There is a mass of detailed information concerning major and minor U.S. Army commands set up in World War II, but a simple table of the few highest headquarters and the U.S. Army commanders in them, with dates and explanatory notes, does not exist in Department of the Army files. This appendix presents the names of the superior headquarters in which U.S. Army officers held command positions in every part of the world. For the most part OPD's links with the "overseas theaters" served to establish liaison between the War Department and the Chief of Staff in Washington and these headquarters and these commanders overseas. Appendix B
U.S. Army Commanders in Major Theater Commands,
December 1941-September 1945Unless otherwise indicated, the "Date Established" signifies the date the official order for the setting up of a particular command was sent out by the War Department, the JCS, or the CCS. These dates, based largely on orders from Washington, do not coincide necessarily with the dates of the arrival of troops, the actual assumption of command by the commanding general, or the beginning of the effective functioning of the command headquarters. Unless otherwise indicated in the accompanying notes, the dates beside the name of the commanding general signify the period of actual assumption and relief from command. The rank of the commanding general listed is the rank he held upon his actual assumption of the command indicated.
The sources of information on which this table and the accompanying notes are based are varied and scattered. They present so many technical problems in citation that documentation has been omitted. Nevertheless, the information given is considered reliable within a small margin of error. For basic information, with an informal system of documentation, see OPD History Unit Study Z.
EUROPEAN THEATER
Name of Command Date Established Commanding General U.S. Army Forces in the British Isles (USAFBI) 8 January 1942 Maj Gen J.E. Chaney1
(8 Jan-8 Jun 42)European Theater of Operations, U.S. Army (ETOUSA)2 8 June 1942 Maj Gen J. E. Chaney
(8-20 Jun 42)Maj Gen D.D. Eisenhower
(24 Jun 42-3 Feb 43)Lt Gen F.M. Andrews
(4 Feb-3 May 43)Lt Gen J. L. Devers3
(10 May 43-8 Jan 44)Gen D.D. Eisenhower4
(15 Jan 44-1 Jul 45)Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) 15 January 1944 Gen D.D. Eisenhower5
(15 Jan 44-16 Jul 45)U.S. Forces European Theater (USFET)6 1 July 1945 General of the Army
D.D. Eisenhower
(1 Jul-11 Nov 45)
AFRICA-MIDDLE EAST THEATER
Name of Command Date Established Commanding General U.S. Army Forces in the Middle East (USAFIME)7 16 June 1942 Maj Gen R. L. Maxwell8
(16 June-4 Nov 42)Lt Gen F.M. Andrews
(4 Nov 42-31 Jan 43)Maj Gen L.H. Brereton9
(31 Jan-10 Sep 43)Maj Gen Ralph Royce
(10 Sep 43-10 Mar 44)Brig Gen B.L. Giles
(10 Mar 44-1 Mar 45)U.S. Army Forces in Central Africa (USAFICA) 10 16 June 1942 Brig Gen S.W. Fitzgerald11
(16 Jun 42-23 Jun 43)Brig Gen E.S. Hoag
(6 Jul-4 Sep 43)Persian Gulf Command (PGC)12 10 December 1943 Maj Gen D.H. Connolly
(10 Dec 43-24 Dec 44)Brig Gen D.P. Booth
(24 Dec 44-15 Aug 45)Col G.A.M. Anderson
(15 Aug-1 Oct 45)U.S. Army Forces Africa-Middle East Theater (USAFAMET)13 1 March 1945 Maj Gen B.L. Giles
(1 Mar 45-15 Feb 46)
