General Curtis E. LeMay on Leadership and Command

This study takes key events from General Curtis LeMay‘s life and puts them into a context to learn leadership and command. LeMay is widely regarded as the best operational-level commander the U.S. Air Force has produced. General LeMay‘s life provides ample opportunity to glean insight to better understand leadership and command. The paper gives a brief biography of LeMay‘s life, then discusses leadership and command from an academic perspective, providing the context to understand the next two chapters that focus on LeMay‘s actions. LeMay on Command presents his key challenges in Europe and the Pacific in changing the tactics used in both to generate greater bombing effectiveness and efficiency. Following these examples, this paper discusses his decision to change the way maintenance was conducted and then how LeMay changed Strategic Air Command to a resolute and capable organization, capable of providing the nation‘s nuclear deterrence. LeMay on Leadership focuses on his development of Lead Crews, target folders, and his debrief. It then discusses how he addressed quality of life issues within SAC to help his people cope with the stress placed on them. Finally, the paper address his unsuccessful election bid for Vice-President and what he was attempting to accomplish by his involvement. The paper concludes with lessons gleaned from the vignettes presented and application for current and future military officers.