Gen Carl Spaatz and D Day

The recipe for a successful flag officer includes four essential ingredients 1 the luck of Vince Lombardi, who said, Luck is the residue of hard work and skill 2 the killer instinct of Robert E. Lee--not just the desire to destroy ones enemy, some thing any soldier must have, but the ability to send men one admires and respects to their death 3 the perseverance of George Washington and 4 the ability of George C. Marshall to inspire the trust of both subordinates and superiors. A survey of the actions and decisions of Gen Carl A. Spaatz, US Army Air Forces AAF, during the first six months of 1944 confirms that he had these qualities. Luck boils down to the favorable resolution of uncontrollable variables. The manner in which generals exploit these gifts determines their fate. The short comings of Spaatzs enemies presented him an opportunity. The breaking of high-level German ciphers, sent via the supposedly secure Enigma code machine, vouchsafed all Allied commanders unparalleled knowledge of their enemies intentions and situation. Vital German targets, such as synthetic oil plants and large marshalling yards, used the Enigma machine to pass damage reports to Berlin, giving the Americans instant and accurate bomb damage assessments. Intercepts of Luftwaffe traffic also validated the effectiveness of American air tactics.