Inside the Cold War - Project Gutenberg Consortia Center

THE COLD WARRIORS
The arguments persisted; they got very nasty and very
public, finally resulting in the ill-famed “Admiral’s Revolt.”
Meanwhile, SAC continued to build the controversial B-36 and
plan for a future all-jet bomber force supplemented with
ICBMs. The command had begun with only 148 B-29 bombers,
two fighter squadrons of P-51s to be employed as escorts, and
15 C-54s to haul supporting cargo. As the first year of postwar
confusion subsided, the number of recovered B-29s increased
to more than three hundred.
The arguments for and against long-range strategic forces
continued for years—and not only in Washington. Early in
1955, Field Marshal Bernard L. Montgomery gave his assessment
of organizing for war: “The fleets at sea-in-being may be
the only undamaged echelon in the armed forces after the
initial clash.” Winston Churchill, a staunch supporter of US
war-fighting skills, countered his old wartime military leader
in a speech to Parliament in the spring of that year: “The
United States Strategic Air Command is a deterrent of the
highest order in maintaining ceaseless readiness. We owe
much to their devotion to the cause of freedom in a troubled
world. The primary deterrents to aggression remain the
nuclear weapon and trained United States Strategic Air
Command [combat crews] to use it.”
During its first eleven years, SAC enjoyed virtual supremacy
in the international skies. Its round-the-world flights demonstrated
its capability to reach anywhere on the face of the
earth. Within weeks of its official establishment, the command
began training with, and learning the intricacies of employing,
atomic weapons. SAC was given an opportunity to “test”
deterrence in November, when it was directed to send six
B-29s to Rhein-Main, Germany, because two US C-47 cargo
planes had been shot down over Yugoslavia by Soviet forces.
During their two-week deployment, the B-29s flew along the
borders of Soviet-occupied political eastern Europe and landed
in several western European cities, essentially sending a
message to the Soviets that the United States was not
abandoning its allies. The B-29s likely did not pose an
ominous threat to the Soviets, but their reputation as atomic
bomb delivery aircraft conveyed a strong message.
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