Fight for the Strategic Arsenal

In two periods of the twentieth century strategic bombers and aircraft carriers have come into direct conflict. The underlying themes of the rise and fall of nuclear warfare and incompatible service culture dominate the rivalry between the Air Force and the Navy. After the Second World War, the main area of contention involved the emergent use of nuclear weapons as the expected primary mode of choice for conflicts to come. After the Cold War, the military faced restructuring due to the lessened importance of nuclear weapons and a national policy changing from deterrence to forward presence. Perhaps the greatest cause of conflict between the Air Force and the Navy relates to their different backgrounds of experience. Developing from their disparate histories, a lack of commonality affected their abilities to agree on military policy, and led to disputes over the merits of their respective programs and how they would comply with the security strategy of the nation. By examining the linkages and similarities between the periods after World War II and the Cold War, why the services sustained a near-continuous struggle over a period of decades will provide insight into the conditions that create similar rivalries.