When he worked at Gulfstream, Jeff Cassell worked on manuals for various aircraft as an aeronautical technical writer.

The Effingham resident is still writing about aircraft, but he’s taken a flight of fancy that has landed in a series of books featuring squirrels piloting drones.

Cassell, 70, lives in Rincon. In June 2022, he retired from Gulfstream, where he served as a quality control  senior inspector along with writing aircraft manuals.

For the past 10 years, Cassell has been more involved in writing as a hobby. He’s authored eight science fiction and fiction books and has two others in the works. His Acorn Squadron Chronicles series features six books that will be published every 10 months, with the first one released this past March. The flying squirrel saga will continue with WildFlight: Search and Rescue, Book 1, scheduled for release in 2025.

The series features recurring characters including squirrels Bushtail and Lucky, who are among 10 of the bushy tailed creatures recruited by the Air Force to pilot the drones after problems developed with the remote controlled craft. Cassell said he chose squirrels because they’re small enough to fit in the drones.

The squirrel pilots don’t talk but communicate via laptop computers. Ten female squirrels handle communications.

In Earning Their Wings—the first book of the Acorn Squadron Chronicles, released in March—the U.S. government has been secretly experimenting with genetic modifications in animals to create a super weapon: a spy incapable of detection that can gather intelligence in any location. Eurasian red squirrels, known for their high intelligence, are altered so they can understand human languages and communicate via computer devices with their human counterparts. Following a number of unsuccessful drone failures that jeopardize the safety of the military, the Pentagon, evoking memories of Secret Squirrel, recruits the modified squirrels to save a costly black-ops mission.

At a time when war has broken out in the Middle East and threatens to escalate into a worldwide conflict, the story is especially timely. The squirrels train under the Air Force’s Project Oaktree in small aircraft to determine their ability for low-altitude drone flights in hostile Middle East territory. They pass with flying colors and ultimately surpass Pentagon expectations.

Dennis Baggott worked at Gulfstream for five years, and he and his wife have known Cassell and his wife for many years. Baggott read Cassell’s book because of their friendship, and he was surprised at how the story appealed to him.

“I thought when I heard it was a book for kids it would be more like a comic book intended for maybe 10-to 12-year-old boys,” Baggott said. “Nope. I enjoyed the book, as Jeff gave each little squirrel a fun character, and the humans were made realistic, too. I enjoyed the detailed and accurate description of drones and airplanes and military people and customs.”

Readers of many different ages will likely enjoy the books, according to Baggott, noting it’s not a long book but not comic book length either. He adds Cassell seems to have done good research, and he couldn’t find any inaccuracies but plenty of parts to pique the imagination.

“Yes, flying squirrels—the kind that can communicate with humans and pilot small (tiny) planes—may not be realistic,” Baggott said. “If you want to escape reality for a while, and these days who doesn’t, I can recommend a good book for you. You might recommend to your kids as well, even if they are high school kids. Take this book for a spin. It will be fun.”

Cassell’s flying theme in his books evolved out of an interest in aviation that started at a young age.

The son of a World War II Army lineman and officer in the Korean War, Cassell was born in Santa Monica, Ca., and lived in five cities around Los Angeles before going to Georgia, Washington, Arizona, Texas, Maryland, Florida, Tennessee, Arkansas, and back to California.

“Needless to say, I was always the new kid in school,” Cassell said.

Cassell became interested in aviation while in elementary school, and that led to flying his first plane over his house in Plano, Texas, when he was 14 years old. Later, he was diagnosed with minor colorblindness and was unable to obtain a commercial pilot’s license. Cassell did join the Air Force in 1972 and served stateside for five years at various duty stations in civil engineering and radio communications.

Cassell returned to civilian life and attended community college in three states. After earning the equivalent of an associate’s degree in aviation maintenance, he worked as a mechanic on turboprop commuter planes for Eastern Airlines in Atlanta until the company folded. Cassell subsequently got a job with Gulfstream Aeronautical in Savannah and worked there for 31 years.