NORTH AFRICAN-MEDITERRANEAN THEATER
Name of Command Date Established Commanding General Allied Force Headquarters, North Africa (AFHQ) 11 August 194214 Lt Gen D.D. Eisenhower15 North African Theater of Operations, U.S. Army (NATOUSA)16 4 February 1943 Lt Gen D.D. Eisenhower
(4 Feb 43-8 Jan 44)Lt Gen J.L. Devers17
(8 Jan-22 Oct 44)Lt Gen J.T. McNarney18
(22 Oct-1 Nov 44)Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO) [Allied] 10 December 1943 CinC
Lt Gen D.D. Eisenhower19
(10 Dec 43-8 Jan 44)Deputy CinC
Lt Gen J.L. Devers20
(8 Jan-22 Oct 44)Lt Gen J.T. McNarney21
(22 Oct 44-23 Oct 45)Mediterranean Theater of Operations, U.S. Army (MTOUSA) 1 November 1944 Lt Gen J. T. McNarney
(1 Nov 44-23 Oct 45)
ASIATIC THEATER
Name of Command Date Established Commanding General U.S. Army Forces in the Chinese Theater of Operations, Burma and India 2 February 1942 Lt Gen J. W. Stilwell22
(also CofS to Generalissimo, Supreme Commander, China Theater)
(4 Mar 42-21 Oct 44)Southeast Asia Command (SEAC) [Allied] 21 August 194323 Deputy Supreme Allied Commander
Lt Gen J.W. Stilwell
(16 Nov 43-21 Oct 44)Lt Gen R.A. Wheeler24
(12 Nov 44-4 Oct 45)U.S. Forces, China Theater (USFCT)25 24 October 1944 Maj Gen A. C. Wedemeyer
(also CofS to Generalissimo)
(31 Oct 44-1 May 46)U.S. Forces, India-Burma Theater (USFIBT) 24 October 1944 Lt Gen D. I. Sultan
(27 Oct 44-22 Jun 45)Lt Gen R.A. Wheeler
(23 Jun-28 Sep 45)
PACIFIC THEATER
Name of Command Date Established Commanding General U.S. Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE) 26 July 1941 Lt. Gen Douglas MacArthur26 ABDA Command (ADBACom) [Allied]27 3 January 1942 Deputy Commander
Lt Gen G.H. Brett28U.S. Army Forces in Australia (USAFIA)29 5 January 1942 Maj Gen G.H. Brett
5-12 Jan 42)Maj Gen L.H. Brereton
12-27 Jan 42)Maj Gen J.F. Barnes
(27 Jan-25 Feb 42)Lt Gen G.H. Brett
(25 Feb-18 Apr 42)Maj Gen J.F. Barnes
(19 Apr-10 Jul 42)GHQ, Southwest Pacific Area (SWPA) [Allied]30 30 March 1942 Gen Douglas MacArthur
(CinC SWPA)
(18 Apr 42-2 Sep 45)U.S. Army Forces in South Pacific Area (USAFISPA)31 7 July 1942 Maj Gen M.F. Harmon
(ComGenSoPac)
(26 Jul 42-8 Jul 44)Hawaiian Department32 Lt Gen W.C. Short
(8 Feb 41-17 Dec 41)Lt Gen D.C. Emmons
(17 Dec 41-1 Jun 43)Lt Gen R.C. Richardson, Jr.33
(1 Jun 43-17 Mar 46)U.S. Army Forces in Central Pacific Area (USAFICPA)34 14 August 1943 Lt Gen R.C. Richardson, Jr.
(ComGenCentPac)
(14 Aug 43 - 1 Aug 44)U.S. Army Forces, Pacific Ocean Areas (USAFPOA)35 1 August 1944 Lt Gen R.C. Richardson, Jr.
(ComGenPoa)
(1 Aug 44-17 Mar 46)U.S. Army Forces, Pacific (AFPAC)36 3 April 1945 General of the Army Douglas MacArthur
(CinC AFPAC)
(6 Apr 45-31 Dec 46)
[Footnotes to above table; see below]
[Footnotes to above table; see below]
WESTERN HEMISPHERE
Name of Command Date Established Commanding General U.S. Army Forces, South Atlantic37 20 November 1942 Brig Gen R.L. Walsh
(20 Nov 42-15 May 44)Maj Gen R.H. Wooten
(16 May 44-30 Oct 45)Caribbean Defense Command (CDC)38 10 February 1941 Lt Gen D. Van Voorhis
(10 Feb-18 Sep 41)Lt Gen F.M. Andrews
(20 Sep 41-9 Nov 42)Lt Gen G.H. Brett
(12 Nov 42-15 Oct 45)Alaska Defense Command (ADC)
Alaskan Department
4 February 194139
1 November 1943
Brig Gen S.B. Buckner, Jr.
(4 Feb 41-31 Oct 43)Lt Gen S.B. Buckner, Jr.
