Pacific Ocean Areas was a major Allied military command in the

Pacific Ocean theater of World War II The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

. It was one of four major Allied commands during the Pacific War, and one of three

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

commands in the

Asiatic-Pacific Theater The Asiatic-Pacific Theater was the theater of operations of U.S. forces during World War II in the Pacific War during 1941–1945. From mid-1942 until the end of the war in 1945, two U.S. operational commands were in the Pacific. The Pacific ...

. Admiral Chester W. Nimitz of the

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

, Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet, headed the command throughout its existence. The vast majority of Allied forces in the theatre were from the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

and U.S. Marine Corps. However units and/or personnel from

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, Australia,

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

, Fiji and other countries also saw active service.

Formation and composition

On 24 March 1942, the newly formed British and US Combined Chiefs of Staff issued a directive designating the Pacific theater an area of American strategic responsibility. On 30 March the US

Joint Chiefs of Staff The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is the body of the most senior uniformed leaders within the United States Department of Defense, that advises the president of the United States, the secretary of defense, the Homeland Security Council and the ...

(JCS) divided the Pacific theater into three areas: the Pacific Ocean Areas (POA), the

South West Pacific Area South West Pacific Area (SWPA) was the name given to the Allied supreme military command in the South West Pacific Theatre of World War II. It was one of four major Allied commands in the Pacific War. SWPA included the Philippines, Borneo, the ...

(SWPA), and the

Southeast Pacific Area The Southeast Pacific Area was one of the designated area commands created by the Combined Chiefs of Staff in the Pacific region during World War II. It was responsible to the Joint Chiefs of Staff via the Commander-in-Chief of the United States ...

. Details and transition, including whether Nimitz "appointed" or "nominated" the commander of the South Pacific Area, were worked out between 3 April and formal assumption of the overall Commander-in-Chief Pacific Ocean Areas by Nimitz on 8 May 1942. The JCS designated Admiral Chester W. Nimitz as Commander in Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas (CINCPOA), with operational control over all units (air, land, and sea) in that area. The theater included most of the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...

and its islands, but mainland

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

was excluded from the POA, as were the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

, Australia, the Netherlands East Indies, the Territory of

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; id, Papua, or , historically ) is the world's second-largest island with an area of . Located in Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the wide Torr ...

(including the Bismarck Archipelago) and the western part of the

Solomon Islands Solomon Islands is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania, to the east of Papua New Guinea and north-west of Vanuatu. It has a land area of , and a population of approx. 700,000. Its capit ...

. US strategic bomber forces in the theatre were under the direct control of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff. All land forces in

Alaska Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S. ...

and

remained under the control of the US Army's

Western Defense Command Western Defense Command (WDC) was established on 17 March 1941 as the command formation of the United States Army responsible for coordinating the defense of the Pacific Coast region of the United States during World War II. A second major respo ...

(see Aleutian Islands Campaign). 03 1905 APR 1942 COMINCH-CINPAC

In the separate South West Pacific Area, General Douglas MacArthur assumed command. The result of this split was the creation of two separate commands in the Pacific: POA and SWPA, each reporting separately to the Joint Chiefs, each competing for scarce resources in an economy-of-force theater, and each headed by a commander in chief from a different service. In particular, the division of the Solomons caused problems, since the battles of the

Solomon Islands campaign The Solomon Islands campaign was a major campaign of the Pacific War of World War II. The campaign began with Japanese landings and occupation of several areas in the British Solomon Islands and Bougainville, in the Territory of New Guinea, ...

in 1942–1943 ranged over the whole region, with the main Japanese bases in SWPA and the main Allied bases in SOPAC. However, MacArthur's

Operation Cartwheel Operation Cartwheel (1943–1944) was a major military operation for the Allies of World War II, Allies in the Pacific War, Pacific theatre of World War II. Cartwheel was an operation aimed at neutralising the major Empire of Japan, Japanes ...

