I'm John Batcher. The book is Nimitzed War, Command Leadership from Pearl Harbor,

to Tokyo Bay, by Professor Craig Simons, US Naval Academy Emeritus. We're concentrating

on the relationships of the commanders, the flag officers, the generals of the Marine

Corps, the generals of the Army. We now come to Spruance Commanding the Fleet during

the landings on the Marianas. And there is an opportunity to take on the Japanese fleet

and to go up against what looked at at this point, a Japanese attempt to launch all of its

aircraft and sink American carriers. There were a great number of carriers that are coming

on all the time now. The arsenal of democracy is delivering big carriers after big carriers

and Task Force 58 then takes on the Japanese attack and what is known as the Battle of

Philippine Sea, but is otherwise known as the Turkey Shoot. What do we learn about this

moment and Spruance's decision-making professor?

Well, keep in mind that the United States Navy, in peacetime, always plans for contingencies,

what might happen? How can we prepare for that? It's happening today as we speak. And

it certainly happened throughout the 1930s. And the planning that most Navy officers assumed

would come forth is that at some point in a possible future war with Japan, there would

be a major naval battle somewhere in the Western Pacific and that naval battle would decide

the outcome of the war. So American naval officers, Japanese naval officers too, have been

looking forward to this big confrontation. But Spruance is assigned the job of capturing

the island of Sipan. And he, who is an overall command of all the American forces, says

that's job one, protecting that beachhead. So when the Japanese fleet threatens the American

invasion, Mark Mitchell, who commands the American carrier force, which as you mentioned is now

greatly expanded 15 aircraft carriers, he wants to go out and get them. And Spruance says,

...