Meilinger, Phillip S.

Dr Phillip S. Meilinger, now a free-lance writer, has been a Senior Analyst in Northrop Grumman’s Analysis Center as well as the deputy director of the AEROSPACENTER at Science Applications International Corporation. Before that he served 30 years in the U.S. Air Force as a command pilot, Pentagon staff officer, Dean of the School of Advanced Airpower Studies (SAAS), and a professor both at the Naval War College and the Air Force Academy. He retired from the Air Force in June 2000 as a Colonel. He holds his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan and has published extensively on airpower theory, doctrine and military operations. In addition, he has lectured on airpower subjects at military and civilian venues globally.

Formation and Early Years of the Strategic Air Command, 1946-1957: Why the Sac Was Formed

2013 0-7734-4465-3
The Strategic Air Command (SAC) was formed to deter war against the emerging Soviet threat –and to fight and win a war if deterrence failed. This fascinating history of SAC will weave together six themes shaping the command during its first decade of existence: mission, message, education, technology, intelligence gathering and analysis, and leadership. All of these were crucial but the last is perhaps primus inter pares. General Curtis E. LeMay was the commander of SAC from 1948 to 1957. His leadership and drive were fundamental to the successful evolution of the command.