, which gave full operational command of naval and amphibious forces to SOPAC's Admiral

William Halsey William Frederick "Bull" Halsey Jr. (October 30, 1882 – August 16, 1959) was an American Navy admiral during World War II. He is one of four officers to have attained the rank of five-star fleet admiral of the United States Navy, the others ...

in the Solomons while MacArthur strategically directed the whole operation, was a resounding success due to the rapport and great personal relationship between MacArthur and Halsey. When Halsey operated in the Solomon Islands that was west of 159° east longitude he reported to MacArthur. When he operated east of 159° east longitude he reported to Nimitz. The middle of

Santa Isabel Island Santa Isabel Island (also known as Isabel, Ysabel and Mahaga) is the longest in Solomon Islands, the third largest in terms of surface area, and the largest in the group of islands in Isabel Province. Location and geographic data Choiseul lies t ...

is where 159° east longitude runs through.

Sub-components

The Joint Chiefs further divided the Pacific Ocean Areas into the North, Central and South Pacific Areas. Nimitz designated subordinate commanders for the North and

South Pacific Area The South Pacific Area (SOPAC) was a multinational U.S.-led military command active during World War II. It was a part of the U.S. Pacific Ocean Areas under Admiral Chester Nimitz. The delineation and establishment of the Pacific Ocean Areas was ...

s (NORPAC and SOPAC) but retained the Central Pacific Area (CENPAC), including the Army's Hawaiian Department, under his direct command. During the 1942 Aleutian Islands campaign Rear Admiral Robert A. Theobald commanded Task Force 8 afloat. Theobald as Commander North Pacific Force (ComNorPac) reported to Admiral Nimitz in Hawaii. Task Force 8 consisted of five cruisers, thirteen destroyers, three tankers, six submarines, as well as

naval aviation Naval aviation is the application of military air power by navies, whether from warships that embark aircraft, or land bases. Naval aviation is typically projected to a position nearer the target by way of an aircraft carrier. Carrier-based ...

elements of Fleet Air Wing Four. From 1942-1943, three Army infantry divisions ( 23rd/"Americal",

25th 25 (twenty-five) is the natural number following 24 and preceding 26. In mathematics It is a square number, being 52 = 5 × 5. It is one of two two-digit numbers whose square and higher powers of the number also ends in the same last t ...

27th 27 (twenty-seven; Roman numeral XXVII) is the natural number following 26 and preceding 28. In mathematics * Twenty-seven is a cube of 3: 3^3=3\times 3\times 3. 27 is also 23 (see tetration). There are exactly 27 straight lines on a smooth ...

) and two Marine divisions ( 1st,

2nd A second is the base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI). Second, Seconds or 2nd may also refer to: Mathematics * 2 (number), as an ordinal (also written as ''2nd'' or ''2d'') * Second of arc, an angular measurement unit, ...

) fought in the POA (the 1st and

3rd Marine Division The 3rd Marine Division is a division of the United States Marine Corps based at Camp Courtney, Marine Corps Base Camp Smedley D. Butler in Okinawa, Japan. It is one of three active duty infantry divisions in the Marine Corps and together with th ...

s also fought in the SWPA in 1943). From 1944-1945, five Army infantry divisions ( 7th, 27th, 77th, 81st, 96th) and six Marine divisions (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th,

5th Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a contagious rash tha ...

, 6th) served in the POA. An additional 15 Army divisions fought in the SWPA during this time. Among allied land force formations was the

3rd New Zealand Division The 3rd New Zealand Division was a division of the New Zealand Military Forces. Formed in 1942, it saw action against the Japanese in the Pacific Ocean Areas during the Second World War. The division saw action in the Solomon Islands campaign durin ...

, which fought in the

during 1943-44. U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) operated in the POA under the

Seventh Seventh is the ordinal form of the number seven. Seventh may refer to: * Seventh Amendment to the United States Constitution * A fraction (mathematics), , equal to one of seven equal parts Film and television *"The Seventh", a second-season e ...

