To me, re-reading that chapter, it's clear that the neither the platoon leader nor his immediate chain of command knew how to obtain atomic warheads at the time

To me, re-reading that chapter, it's clear that the neither the platoon leader nor his immediate chain of command knew how to obtain atomic warheads at the time. Years later, the author met a key responsible for implementing the weapon who assured him of the two-hour metric. Of course ... the author is biased, it's a memoir, and at time a very selective one. Take it with a grain of salt. Hackworth was a lot of things but one thing he was above all else was very opinionated and sure of himself.