World War II was the event that incited a revolutionary period in airpower. American aviation more than proved its worth in the victories over both the European and Pacific theatre. A powerful airpower wouldn’t be possible much less successful without unyielding leadership. Powerful men, who refused to stay within the boundaries given to them by the Army or Washington itself. One such man was Major General Curtis E. LeMay. During his period leading the XXI bombing command proceeding General Haywood Hansell was a time where his expertise was essential in crippling Japan. General LeMay was an advocate for the effectiveness of Airpower in winning the war. His intelligence and tendency to take highly contested risks in the name of America’s victory
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LeMAy was credited by General Nimitz as having” Worked out the techniques and tactics of the mining operation” (Kohn, 199) responsible for undermining aircraft production. That “aerial mining campaign succeeded beyond anyone’s expectation.” (Kohn, 200). General Lemay was responsible for the mining operation in 1945 that virtually paralyzed Japan’s maritime traffic. His knowledge of bombardment not only leads to many successful operations but the improvement of radar system in aircrafts in order to continue the success of bombing raids. Inaccuracies in the dropping of bombs due to the lack of training of his staff and the unreliability of the technologies frustrated LeMAy. His experience in England even warranted him to be distrustful of radar technology, but his frustrations and desire to solve the problem outweighed his desire to stay away from it. The XXI bombing command had a radar expert named Dr. King Gould who he called “Doc”. LeMay sent Doc to Saipan to observe how poorly trained these men were and to come up with proper training and improvements for their radar systems. When it came to testing them LeMAy favored efficiency and sent Rosey O’Donnell, commander of the 73rd wing, on a mission to find the target Kito Iwo and fly only 50 feet above sea level. Because LeMay was intelligent enough to know when something needed to be fixed and improved for the good of the mission …show more content…
He needed to influence and inspire others to do what he told them, and that he did. Colonel St. Clair McKelway knew LeMay and he held public reations post as a Lt.Col before retiring and writing for The New Yorker. He spoke about General LeMAy and his effect on people in great detail. He says LeMAy was “a tough man” with “the kind of toughness that comes from… innate sensitivity,… innate goodness and hard, clear honesty.” (Coffey, 159). When talking to other officers McKelway notice they “simply received LeMAy’s confidence and were breaking their necks to prove that his judgement was sound in trusting them to do their jobs” (Coffey, 159). A man with this type of influence was trusted by Hap Arnold to bring America to victory and because he could inspire his people in such a manner the job was
LeMAy was credited by General Nimitz as having” Worked out the techniques and tactics of the mining operation” (Kohn, 199) responsible for undermining aircraft production. That “aerial mining campaign succeeded beyond anyone’s expectation.” (Kohn, 200). General Lemay was responsible for the mining operation in 1945 that virtually paralyzed Japan’s maritime traffic. His knowledge of bombardment not only leads to many successful operations but the improvement of radar system in aircrafts in order to continue the success of bombing raids. Inaccuracies in the dropping of bombs due to the lack of training of his staff and the unreliability of the technologies frustrated LeMAy. His experience in England even warranted him to be distrustful of radar technology, but his frustrations and desire to solve the problem outweighed his desire to stay away from it. The XXI bombing command had a radar expert named Dr. King Gould who he called “Doc”. LeMay sent Doc to Saipan to observe how poorly trained these men were and to come up with proper training and improvements for their radar systems. When it came to testing them LeMAy favored efficiency and sent Rosey O’Donnell, commander of the 73rd wing, on a mission to find the target Kito Iwo and fly only 50 feet above sea level. Because LeMay was intelligent enough to know when something needed to be fixed and improved for the good of the mission …show more content…
He needed to influence and inspire others to do what he told them, and that he did. Colonel St. Clair McKelway knew LeMay and he held public reations post as a Lt.Col before retiring and writing for The New Yorker. He spoke about General LeMAy and his effect on people in great detail. He says LeMAy was “a tough man” with “the kind of toughness that comes from… innate sensitivity,… innate goodness and hard, clear honesty.” (Coffey, 159). When talking to other officers McKelway notice they “simply received LeMAy’s confidence and were breaking their necks to prove that his judgement was sound in trusting them to do their jobs” (Coffey, 159). A man with this type of influence was trusted by Hap Arnold to bring America to victory and because he could inspire his people in such a manner the job was