August 2019 65REVIEW
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As a U.S. Air Force veteran, I’m
always interested in books on
historic aviation. I’m particularly
interested in anything about the Strategic Air
Command (SAC). And of course, anyone who has
done their time in SAC knows who made SAC what
it was during the Cold War: General Curtis E. LeMay.
With a striking image on its cover of a B-47
strategic bomber taking off with full rocket assist,
Winning Armageddon is an excellent description
of the often-controversial commander during the
years from 1948 through 1957. To many, LeMay’s
leadership as SAC commander defined the
beginning of the Cold War.
Author Trevor Albertson’s 304-page publication
does a great job telling the LeMay story, which has
been all but forgotten. Events from late 1948 to the
mid-1950s gave the U.S. government and military,
including LeMay, plenty to worry about. Starting
with LeMay’s first encounter with the Soviet Union
over Berlin and the creation of the Berlin Airlift,
many in the chain of
command felt that
future conflicts could
overshadow the United
States and destabilize
the postwar world. The
book does an excellent
job explaining the
challenges and fears of
the time, and the new
Cold War response
the United States had
to deal with while
preventing a fruitless
nuclear war.
The well-detailed text
covers LeMay building,
out of the remnants of
World War II, an all-jet
bomber force, manned
and supported by the
airmen dedicated to
the preservation of
peace. When LeMay
took over SAC at
Offutt Air Force Base
in Omaha, Nebraska,Winning
Armageddon:
Curtis LeMay
and Strategic Air
Command, 1948–1957
By Trevor Albertson
(Naval Institute Press, 304 pages,
$40.00)ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Trevor Albertson earned
his PhD from the Uni
versity of California,
Merced, in 20thcentury
U.S. politicaldiplomatic
history. His life as a scholar
of U.S. nuclear history and
policy stemmed from his
avid love of airplanes and
aviation as he grew up. He
always wondered what
brought them to life and
why military aircraft flew
the missions they did. That
took him initially to the
Air Force, which took him
to grad school, which led
him to nuclear history and
policy. It was a natural and
rewarding evolution.
the command consisted of little
more than a few B-29 bomber
groups left over from WW II.
Less than half of the aircraft were fully operational,
and the crews were, at best, undertrained. But it is
made obvious, with the finer details described, that
LeMay valued the well-being of the airmen under
his command. In the further development of the
command, the B-29s were replaced by the much
larger and longer-ranged “B-36 Peacemaker”
strategic bombers, which then led to the swept-
wing B-47s and ultimately to the B-52 bombers,
many of which are still in service today.
For the most part, LeMay’s argument of “offense
before defense”—for striking first in a potential
nuclear conflict but only if and when it was clear
that the enemy was preparing to launch its own
surprise attack—drove the risk-benefit calculations
of the U.S. Air Force (USAF). His preemptive-strike
approach was designed to catch the attacker off-
guard while preventing one’s own destruction. To
best defuse a nuclear exchange, LeMay wanted
to end such a conflict before it actually started.
And so his tactics, logistics, and mission all led
to the ultimate goal of winning the Cold War and
maintaining the peace.
LeMay commanded SAC for nearly 10 years, and
under his leadership and persistence, future plans
were laid out for the development and deployment
of an intercontinental ballistic missile capability. In
July 1957, LeMay was appointed vice chief of staff
of the USAF and served as such until July 1961, at
which time he was appointed chief of staff.
Although the Strategic Air Command was
replaced in 1992 by the United States Strategic
Command, in response to the end of the Cold
War, all the lessons learned and the strategies
developed by LeMay’s SAC are still as relevant
today as they were 65 years ago.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading Winning Arma-
geddon. The author offers a fresh perspective of a
period of USAF history that I thought I knew well.
I left this story with even more understanding
and respect for SAC Commander General Curtis
LeMay.—Gerry Yarrish JGeneral Curtis E. LeMay