National Affairs: Decision on Missiles

When the guided missile whistled into everyday military planning, the brainy brass of the U.S. Army whistled in low alarm. If nations were going to fight wars by trading off hydrogen payloads, then the Army was going to have a hard time justifying a budget for a 1,500,000-man ground force and the armament that goes with it. The Army's answer was to lobby hard—on contradictory lines: 1) the world will probably succumb to an atomic stalemate, hence the U.S. will need a conventional army which for maximum efficiency will need its own air arm;...

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