Thursday, June 4, 2026

THURSDAY — LEADERSHIP, HISTORY & POWER

“We’ve got to prove to the world that AF is Midway.”

— Joseph Rochefort

On June 4, 1942, Admiral Nimitz’s Pacific Fleet went into action off Midway because Rochefort’s analysts had insisted the objective codenamed AF was Midway, and Washington wanted proof that decrypts would never fully deliver. So the team manufactured it: a planted message about a broken water plant baited the enemy into naming the target in their own coded traffic. Nimitz committed his carriers to that contested read because he trusted the people who produced it, and because waiting is itself a decision. To learn more, Check out Justice for Joe Rochefort.

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Stay safe. Stay healthy. Be strong. Lead well.

Chad