(1 Nov 43-12 Jun 44)Lt Gen D.C. Emmons
(21 Jun 44-30 Jun 46)Continental Defense Commands40
Table of Contents ** Appendix A * Bibliography
1. General Chaney had been serving as the Special Army Observer in the United Kingdom and head of the American mission called the Special Observer Group (SPOBS) since May 1941. British-American military staffs agreed during their meetings in Washington, January-March 1941 (ABC-1 Conversations), to exchange military missions to facilitate planning for the eventuality of American entry in the war. General Chaney arrived on 18 May 1941, and on the following day, Headquarters, SPOBS, was established in London. After the United States entered the war, SPOBS was succeeded by USAFBI, actually SPOBS under a new name. At the time of the ARCADIA Conference, December 1941-January 1942, the decision was made to place the MAGNET forces (U.S. Forces for Northern Ireland) under the command of Maj. Gen. E.L. Daley, and make him in turn responsible to General Chaney, designated as CG, USAFBI. Footnotes
2. ETOUSA (successor to USAFBI) was a joint command in which, by agreement of U.S. War and Navy Departments, the Army exercised planning and operational control under the principle of unity of command over all U.S. Navy forces assigned to that theater. Iceland (INDIGO) was included in the ETO in June 1942. General Eisenhower, while he was commanding the invasion of North Africa, remained in command of ETO through a deputy, Maj. Gen. R.P. Hartile, until 3 February 1943.
3. General Devers assumed command in ETO after the death of General Andress on 3 May 1943 in an airplane accident.
4. TAG issued orders on 31 December 1943 transferring General Eisenhower to duty as CG, ETOUSA, and relieving General Devers from that theater and assigning the latter to command U.S. Forces in Nato. The effective date of the exchange was to be arranged between these officers. General Devers was relieved of the command on 8 January 1944, but General Eisenhower did not arrive in London until 15 January 1944.
5. General Eisenhower was notified by the CCS on 10 December 1943 that he had been appointed Supreme Commander, Allied expeditionary Force (for OVERLORD), a combined command, and that prior to his assuming command early in January, he was to return to Washington for conferences with General Marshall and the CCS. Soon after his notification in early December 1943 that he had been appointed supreme commander, General Eisenhower began to lay his plans and arrange for the adjustment of command and staff assignments for his organization for OVERLORD. Following a hurried trip to the United States at the beginning of the new year, he arrived in London on 15 January 1944. His appointment as supreme commander did not become "formally official" until his receipt of a directive from the CCS on 14 February 1944. In the period 15 January-14 February 1944, General Eisenhower conducted planning for OVERLORD with the COSSAC staff, the Allied planning agency, which had come under control upon his arrival in the United Kingdom and which he proceeded to expand into the headquarters which became known as SHAEF. COSSAC formally changed its name to SHAEF on 15 January 1944. SHAEF was not officially activated, however, until 13 February 1944. SHAEF was inactivated on 16 July 1945.
6. JCS 1400, approved and dispatched to General Eisenhower on 27 June 1945, provided for the redesignation of ETOUSA as USFET. This message also designated General Eisenhower as Commander, in Chief, U.S. Forces of Occupation in Germany. Gen. Mark Clark was designated as Commander in Chief, U.S. Forces in Occupation of Austria. ETOUSA was redesignated USFET effective 1 July 1945.
7. On 16 June 1942 the War department created within the Africa-Middle East Theater, which had been designated by the CCS as an area of British strategic responsibility, two commands: U.S. Army Forces in the Middle East and U.S. Army Forces in Central Africa. USAFIME was by far the larger and, in terms of proximity to critical military operations, more important command.
8. General Maxwell had been serving as head of the U.S. Military Mission in Africa, with headquarters at Cairo, Egypt, since the fall of 1941.
9. Upon the departure of General Andrews for his new assignment in ETO on 31 January 1943, Maj. Gen. L.H. Brereton, in accordance with previous War Department instructions, assumed command as CG, USAFIME. General Brereton had been designated commander of the Middle East Air Force (later 9th Air Force) in June 1942.
10. USAFICA, established at the same time as USAFIME, was the U.S. Army command assigned responsibility for the area of the trans-African air ferry route.
11. General Fitzgerald was concurrently Commanding General, Africa-Middle Eastern Wing, AAF Ferrying Command. In the latter part of June 1942, Brig. Gen. Percy L. Sadler served briefly as CG, USAFICA. On 4 September 1943, the War Department dissolved USAFICA, the defense of the trans-African air ferry route being no longer critical, and placed the area it had covered under USAFIME.
