Who is James Cobb and what is he doing for the Air Force?

Near dawn in the Eastern Mediterranean, between Cyprus and Lebanon, the aircraft carrier Saratoga catapults away four F-11-F Tiger fighter jets. Ensign James Cobb, nicknamed Peewee, is assigned to Combat Air Patrol duty under wartime conditions with live rockets and orders to intercept and destroy. He prays for a bogy to penetrate his sector so nobody will laugh at him again