Peace Through Strength: What It Really Means
Proceedings Magazine - July 2018
By Lieutenant Commander Thomas J. Cutler, U.S. Navy
In 1970 in the Mediterranean, the USS Independence (CVA-62) and the Soviet destroyer shadowing her activated their fire-control radars and locked onto each other. The author, a young ensign at the time, recalls his disappointment when the tensions came to naught but concludes the strength of Sixth Fleet kept the Soviets from pushing too far.
The sea was an ebony carpet with only the faintest indication of a horizon separating the overcast sky from the waters below. Yet, through my binoculars, I could make out the silhouette of a Soviet destroyer off our starboard quarter, gliding silently, with a slight left-bearing drift. “Ivanâ€â€”as we had nicknamed him—had been shadowing us for several days and was less of a novelty than he had been when first arriving to take the place of the smaller, less lethal intelligence collector (AGI) that had been our companion since the crisis began.
https://www.usni.org/magazines/proceedings/2018-07/peace-through-strength-what-it-really-means
