Warriors and Scholars: A Modern War Reader

Leadership During the Cold War: A Four-Star General’s Perspective

104 LEADERSHIP฀DURING฀ THE฀COLD฀WAR:฀A฀FOURSTAR ฀GENERAL’S฀PERSPECTIVE ฀ At฀the฀time฀of฀his฀military฀retirement฀in฀1977,฀Gen.฀Russell฀ E.฀Dougherty฀was฀Commander฀in฀Chief฀of฀the฀Strategic฀Air฀ Command฀and฀Director฀of฀U.S.฀Strategic฀Target฀Planning.฀He฀ had฀previously฀served฀as฀Chief฀of฀Staff฀of฀NATO’s฀Supreme฀ Headquarters฀Allied฀Powers,฀Europe฀(SHAPE),฀as฀commander ฀of฀the฀2nd฀Air฀Force,฀and฀as฀Deputy฀Chief฀of฀Staff฀for฀Operations ,฀U.S.฀Air฀Force. General฀Dougherty฀began฀his฀military฀career฀as฀a฀member ฀of฀the฀123rd฀Cavalry,฀Kentucky฀National฀Guard.฀At฀the฀ outbreak฀of฀World฀War฀II,฀he฀became฀an฀Aviation฀Cadet฀in฀ the฀U.S.฀Army฀Air฀Forces.฀He฀has฀served฀in฀the฀Far฀East฀Air฀ Forces฀ Command,฀ U.S.฀ European฀ Command,฀ Air฀ Training฀ Command,฀the฀Air฀Force฀Logistics฀Command,฀and฀the฀Strategic ฀Air฀Command.฀He฀completed฀two฀tours฀in฀the฀Pacific฀and฀ three฀in฀Europe.฀General฀Dougherty฀retired฀with฀thirty-five฀ years฀commissioned฀service฀on฀August฀1,฀1977. General฀ Dougherty฀ is฀ a฀ graduate฀ of฀ Western฀ Kentucky฀ University,฀ the฀ Law฀ School฀ of฀ the฀ University฀ of฀ Louisville,฀ and฀ the฀ National฀ War฀ College฀ in฀ Washington,฀ DC.฀ During฀ his฀military฀career,฀he฀served฀as฀an฀Air฀Force฀Judge฀Advocate฀ GENERAL฀RUSSELL฀E.฀DOUGHERTY,฀USAF฀(RET.) 105 Leadership฀During฀the฀Cold฀War:฀A฀Four-Star฀General’s฀Perspective Officer;฀he฀was฀an฀Assistant฀Judge฀Advocate฀Officer฀for฀the฀Far฀ East฀Air฀Force;฀and฀he฀concluded฀his฀legal฀assignments฀in฀1952฀as฀ an฀Assistant฀Air฀Force฀Trial฀Attorney.฀He฀is฀a฀member฀of฀the฀Bar฀ of฀Kentucky฀and฀the฀Bar฀of฀the฀Supreme฀Court฀of฀the฀United฀States.฀ General฀Dougherty฀is฀currently฀an฀attorney฀with฀McGuire,฀Woods,฀ Battle,฀&฀Booth,฀one฀of฀the฀nation’s฀largest฀law฀firms,฀with฀offices฀ in฀Virginia,฀Baltimore,฀and฀Washington,฀DC.฀ The฀United฀States฀Air฀Force,฀from฀which฀I฀retired฀in฀1977,฀is฀celebrating ฀its฀fiftieth฀anniversary฀this฀year฀(1997),฀having฀been฀created฀ through฀congressional฀legislation฀in฀the฀summer฀of฀1947,฀with฀its฀first฀ secretary,฀Stuart฀Symington,฀sworn฀in฀on฀September฀18,฀1947.1 ฀The฀ forty-five-year฀period฀in฀our฀history฀that฀we฀call฀the฀“Cold฀War”฀can฀ be฀overlaid฀almost฀exactly฀with฀the฀first฀forty-five฀years฀of฀the฀United฀ States฀Air฀Force,฀since฀its฀birth฀in฀1947.2 Unlike฀the฀U.S.฀Air฀Force,฀however,฀the฀beginning฀of฀the฀Cold฀War฀ cannot฀be฀established฀with฀precision.฀Its฀beginning฀is฀a฀subjective฀date,฀ a฀date฀that฀will฀vary฀with฀an฀individual’s฀perception฀of฀post-World฀ War฀II฀events.฀Not฀only฀is฀the฀beginning฀of฀the฀Cold฀War฀subjective,฀ but฀its฀end฀is฀also฀subject฀to฀individual฀interpretation฀of฀the฀events฀following ฀the฀breach฀of฀the฀Berlin฀Wall฀in฀1989฀and฀into฀the฀early฀1990s.฀ We฀have฀our฀own฀views฀on฀this,฀of฀course,฀but฀forty-five฀years฀is฀a฀ good฀layman’s฀consensus฀as฀to฀the฀Cold฀War’s฀duration. 1 ฀Editor’s฀note:฀The฀National฀Security฀Act฀of฀1947฀authorized฀the฀creation฀of฀ a฀separate฀U.S.฀Air฀Force,฀which฀began฀operating฀on฀September฀18,฀1947.฀The฀ Department฀of฀the฀Air฀Force฀would฀operate฀as฀an฀executive฀agency฀headed฀by฀the฀ Secretary฀of฀the฀Air฀Force,฀a฀civilian฀appointed฀by฀the฀president฀with฀the฀advice฀ and฀consent฀of฀the฀Senate.฀In฀addition,฀there฀would฀be฀appointed฀for฀four฀years฀by฀ the฀president,฀with฀the฀advice฀and฀consent฀of฀the฀Senate,฀a฀Chief฀of฀Staff,฀United฀ States฀Air฀Force,฀from฀among฀the฀officers฀of฀general฀rank฀who฀are฀commissioned฀ in฀the฀U.S.฀Air฀Force.฀ 2 ฀ Editor’s฀ note:฀ General฀ Dougherty฀ presented฀ this฀ paper฀ at฀ the฀ UNT฀ Military฀ History฀Seminar฀on฀October฀11,฀1997. 106 The฀Early฀Cold฀War Historian฀Adam฀Ulam฀wrote฀that฀Josef฀Stalin,฀intoxicated฀by฀the฀ post-World฀War฀II฀survival฀of฀his฀nation฀and฀his฀own฀role฀as฀wartime฀ leader,฀“could฀not฀long฀withstand฀the฀logic฀of฀his฀position฀as฀the฀ruler฀ of฀a฀totalitarian฀society฀and฀as฀the฀supreme฀head฀of฀a฀movement฀that฀ seeks฀security฀through฀constant฀expansion.”3 ฀Then฀Dean฀Rusk,฀in฀his฀ “Reflections฀on฀Containment,”฀said฀that,฀in฀keeping฀with฀Ulam’s฀assessment ฀of฀Stalin’s฀imperative฀for฀expansion: we฀ourselves฀bear฀some฀responsibility฀for฀launching฀the฀Cold฀ War,฀because฀it฀may฀well฀be฀that฀we฀exposed฀Josef฀Stalin฀to฀ intolerable฀temptation฀through฀our฀own฀weakness฀.฀.฀.฀Just฀ after฀V-J฀Day฀we฀demobilized฀almost฀completely,฀and฀almost฀ overnight.฀We฀in฀the฀State฀Department฀were฀being฀told฀by฀of...