The first mission assigned to SAC was to disrupt the Soviet capacity to make war. This was the same mission that strategic bombers had carried out against Germany. After the formation of NATO in April 1949 SAC was assigned an additional mission: to retard a Soviet advance into Western Europe. In the following year, soon after the Soviet test, SAC acquired a third mission: to blunt the Soviet capability to deliver an atomic offensive against the United States and its allies. This blunting mission had the highest priority because it had to be carried out quickly, before Soviet bombers got off
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