12. PGC was set up as a separate command directly under the War Department effective 10 December 1943. General Connolly, who had been serving as commander of the Persian Gulf Service Command (PGSC) since 20 October 1942 became CG, PGC. PGSC, a service subcommand in USAFIME, had been set up on 13 August 1942. PGSC was a redesignation of the Iran-Iraq Service Command, activated 24 June 1942, which in turn was a redesignation of the U.S. Military Iranian Mission. The U.S. Army had accepted the responsibility for developing and operating transportation and port facilities in the Persian Corridor to expedite lend-lease to the USSR, as outlined in CCS 109/1, 22 September 1942. Between 24 June 1942 and 10 December 1943, the American organization in the Persian Corridor was within the jurisdiction of USAFIME. PGSC was largely autonomous in fact, although it was not until December 1943 that PGSC, designated as PGC, became an autonomous command in name as well as in fact. PGC ceased to be a separate command on 1 October 1945, when it was again designated PGSC and placed under USAFAMET. Its operations ceased in December 1945.
13. The War Department redesignated the Middle East theater as the Africa-Middle East theater with new boundaries, effective 1 March 1945. The mission and boundaries of the Africa-Middle East theater were redefined by the War department 20 November 1945. The War Department issued orders inactivating the Africa-Middle East theater, effective 31 May 1946.
14. General Eisenhower's combined headquarters for TORCH was formed on 11 August 1942 in London. General Clark's suggestion that the title "Allied Force Headquarters" (AFHQ) be adopted for this headquarters was accepted by the British on 24 August 1942. The word "expeditionary" contained in the directive to the commander in chief for TORCH (General Eisenhower) was omitted for security reasons. The Advance Echelon, AFHQ, arrived in Algiers on 9 November 1942. AFHQ was in ETO until the formal separation of NATO from ETO on 4 February 1943. AFHQ remained a combined administrative headquarters for the Allied commander in the Mediterranean after the establishment of the Mediterranean Theater of Operations (Allied) in December 1943 and after a British officer, initially Gen. Sir H. Maitland Wilson, succeeded General Eisenhower in early 1944 as Commander in Chief, Mediterranean Theater (later designated SACMED).
15. General Eisenhower was formally designated Commander in Chief, Allied Expeditionary Force (for TORCH) by a CCS directive, CCS 103/1, approved in 36th meeting CCS, 13 August 1942. This directive, which General Eisenhower received from the CCS on 14 August 1942, officially confirmed an assignment upon which in reality he had been engaged since July 1942.
16. NATOUSA was separated from ETO on 4 February 1943. General Eisenhower (AUS general, 11 February 1943) was designated CG. By agreement between U.S. War and Navy Departments, NATO, like ETO, was a unified American command. In NATO the U.S. Army commander exercised planning and operational control of the U.S. Navy forces, Northwest African waters, under the doctrine of unity of command.
17. General Devers relinquished command of ETO and assumed command of NATOUSA on 8 January 1944, simultaneously becoming Deputy Allied Commander in Chief, Mediterranean.
18. General McNarney succeeded General devers both as deputy Supreme Allied Commander, Mediterranean, and as Theater Commander, NATOUSA, 22 October 1944. General McNarney served as CG, NATOUSA, until 1 November 1944 when NATOUSA was redesignated Mediterranean theater of Operations, U.S. Army.
19. CCS 387/3, 5 December 1943, provided in effect for the combination of the U.S. North African Theater of Operations and the British Middle Eastern theater to form the Mediterranean Theater of Operations. In this directive, General Eisenhower as Commander in Chief, Allied Forces, North Africa, was given command of the Mediterranean Theater. This directive brought the whole offensive in the Mediterranean under a single command and gave General Eisenhower responsibility for all operations in the Mediterranean other than strategic bombing. He retained command of NATOUSA. Effective 10 December 1943, a unified command was established in the Mediterranean theater under a Commander in Chief, Allied Forces, and still later, 9 March 1944, renamed Supreme Allied Commander, Mediterranean Theater (SACMED). Shortly after General Eisenhower left the theater for a visit to the United States prior to assuming his new post as Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force (for OVERLORD), General Wilson succeeded him in the supreme command, Mediterranean theater (8 January 1944).
20. At the same time that General Wilson succeeded General Eisenhower in command of Allied forces in MTO, 8 January 1944, General Devers began his duties as CG, NATOUSA, and as General Wilson's deputy (Deputy Allied Commander in Chief, Mediterranean). Field Marshal Sir Harold Alexander relieved General Wilson of command of MTO on 12 December 1944, and another British officer, Lt. Gen. W.D. Morgan, was appointed Supreme Allied Commander, Mediterranean Theater, in early October 1945.
