Atomic Weapons in Land Combat

How the atomic bomb could be developed as a deterrent to aggressors.

"Let's face it. Sooner or later someone would have to write a book on the battlefield employment of atomic weapons. Hiroshima upset the world's military applecart. Professional soldiers returned from World War II or from Korea dare not rest on their laurels. The next war, if it comes, is going to be differentmade so by the biggest "X" factor ever introduced into military calculations, the atomic bomb.

Like the mythical god Janus, atomic power has many faces. The first one displayed was popularized "The Absolute Weapon." Atomic bombs unlimited, so we were told, either made war unthinkable or provided cheap and foolproof security to their sole owner. Disturbingly, these and other popular thoughts concerning the atomic bomb didn't ring true with the co-authors of this book.

A series of Army assignments gave each of them opportunities to examine and study the many aspects of the atomic military problem. At the Industrial College and Georgetown University Graduate School, we pondered separately. Simultaneous assignment to The Department of Analysis and Research at the Army's Command and Staff College brought us together. The problem we saw, as soldiers and students of war, was not whether the atomic bomb would destroy civilization, but rather how this weapon could be developed as a deterrent to aggressors, as a potent aid to a United States' victory should war be forced upon us." From the Author's Introduction

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