Carey was born while his father was stationed at Marine Corps Air Station El Toro. His father served as an aviation radioman, air gunner, and navigator serving from World War II to the Vietnam War. Carey's childhood as a military dependent consisted of living in three states and three foreign countries before the age of five. His father's retirement and subsequent second career in the construction industry resulted in the family moving to several more states before settling in Texas in 1975. His writing career began as an intern with the Texas State Historical Commission in 1992 where he co-authored Historic Preservation Easements in Texas.
Military Service
Like his father, a veteran of the Navy and Marine Corps, Carey enlisted in the military serving in the U.S. Marine Corps as a machine gunner/team leader and in the U.S. Army Reserve as a nuclear, biological, and chemical defense specialist and weapons instructor.
Career
Carey's early interest in military aviation history stems from his father's career as an aviation radioman and air gunner with Navy Bombing Squadron 109 and reading the works of such military historians as Edwin P. Hoyt, Steve Birdsall, Barrett Tillman, and Samuel Eliot Morison. In 1995, after researching VB-109's history, he was able to obtain the Distinguished Flying Cross and several additional Air Medals to his father's surviving crew members with the help of Congressman Lamar Smith. He is also noted for aiding veterans and families in a variety of issues related to military service. He began writing his first book, The Reluctant Raiders, after conducting research regarding his father's military service. Carey's early works traced relatively unknown aspects of military aviation primarily related to the Navy's use of the Consolidated B-24 Liberator and North American B-25 Mitchell.
Published works
The Reluctant Raiders
We Flew Alone
Above an Angry Sea
Leatherneck Bombers: Marine Corps B-25/PBJ Mitchell Squadrons in World War II
Night Cats and Corsairs: The Operational History of Grumman and Vought Night Fighter Aircraft
Lockheed F-94 Starfire
Above an Angry Sea: Men and Missions of the United States Navy's PB4Y-1 Liberator and PB4Y-2 Privateer Squadrons Pacific Theater: October 1944–September 1945 2nd Edition
We Flew Alone: Men and Missions of the United States Navy's B-24 Liberator Squadrons Pacific Operations: February 1943–September 1944 2nd Edition
Sighted Sub, Sank Same: The United States Navy's Air Campaign Against the U-boat
Co-author non-fiction work
Guerra, Vicky and Alan Carey. Historic Preservation Easements in TexasTexas Historical Commission, National Register Programs, Certified Local Government Program
Chapters in a non-fiction work
J.K. Kelley, ed., Westside Publishing, ed. Armchair Reader World War II''
Polmar, Norman, et al. Voyageur Press. Spyplanes: The Illustrated Guide to Manned Reconnaissance and Surveillance Aircraft from World War I to Today"
Television Appearances
Dogfights: Season 2, episode 17. Secret Weapons : Secret weapons of World War II: Appeared in the segment on American remote controlled airplanes of Operation Aphrodite. Hunters In the Sky : Appeared in infomercial for the documentary series on World War II aviation.
