Assured Destruction - Building the Ballistic Missile Culture of the U.S. Air Force

"Assured Destruction: Building the Ballistic Missile Culture of the U.S. Air Force documents the rapid development of nuclear ballistic missiles in the United States and their equally swift demise after the Cuban Missile Crisis, revealing how these drastic changes negatively influenced both the Air Force and the missile community. The book contends that the creation of nuclear ballistic missiles threatened both the dominance of the United States during an intensifying Cold War and the strategic airpower mission of the newly created Air Force. The response to these threats led to political infighting and interservice squabbles to control the new weapon before the Soviets could build their own version and annihilate the United States. This highly politicized and hurried process prevented the successful long-term operational integration of ballistic missiles into the U.S. Air Force."--

About the author

David W. Bath teaches military history at Rogers State University in Oklahoma. He served as an Air Force missileer at the end of the Cold War and edited Air Force Missileers and the Cuban Missile Crisis, a collection of personal reminiscences of the crisis, for the Association of Air Force Missileers in 2012.

Summary

Documents the rapid development of nuclear ballistic missiles in the United States and their equally swift demise after the Cuban Missile Crisis, revealing how these drastic changes negatively influenced both the Air Force and the missile community.

Product details

• Authors: David Bath, David W. Bath
• Publisher: Naval Institute Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 31.03.2020
• EAN: 9781682474938
• ISBN: 978-1-68247-493-8
• No. of pages: 256
• Dimensions: 156 mm x 230 mm x 28 mm
• Weight: 522 g
• Series: Transforming War
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > General, dictionaries; Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous; Amerika, History - Military / War, HISTORY / Military / United States, HISTORY / Military / Aviation, HISTORY / Military / Weapons