LeMay, Korea, and

1

• LeMay, Korea, and
• the ICBMs

2
Overview

• General Curtis LeMay
• Korean Conflict
• US Intervention
• Air Power
• Results
• ICBMs
• Development
• Cuban Missile Crisis

3
I dont mind being called tough, since I find in
this racket its the tough guys who lead the
survivors.

• Colonel Curtis E. LeMay, USA
• to Lieutenant General Ira Eaker in England in 1943

4
General Curtis LeMay

• Navigator on B-17 as Lt in early airpower
  demonstration with ocean liner Rex in 1938
• Commanded units in Berlin Airlift
• Commander in Chief, Strategic Air Command
  (CINCSAC)
• Air Force Chief of Staff

5
LeMays Impact on the Air Force

• More realistic training programs
• Bottom line - Discipline
• Procured personnel and aircraft
• Bombers became airborne nuclear alert
• Nuclear deterrence became a reality

6
VIDEO
7
Korean Conflict

• National Security Council (NSC) directive 68
  called for massive increase in defense spending
  to contain communism
• Korea was the first test of American resolve

8
Beginning of Korean Conflict

• 25 June 1950 North Korea launches a surprise
  attack invading South Korea
• Congress approved use of force to repel North
  Korean invasion (no formal declaration of war)
• UN Security Council authorizes aid (Gen Douglas
  McArthur named Commander)

9
Korean Conflict

• UN forces saved at Pusan Perimeter by around the
  clock bombing interdiction
• McArthur launches surprise amphibious assault at
  Inchon
• UN forces drive North Koreans back across 38th
  parallel and attempt to unify the country
• China enters pushing the UN forces back

10
VIDEO
11
Air Power in Korean Conflict

• First use of jet fighters on both sides
• MiG-15 outperforms F-80
• MiG-15 retreats back to bases in China
• Airspace south of Yalu known as MiG Alley
• F-86 Sabre proves superior to the MiG-15
• Kill ratio of 10-to-1

12
VIDEO
13
Results of Korean Conflict

• Counterland
• Interdiction
• Close-Air Support

14
Deterrence and Missile Development

• Snark
• Atlas, Titan
• Minuteman becomes the mainstay of SACs missile
  retaliatory force
• NORAD established in 1957
• Single Integrated Operational Plan for using
  nuclear weapons (SIOP)

15
Cuban Missile Crisis

• U-2 Reconnaissance plane details Soviet missile
  launchers in Cuba
• Missile force placed on alert status
• President Kennedy chooses option of naval
  quarantine
• Soviet Union backs down
• Flexible Response doctrine evolves

16
Summary

• General Curtis LeMay
• Korean Conflict
• US Intervention
• Air Power
• Results
• ICBMs
• Development
• Cuban Missile Crisis