Book Review: ‘Always at War – Organisational Culture in Strategic Air Command, 1946-62’ by Melvin G Deaile

Abstract

In 1946, the US created Strategic Air Command (SAC) to manage its nuclear bomber force in deterring the emerging Soviet threat. Although previous books have detailed SAC's history and its principal characters, Melvin Deaile’s book Always at War brings a unique perspective by focusing on ‘those elements that constituted SAC’s organisational culture and the circumstances that brought them to fruition.’ The book reviews the period from SAC’s inception to its contribution during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, where: ‘Throughout the crisis, SAC’s airborne alert aircraft flew 2,088 missions logged 47,000 flying hours, travelled 20 million miles and conducted 4,076 air refuelling’s without a single accident.’