Existing comment:
"The over-all mission of our Armed Forces in unmistakably clear. It is to support our national policies and at the same time to maintain the peace. It is the deterrence of war which is our primary objective -- not only the deterrence of the general atomic war about which we hear so much, but also the deterrence or the suppression of situations short of general war which if unarrested may lead to the attrition of our world position, or to be extension of hostilities into the great general war which it is our primary purpose to avoid. In my judgment, all of our Armed Forces -- the Army, Navy, and Air Force -- must justify their existence by their contribution, present or potential, to the deterrence of war."
-- General Maxwell B. Taylor, Chief of Staff, December 1958
From Massive Nuclear Retaliation to Massive Tank Battles:
In the 1950s, the United States relied on a policy of massive retaliation to counter Soviet actions. Aggression was to be deterred through the threat of American nuclear devastation of the Soviet Union. The utility of massive retaliation diminished as the Soviets began to acquire their own arsenal of nuclear weapons. Therefore, in the 1960s, American defense policy began to emphasize a greater mix of nuclear and conventional force capabilities. An expansion of American military force did occur throughout the decade, but much of it was drawn into the Vietnam War. Indeed, until that conflict's end, a fear existed that the Soviets would exploit American involvement in Vietnam through direct military action in Central Europe. |