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War and Peace in the Nuclear Age (1986-03-13)
About this film
Lt. Gen. Glenn Kent spent most of his career, beginning in 1953, in Air Force planning, and research and development. He rose to become Director of the Weapons Systems Evaluation Group in 1972. In the interview he describes the formation of the Joint Strategic Target Planning Staff (JSTPS), which aimed at creating the Single Integrated Operational Plan (SIOP) for employment of nuclear weapons. He describes the Air Force's efforts to further this goal, and the reservations of the other military branches, especially the Navy. He also explains how the Air Force calculates weapons requirements, and responds to the contention that it allocated too many weapons to each target, and could have managed with far lower numbers.
Directors & creators
WGBH
Subjects
public broadcasting, AAPB, Glenn Kent, Thomas Gates, Curtis LeMay, Thomas Dresser White, Andrew Goodpaster, Alain Enthoven, George Rathjens, George Kistiakowsky, United States Air Force, United States Navy, Joint Strategic Target Planning Staff, Single Integrated Operational Plan, Strategic Air Command, Cold War, Nuclear weapons strategy, Military planning, Strategic deterrence
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