Rumour has it that the aircraft commander had been personally demoted by Curtiss LeMay by the time he made it to the RAF Boscombe Down Officers' Mess to answer a call from LeMay....
Le May had a firm control over all of SAC. Most officers, including my father, held 'brevet' ranks given to them by Le May. Le May could promote someone on the spot, or demote them on the spot. No court-martial, no review board limited paperwork. There was an infamous case of where a Lt. Colonel, who had been a rising star, upset Le May over something, was reduced to a First Lieutenant and was tranfered out of SAC overnight.