War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Interview with Roswell Gilpatric, 1986 [1]
Description:
Roswell Gilpatric was the Deputy Secretary of Defense from 1961-1964. In the interview he discusses the changes made in the Defense Department under the Kennedy administration. He explains that prior to the Kennedy era the missile gap was based on estimates of the Soviet Union's goals and plans, rather than on their actual military capabilities. He also describes the changes in defense planning procedures under Secretary of Defense McNamara. Secretary McNamara, along with Mr. Gilpatric, did not favor the conventional briefing method used by the Joint Chiefs of Staff, but preferred "quick responses to unrehearsed questions." Coming from the business and legal realms, rather than straight from command school, Mr. Gilpatric explains that he and Secretary McNamara preferred to deal with actual facts and conditions, whereas typical military planning, in his view, amounted to a "departure from reality." He concludes by explaining the changes in military intelligence gathering since World War II, a shift that came largely with the advent of new technology; however, he explains that the shift was a difficult one because of the lack of experience with the new methods.
![War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Interview with Roswell Gilpatric, 1986 [1]](https://bpldcassets.blob.core.windows.net/derivatives/metadata/commonwealth-oai:x920k934c/image_thumbnail_300.jpg)
![Interview with Roswell Gilpatric, 1986 [1]](https://bpldcassets.blob.core.windows.net/derivatives/metadata/commonwealth-oai:vd66xw99t/image_thumbnail_300.jpg)
![War and Peace in the Nuclear Age; Interview with Carl Kaysen, 1986 [2]](https://bpldcassets.blob.core.windows.net/derivatives/metadata/commonwealth-oai:1544g587n/image_thumbnail_300.jpg)
