During World War II the United States had to create entire services and branches to its military which simply didn't exist in wartime. One of the capabilities the U.S. Army determined was essential was the use of barrage balloons, a passive air defense weapon which had been determined to be useful in preventing low-level air attacks. The technology was simple: hoist a balloon into position with its mooring cable into place. The cable would be almost impossible for a pilot to detect and if he hit at high speed it could shear off wings, damage propellers, rip off items from the fuselage, etc. Some were also equipped with explosive charges and others were part of "aprons" which were linked together with further cable hanging on the connecting line.
While the technology was outwardly simple there were skills to be learned when handling the barrage balloons and this was the purpose of the Camp Tyson. Many Coast Artillery battalions were formed there with the intention of training them in the use of these defensive weapons. McFarlin's book discusses the training that was conducted with the balloons but only so much as he could glean from interviews with former soldiers assigned to the camp. In fact, most of the book is a trip down memory lane that just happens to include the barrage balloons in it.
This is not to say it is a bad book, more that it primarily concerns itself with the area around Paris, Tennessee. I thought it was interesting for its discussion of the segregated barrage balloon units and their employment on the Normandy beaches but much of it was redundant because the same topic was sometimes dealt with by different participants. Nevertheless, a good book to have, especially if you visit Paris and want to see the remains of the balloon infrastructure on site.
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