21. General McNarney assumed his duties of Deputy Commander in Chief, Mediterranean, when he relieved General Devers as CG, NATOUSA. When the North African Theater of Operations was redesignated MTOUSA General McNarney automatically became CG, MTOUSA.
22. At the same time that General Stilwell was appointed U.S. Army Representative in China, the War Department, by directive of the President, appointed him to be chief of staff to the Supreme Commander, China Theater (Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek). General Stilwell Arrived in Chungking, China, to assume his command on 4 march 1942. At the end of June 1942 he designated his American command as USAFCBI. He was notified of his relief from responsibilities in Asia in a message received from General Marshall, 18 October 1944. He left Chungking on 21 October 1944.
23. At QUADRANT Conference provision was made for setting up SEAC, a combined Allied command, under Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten as Supreme Allied Commander (SACSEA). General Stilwell, CG, CBI, was to be made his deputy. Operations in the Chinese theater were to continue to be under the Generalissimo with General Stilwell as his chief of staff. Through british Chiefs of Staff the CCS were to exercise general supervision over operations in Southeast Asia by SEAC. CCS 308/3, which provided for setting up a supreme Allied command in Asia, was approved by CCS at their 114th meeting, 21 August 1943. Admiral Mountbatten actually took over the command of SEAC on 16 November 1943. General Stilwell assumed his duties as Deputy Supreme Allied Commander at the same time and continued in this capacity until 21 October 1944.
24. On 12 November 1944 General Wheeler became Deputy Supreme Allied Commander, SEAC, and on 23 June 1945 was given additional duty as the commander of the India-Burma Theater.
25. In October 1944, General Stilwell was relieved of his responsibilities in Asia, and the American administrative area CBI was separated into the India-Burma and the China theaters. General Sultan was given command of the India-Burma Theater, and General Wedemeyer (former Army planner in the War Department prior to becoming deputy Chief of Staff, SEAC, in october 1943) was appointed commander of U.S. Forces in China, and succeeded General Stilwell as the Generalissimo's chief of staff. General Stilwell was brought back to the United States, assigned to the post of CG, AGF, and later returned to the field in command of the Tenth Army upon the death of General Buckner on Okinawa. American forces, under the command of the CG, USFIBT, were, as directed by CCS, to be under the operational control of SACSEA. Certain units in China, such as Navy Group China and the XX Bomber Command, were not to be under the full control of the CG, USFCT, but to continue their status as shown in directive to CG, CBI. Similar exceptions from the full control of the CG, USFIBT, were made. General Wedemeyer arrived in the theater and actually assumed command as CG, USFCT, on 31 October 1944. USFCT was inactivated 1 May 1946 and its duties taken over by U.S. Army Forces China. USFIBT was inactivated on 31 May 1946 with remaining functions taken over by detachment, U.S. Army Forces India.
26. The Philippine Department had been in existence for many years before the outbreak of the war as the outlying U.S. Army command in the Pacific. The Philippine Department, which had been under Maj. Gen. George Grunert May 1940-October 1941, was reduced to the status of a services of supply organization for USAFFE shortly before Pearl Harbor. In January 1942 it was redesignated the Bataan Service Command. On 26 July 1941 General MacArthur, returned, was placed on active duty, appointed lieutenant general (AUS), and designated as CG, USAFFE. The USAFFE command included troops in the Philippine Department and the forces of the Philippine Army as they were inducted into American service. It had the task of organizing the defense of the Philippines. From 18 April 1942 to 26 February 1943 USAFFE, with General MacArthur still in command, was inactive. Effective 26 February 1943, all units of the U.S. Army in the Southwest Pacific areas, and all elements of the Philippine Army called into the service of American forces were assigned to USAFFE, which had been constituted by the War Department on 26 July 1941.
27. For a short period in 1942, a separate command under General MacArthur existed in the Philippines. Established 21 March 1942, with Lt. Gen. J.M. Wainrwright in command, it was called U.S. Forces in the Philippines (USFIP). General Wainwright surrendered 6 May 1942. ABDACom for the Southwest Pacific was set up during the meeting of British-American authorities at the ARCADIA Conference 24 December 1941-14 January 1942 and approved by the Australian, British, Dutch, and American Governments, whose initials formed the name of the command. Designed to stem the tide of Japanese advance, it was composed of American, British, Dutch, and Australian forces, and included all the land and sea areas in the general region Burma-Malaya-Netherlands East Indies and the Philippines. A British officer Gen. Sir Archibald Wavell, was selected as supreme commander. General Wavell arrived in Batavia on 10 January 1942 and actually assumed command on 15 January 1942. ABDACom was short-lived. After the fall of Singapore, CCS proceeded to dissolve this command. It ceased operations on 25 February 1942.
