William Halsey and the offensive alpha strike

Halsey rejected the observer route and earned naval aviator wings at age 52 because he believed a carrier commander should understand flying directly. He then spent years helping develop American naval-aviation doctrine before the war. His aggressive temperament made him unusually comfortable treating the carrier as an offensive weapon. His pugnacity recalls Philip Vian, who rose from commanding a Tribal destroyer flotilla as a captain to vice admiral during the war. In later testimony Halsey summarized the tactical ideal as an alpha strike: hit first with everything available and prevent the enemy from answering. Halsey was also among those who objected to the Pearl Harbor hearings as a highly political exercise.