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Mission Man (Part 1)
Bob Weinstein is a journalist who covers technology, project management, the workplace and career development.
Curtis (christened Emerson) LeMay--born on Nov. 15, 1906--is considered one of the greatest American generals of all time. Many military historians insist that his project management skills were single-handedly responsible for shortening World War ll.
Facts back up that contention. A fast-forward to the night of March 9, 1945, will give you a chilling picture of LeMay’s impact on world history. On that spring night he orchestrated, designed and precisely executed one of the most dangerous military missions of World War ll. At 4 p.m., 325 newly configured B-29s took off from airbases in Guam, Tinian and Saipan and flew 7.5 hours to destroy 17 square miles of Tokyo. Estimates of the number of people killed ranged between 80,000 and 200,000.
LeMay stayed up all night waiting for news of the mission and didn’t go to bed until the planes returned safely. If the mission had failed, LeMay would have been devastated, and he would also have lost his job. But the confident veteran strategist wasn’t gambling, and he wasn’t counting on luck either. A seasoned logician, he left little to chance. While something could always go wrong, LeMay tried to limit all risk as much as humanly possible. But he knew that if the mission was successful, it would indeed shorten the war.
According to Major T.J. Cronley’s abstract “Curtis E. …
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