One of my neighbors (way back then and more recently) graduated from Tech a year or two after I did, and went on to fly F-4s in the later stages of Rolling Thunder (which by then was a total shooting gallery - e.g., an amusement park for the NVA gunners and rocketeers); and later still in Linebacker I and II. The last two yielded positive tangible results.
Of course, the theoretical graduated escalation strategy sounds good - especially for those who are not willing to take and inflict substantial immediate casualties. It does offer the hope (not a very good strategy) that peace can be achieved before one mounts too many rings up the ladder.
Has a graduated escalation strategy worked in any war ? Serious question for someone who has actually studied it in depth. I haven't.
Regards
Mike
PS: My mother's philosophy was that one is rich if, besides having a roof over one's head and food on the table, one has soap, water and a library card - then it depended on the person in the use of those riches. My dad's contribution (besides the roof and food) was to buy me as much .22LR ammo as I wanted to shoot.
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