Word: vandenbergers
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...Vandenberg way did not include the public martyrdom of a Billy Mitchell or the free-swinging tactics of a "Hap" Arnold. Van ducked involvement in side issues and took long detours around personal feuds. During the "revolt of the admirals" in 1949, with its raucous attack on the 6-36, during the MacArthur hearings of 1951, when the atmosphere was alive with bitterness and emotion, and again last year when the Air Force budget was cut by $5 billion, West Pointer Vandenberg refused to be goaded into name-calling or personal acrimony. Quietly, doggedly, and with great clarity, he plugged...
When General Hoyt Sanford Vandenberg, then a youthfully handsome man of 49, hurdled his seniors to become Chief of Staff of the new U.S. Air Force in April 1948, even his airmen friends agreed that "Van" was hardly the man for the job. The Air Force definition of its strategic mission had not been accepted, savage fights over increased air power were obviously ahead, and planning was restricted by the balance-of-forces system, which parceled out equal funds to the three services. Vandenberg, one of the finest pilots the Air Force ever had, was a shy, pleasant, introverted...
...time he retired last June, Vandenberg's record showed beyond argument that he was indeed the man for the job. When he became Chief of Staff, the big debate was over a 7 owing Air Force; when he left, the Air Force was moving toward 137 wings. The balance-of-forces theory had fallen into disrepute. The strategic-air concept was firmly established...
...independent U.S. Air Force which could make the most of its new capabilities. They got formal independence from Congress and President Truman in 1947. But the declaration of independence did not end the revolution. Tooey Spaatz, as the first Chief of Staff, U.S.A.F., and his successor, Hoyt Vandenberg, still had their hands full. One hand tried to fashion an atom-jet striking force to stop the threat of Communism; the other fought off the Army and Navy, which did not cotton to the Air Force's demands for money-much more money than the one-third of defense funds...
Scream Stifled. Twining's decision soon got its first test. General Vandenberg retired after unsuccessfully defending the 137-wingAir Force program from Defense Secretary Charlie Wilson's early budget hacking. One of Twining's first big jobs was to join the new Joint Chiefs of Staff in a "New Look" at U.S. defense needs last September. He found that the best deal he could get out of the New Look was 127 wings. Air Forcemen drew breath for a great scream of outrage, but Twining passed the word: no complaints. The scream was stifled; Air Force sources...