28. General Brett, the newly appointed commanding general, U.S. trips in Australia, was ordered to report to General Wavell as Deputy Supreme Commander, ABDACom. General Brett was promoted from major general to lieutenant general 7 January 1942, after he was designated Deputy Commander, ABDACom. In mid-January, General Wavell, with General Brett as his deputy, took over ABDACom.
29. Great confusion surrounded the establishment of the American command in Australia and the designation of a commander. It resulted partly from haste, in both Washington and ABDACom headquarters in the critical early days of the war and from dual responsibilities of American commanders in Australia to ABDACom and to other U.S. Army commanders in the Pacific. On 12 December 1941, American troops aboard a convoy originally scheduled for the Philippines were constituted a task force, Task Force South Pacific, and placed under the command of General Barnes, senior officer in the convoy. The convoy was ordered to proceed to Brisbane, Australia, and General Barnes was instructed to assume command of all American troops in Australia and place his forces under CG, USAFFE. He was given the primary objective of aiding in the defense of the Philippines. When the convoy docked at Brisbane, Australia, on 22 December 1941, the Task Force South Pacific became at that point the U.S. Forces in Australia (referred to as USFA or USFIA) with General Barnes in command.
While the convoy was still en route to Brisbane, the War department was drawing up a plan for using Australia as a supply base for Philippine operations. WPD recommended, 17 December 1941, that General Brett, an Air Corps officer then at a military conference of Allied military leaders in Chungking, assume command of American troops and military facilities in Australia, thus relieving General Barnes who was temporarily in command of the forces headed for Australia. As Commanding General, American troops in Australia, General Brett was to be under General MacArthur who commanded all U.S. Army forces in the Far East (USAFFE). General Marshall approved this plan for the Australian base, and WPD sent out the messages and directives, 17 December 1941, to put this plan into effect. Pending General Brett's arrival, Brig. Gen. H.B. Claggett, an Air Corps officer on General MacArthur's staff, was to be sent from the Philippines to Australia to take temporary command in Australia. General Claggett arrived in Brisbane by air on 22 December 1941 and took over the command of USFA (USFIA) from General Barnes on 24 December 1941. General Barnes thereupon became General Claggett's chief of staff.
General Brett finally reached Australia 31 December 1941, and on 5 January 1942 assumed command of American troops in Australia as CG, USAFIA. This command was set up under General Brett on the basis of War Department instructions of 17 December 1941 and subsequent modifications and elaborations. The USAFIA command was basically an air services of supply, with a primary mission of logistic support of American air units operating in Northwest Australia and in the Netherlands East Indies. General Barns, previously General Claggett's chief of staff, became chief of staff to General Brett. General Claggett served briefly as commander of the supply base at Townsville and then returned to the United States.
Confusion in mid-January 1942 increased when General Brett began to function as Deputy Commander in Chief, ABDACom. General Brett reported for duty in Batavia on 12 January and remained General Wavell's deputy until ABDACom headquarters was dissolved (25 February 1942). The War Department, 12 January, without coordinating with General Wavell of General Brett, instructed General Brereton, Commanding General, U.S. Far East Air Forces, then operating from the Philippines to Australia and in the Netherlands East Indies (ABDA) area, to assume command of all U.S. Army Forces in Australia. General Brereton actually was CG, USAFIA, 12-27 January 1942. At General Wavell's request, however, General Brereton was designated commander of U.S. Air Forces in the ABDA area. General Brett, following the collapse of ABDACom, resumed command as CG, USAFIA, with General Barnes as his deputy commander. General Brereton became CG, 10th Air Force in India. Upon General MacArthur's assumption of command as Commander in Chief, Southwest Pacific Area, on 18 April 1942, General Barnes replaced General Brett as CG, USAFIA. General Brett became commander of Allied air forces, SWPA, holding this position until Maj. Gen. G.C. Kenney took over in August 1942. On 10 July 1942, General Barnes was relieved as CG, USAFIA, and USAFIA was redesignated more descriptively the U.S. Army Service of Supply, Southwest Pacific Area (USASOSSWPA). This change became effective 20 July 1942.