Toward the latter part of his time at Gulfstream, Cassell started writing fiction and science fiction in his spare time. His subjects included aviation, magic, time travel and animals, with the latter holding special appeal.

“I enjoy hunting,” Cassell said. “I enjoy watching animals in nature.”

Combining that interest with those of alternate realities and aviation resulted in his first book, followed by others in a continuing series. The idea of squirrels communicating in their own private “language” was inspired by the World War II Navajo Code Talkers.

In October 2021, after unsuccessful pitches to two publishers and two agents, Cassell proposed his manuscript Wildlife: Search and Rescue to Relevant Publishing in Alaska. Given the Alaska setting in the manuscript, it seemed a good fit. Managing director Sharon Aubrey agreed, noting the story of Bushtail and the gang was unexpected and entertaining.

“His idea was so completely fresh and original that our editorial staff immediately loved it,” Aubrey said. “In the Search and Rescue books, Bushtail and the squirrels were flying Alaskan bush planes over the Wrangell and Chugach Mountains. As an Alaskan publisher, I’m always seeking innovative ways to connect with readers to share a little bit of Alaska’s heart with the world. Living near the Chugach and Wrangell mountain ranges myself and having friends who work SAR, I instantly resonated with the story and loved the spin of genetically modified squirrels flying bush planes.”

Recognizing the novelty and appeal of the book, the publishing company signed the entire series in 2021, starting with the Acorn Squadron Chronicles. That proved to be a good decision, as Cassell’s speculative fiction books have been positively received by middle-grade readers and even adults and present a storyline that combines fantasy with reality.

“The idea of animals being genetically modified through science to communicate more effectively with people and perform tasks that reduce the potential loss of human life is plausible in today’s world,” Aubrey said. “These realistic aspects combined with the quirky personalities of the squirrels create a new niche in children’s literature for military fiction and sci-fi that our house is honored to support. We are so excited for these new series and hope kids everywhere will love them too.”

Cindy Scaggs read Cassell’s first book after meeting him at her pottery shop in Pooler.

“I enjoyed the first book so much I can’t wait for the next one,” Scaggs said. “I found his book to be adventurous and compelling with lots of humor. Great imagination, for sure.”

Cassell’s life story merits a book of its own and borders on fantasy, proving once again that truth is stranger than fiction.

Cassell learned to ride motorcycles in Death Valley in 1962. He also raced amateur motocross for three years, did skin diving, and was good enough in fencing to consider trying out for the Olympic men’s saber team in 1976. Due to deployment for two military construction jobs, Cassell didn’t make the tryout.

Other noteworthy events included being the target of a shooter, knocked down by a dynamite blast, surviving tornadoes in Kansas and three separate heart attacks and cancer.

Then there’s his latest chapter of being a writer and letting his characters engage in the type of thrilling adventures that shared a kinship of sorts with those he experienced throughout his life.

“It’s amazing to come up with personalized characters and offer alternate realities,” said Cassell, noting his books offer clean writing for young people and are targeted for readers from age 8 to 80. “I don’t know if it’s true, but it’s fun to play with. I’m going to stay with what I’m doing now.”

It took Cassell 18 months to write the Acorn Squadron Chronicles series. “I write when the mood strikes me,” he said. “It averages two to four hours daily. I am blessed to have such freedom; it is a relief after decades of sometimes grueling time constraints.”

Cassell continues to enjoy creating fantasy stories where members of the animal kingdom share emotions and characteristics of their human cohorts. That’s reflected in two books apart from the Acorn Squadron series: Architect Astronaut Warrior Squirrel and JACKFOX, a fantasy taking place a million years ago. The former, he said, has a background connection to Acorn Squadron. Two future books include a comedy, and the story of a troubled U.S. Army veteran that is still being outlined.

Finally, there’s the question of why Cassell featured squirrels as protagonists beyond their intelligence and ability to fit in a drone.

“I chose squirrels for simplicity of storyline and their ability to traverse through trees... like flying,” Cassell said.  “They also have good eyesight and the ability to keep vigilant during evasive maneuvers.”