I was looking down the comment section for a clip from Doctor Strangelove, where they mentioned how, during the Cold War, "the political leadership on both sides tended to be rather suspicious of some of their top military men; hardline "hawks" were disturbingly common in those circles."

This made me realize that I couldn't name a single military person for winning "the greatest victory: the battle that was never fought", to paraphrase the Art of War. Military officers don't seem to have a career incentive to seek conflict: not much in the way of promotions and merits in peacetime, let alone glory, fame, honour, or a legacy. Are there any medals given to military personnel for averting a bloody, destructive conflict? Are there any Generals famous for exercising restraint in the face of possible false alarms, or for manoeuvering, negociating, or bluffing their way out of a violent confrontation?

I know of a couple of incidents where the Cold War almost went hot were it not for the restraint shown by some officers... that I can't name. I know of Smedley Butler not going through with the Business Plot. I seem to remember an example of a general from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms that defended a fort practically by himself with sheer reputation and a string instrument. This probably says more about my ignorance than about the reality on the ground, but it triggered my curiosity enough that I felt I had to put the question forward. So, what glory, what incentive is there, for non-violent military achievements?

Tangentially, since combat troops are, or so I heard, only a very small fraction of total military personnel, in modern armed services, and the vast majority of staff is engaged in technical, logistical, surveillance, and administrative work. Does one gain glory and promotions for, for example, overhauling an obsolete filing system into something more efficient and agile?