many cheesy techno-thrillers."

Context Creator / DaleBrown