30. JCS, by directive of 30 March 1942, approved by the President on 31 March 1942, divided the Pacific theater, which had been designated by the CCS in CCS 57/2, 24 March 1942, as an area of American strategic responsibility, into two areas of responsibility: the Southwest Pacific Area (SWPA) and the Pacific Ocean Area (POA). Both the directive for the Southwest Pacific Area and the designation of General MacArthur as supreme commander of the armed forces of the governments whose units were operating in the area, were contained in a War Department message to General MacArthur, 3 April 1942, as amended by a War Department message of 5 April 1942. According to the directive contained in the 3 April message, the CCS would exercise general jurisdiction over grand strategy policy, allocation of forces and war materials, while the U.S. JCS would exercise jurisdiction over all matters of operational strategy. The Chief of Staff, U.S. Army, was to act as the executive agency fo the U.S. JCS. Final approval of the SWPA directive by the Australian Government was received in Washington on 14 April 1942. General MacArthur assumed command of the Southwest Pacific Area on 19 April 1942. General MacArthur's combined command in SWPA consisted of Allied ground forces (including Australian and Dutch forces), Allied air forces with General brett commanding, Allied naval forces, U.S. Forces in the Philippines (USFIP) under General Wainwright, and U.S. Army Forces in Australia (USAFIA), virtually a service command, under General Barnes. Admiral Nimitz was designated Commander in Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas (CinCPoa) on 20 April 1942, effective 8 May 1942. U.S. Army forces in the Pacific ocean area directly concerned were to comply with directives issued by that commander in chief. General MacArthur was relived from command of SWPA on 2 September 1945.
31. USAFISPA was set up as a separate army command in the South Pacific 7 July 1942, paralleling the naval subcommand in the southern part of Admiral Nimitz' POA command. SOPAC was the short title for the South Pacific Force and Area used by the U.S. Navy. At the time of the establishment of U.S. Army Forces, Pacific Ocean Areas (USAFPOA) on 1 August 1944, Army Air Forces, Pacific Ocean Areas (AAF/POA) was set up with General Harmon (then lieutenant general) as commanding general under CG, USAFPOA. AAF/POA was to consist initially of the U.S. AAF units assigned to the Central Pacific Area and to the South Pacific Area. Under the principles of unified command (JCS 263/2/D) CG, AAF/POA was to be responsible directly to CinCPoa for all matters concerning the preparing of plans, operations, training, and disposition of his forces. In addition, General Harmon was designated Deputy Commander, 20th Air Force, on all matters relating to those units of the 20th Air Force based in the Pacific Ocean Areas. In the latter capacity he was to deal directly with CinCPoa in coordinating 20th Air Force activities with other activities in his area.
32. For may years before World War II, the Hawaiian Department controlled all Army activities in the Hawaiian area. Until the creation of USAFISPA, General Emmons as Commanding General, Hawaiian department, was in effect administrative commander of U.S. Army forces in Admiral Nimitz' POA command, exclusive of the special USAFISPA subarea.
33. General Richardson remained in command of the Hawaiian Department along with his successive assignments in command of the U.S. Army Forces in Central Pacific Area, USAFPOA, and U.S. Army Forces, Middle Pacific (AFMidPac).
34. General Richardson was formally designated CG, USAFICPA, under Admiral Nimitz, 14 August 1943. The primary mission of this Army command under General Richardson was training.
35. Effective 1 August 1944, the USAFPOA was established, consolidating and initially consisting of all U.S. Army forces previously assigned to the Central Paficic Area and South Pacific Area. General Richardson as ComGenPoa was to exercise commander under CinCPoa under the principle of unity of command (JCS 263/3/D).
36. JCS, 3 April 1945, designated the Supreme Commander, SWPA, as Commander in Chief, U.S. Army Forces, Pacific (CinCAFPac), a post held concurrently with his SWPA command. All U.S. army resources in the Pacific theater (less the Southeast Pacific Area and resources under the command of the Commanding General, Alaskan Department) were placed under his command. All American naval resources in the Pacific (less Southeast Pacific Area) were placed under the command of CinCPoa. Both General MacArthur and Admiral Nimitz, commander of naval forces in the Pacific, were to prepare for final operations against Japan. AFPAC absorbed the forces assigned to USAFFE and USAFPOA. Headquarters, USAFPOA, was amalgamated on 1 July 1945 with Headquarters, AFMidPac, a command established on the same date under AFPAC. General Richardson was in command of AFMidPac from 1 July 1945-17 March 1946. USAFPOA was not formally dissolved until 1 September 1946, when the functions of the CG, USAFPOA, were simply taken over by the CG, AFMidPac. General MacArthur also created AFWesPac 7 June 1945 to replace USASOSSWPA which had come under General Styer's command on 30 May 1945.
