 In so doing, he strained his relationship with the Air Force and lost a measure of the confidence it had placed in him.When the Skybolt missile was canceled in December 1962, Zuckert and the Air Staff were allied, as they had been during the XB-70 debate, against the secretary of defense and the administration.Zuckert often found himself to be the "man in the middle," at times supporting the Air Force against the secretary of defense and the administration.