The central theme of these chapters is hypocrisy. Cathcart is a political and military hypocrite. Although he pretends to act in the best interest of his country and his service, he is really interested only in self-promotion. That is the motive behind his repeated elevation of the number of missions (sixty by the end of Chapter 19) that a pilot in his outfit must fly to end his tour of duty and go home. There is no shortage of pilots. Replacements are readily available if requested. Reasonable rotation probably would help the cause. But Cathcart thinks that his men's extra missions make him look like a stronger leader; the apparent devotion to duty is, he believes, a feather in his cap.
Cathcart is also a religious and social hypocrite. In the Saturday Evening Post, a popular and influential weekly magazine of the day, Cathcart reads an article about an American bomber group in England that prays before each mission. He asks Chaplain Tappman to try the same tactic in order to get Cathcart some positive publicity. The Colonel is not at all concerned about God, spirituality, or religion. In fact, Cathcart prefers to have the chaplain keep those topics out of the service: "I'd like you to keep it light and snappy, something that will send the boys out feeling pretty good. Do you know what I mean? I don't want any of this Kingdom of God or Valley of Death stuff." Cathcart eventually decides that something humorous would be best — or something practical, especially if the chaplain could "pray for a tighter bomb pattern." The elitist Cathcart's plan falters, however, when the chaplain points out that they really ought to include the enlisted men in the prayer services because they will be going along on the missions. Cathcart is dismayed:
"They've got a God and a chaplain of their own, haven't they?"
"No, sir."
"What are you talking about? You mean they pray to the same god we do?"
"Yes, sir."
"And He listens?"
"I think so, sir."
"Well, I'll be damned."