37. The organization of USAF, South Atlantic, with headquarters at Recife, Brazil, was established under the command of General Walsh by War Department letter dated 20 November 1942. Headquarters, USAF, South Atlantic, was discontinued 31 October 1945.
38. In the years before World war II, overseas departments controlled all Army activities in the Panama Canal region and in the Puerto Rican region. Early in 1941 the defenses of the Puerto Rican Department and the Panama Canal Department were integrated, along with the base commands which had been set up in the American leased bases in British Caribbean territory, under the Caribbean Defense Command. In mid-1941 General Van Voorhis commanded the Panama Canal Department, and Maj. Gen. J.L. Collins commanded the Puerto Rican department. Prior to Pearl harbor, however, General Van Voorhis was replaced by General Andrews. Subsequently, the Commanding General, Caribbean Defense Command, was concurrently the Commanding General, Panama Canal Department. The Puerto Rican Department became part of the Antilles department, a subordinate command within the Caribbean Defense Command.
39. The Alaska Defense Command was designated in February 1941 as part of the War Department move to organize Western Hemisphere defenses on a defense command basis. Before and during the first months of World War II, Alaska was under the 9th Corps Area command, commanded by Lt. Gen. J.L. DeWitt, who also commanded the Fourth Army,m stationed on the West Coast. Upon the creation of the Alaska defense Command, General DeWitt exercised control over Alaska as Commanding General, Fourth Army. After the Western Defense Command (WDC) was constituted 17 March 1941, General DeWitt as commanding general had a planning responsibility for the defense of Alaska, which was still in the 9th Corps Area, as well as WDC. Upon the activation of WDC after Pearl Harbor (11 December 1941) and its designation as a theater of operations, the Alaska defense Command was placed under its control with General DeWitt still in a superior position of responsibility. General Buckner was ordered to Alaska in the spring of 1940 to assume command of American troops there, and became successively Commanding General, Alaskan Defense Force, Alaska Defense Command and Commanding General, Alaskan Department. The Alaska Defense Command was redesignated effective 1 November 1943 and separated from WDC. Upon the establishment of the Alaskan Department in 1943, the Army activities in Alaska came to be administered separately very much on the same basis as those in Hawaii. General Buckner was relieved from command of the Alaskan Department 12 June 1944, assumed command of the Tenth Army in August 1944, and was killed on Okinawa in June 1945.
40. WDC headquarters was combined with Fourth Army headquarters with station at San Francisco. Each became a separate headquarters on 12 September 1943. The status of WDC as a theater of operations was authorized by War department radio to WDC 11 december 1941 and was terminated 27 October 1943. WDC was discontinued 1 March 1946. General deWitt remained in command of WDC form March 1942 to September 1943. Lt. Gen. D.C. Emmons succeeded him, serving from September 1943 to June 1944. Maj. Gen. R.H. Lewis was in command briefly in June 1944, Maj. Gen. C.H. Bonesteel II was in command from June until November 1944, and Maj. Gen. H.C. Pratt was in command from December 1944 until November 1945, after the close of hostilities. The Eastern Defense Command, originally called Northeast Defense Command, was constituted on 17 March 1941, along with the other continental U.S. defense commands. It was redesignated the Eastern Theater of Operations on 24 December 1941. During all this period Lt. Gen. H.A. Drum was concurrently Commanding General, First Army and Eastern (Northeast) Defense Command (Theater of Operations). The Eastern Theater of Operations was reconstituted the Eastern Defense Command 11 March 1942. General Drum was succeeded in both capacities in 1943 by Lt. Gen. George Grunert, who served as Commanding General, Eastern Defense Command, 8 October 1943-31 July 1945. Brig. Gen. K.P. Lord became Acting Commanding General, Eastern Defense Command, 1 August 1945 and held the post until 15 March 1946, when the command was discontinued. The Central and Southern Defense Commands, the remaining continental U.S. commands, were never theaters of operations.