, Thirteenth, and Twentieth Air Forces at various times. On 10 March 1944, the Department of War approved the activation of an additional AAF headquarters for the Pacific Ocean Areas.Craven and Cate, "The Army Air Forces in World War II: Vol. V: MATTERHORN to Nagasaki: June 1944 to August 1945, Chapter 17, pp.510-513, vi

/ref> To head this new command the Air Staff (United States), Air Staff in Washington DC had decided as early as 16 April upon Lt. Gen. Millard F. Harmon, who, as commander of U.S. Army Forces, South Pacific Area (USAFISPA) had had long experience in the Pacific. By May the War Department proposed that Lt. Gen. Robert C. Richardson Jr., commanding U.S. Army Forces Central Pacific Area, be named Commanding General of U.S. Army Forces, Pacific Ocean Areas (USAFPOA), a command to incorporate both USAFICPA and USAFISPA, with Harmon under Richardson as Commanding General, Army Air Forces, Pacific Ocean Areas (AAFPOA). Harmon was finally made responsible to Nimitz for all matters regarding 'plans, operations, training, and dispositions' of his forces. In addition, as deputy commander of the Twentieth Air Force, Harmon was made responsible directly to Arnold in all matters affecting elements of the Twentieth Air Force in POA. Adm Nimitz headquarters on the Fonte Plateau, Guam (cropped)

Adm Nimitz headquarters on the Fonte Plateau, Guam (cropped)

Activation of Headquarters, Army Air Forces, Pacific Ocean Areas at Hickam Field followed on 1 August 1944. The Seventh Air Force, formerly the senior command, was made "mobile and tactichi" on 15 August by the reassignment of 112 units of various types to AAFPOA. The VII Air Force Service Command, its former administrative functions having been assumed by Breene as AAFPOA deputy commander for administration, was transferred to ASC/AAFPOA, where it lost its identity as an operating agency. The Seventh Air Force was left only VII Bomber Command and VII Fighter Command. The other AAFPOA operating forces were

XXI Bomber Command The XXI Bomber Command was a unit of the Twentieth Air Force in the Mariana Islands for strategic bombing during World War II. The command was established at Smoky Hill Army Air Field, Kansas on 1 March 1944. After a period of organization an ...

and the Hawaiian Air Defense Wing(?) (probable source misprint for 7th Fighter Wing). In preparation for the support of VHB units, the Hawaiian Air Depot was expanded and assigned directly to AAFPOA. For the forward or combat area, plans were laid for a Guam Air Depot (later,

Harmon Air Force Base Harmon Air Force Base is a former World War II United States Army Air Forces airfield, and postwar United States Air Force Base on Guam in the Mariana Islands. Originally named "Depot Field", it was renamed in honor of Lieutenant General Millard ...

), which was established in November. Allied air forces included units of the Royal New Zealand Air Force.

Commanders

Commanders, South Pacific Area

* Vice Admiral

Robert L. Ghormley Vice Admiral Robert Lee Ghormley (October 15, 1883 – June 21, 1958) was an admiral in the United States Navy who served as Commander, South Pacific Area during World War II. Early years Born in Portland, Oregon, Ghormley was the oldest of six ...

(19 June–18 October 1942) * Vice Adm./Adm. William Halsey, Jr. (18 October 1942 – 15 June 1944) * Vice Adm. John H. Newton (15 June 1944 – 13 March 1945) * Vice Admiral William L. Calhoun (13 March–2 September 1945)

Commanders, North Pacific Area

* Rear Adm. Robert A. Theobald (17 May 1942 – 4 January 1943) * Rear Adm. Thomas C. Kinkaid (4 January–11 October 1943) * Vice Adm.

Frank J. Fletcher Frank Jack Fletcher (April 29, 1885 – April 25, 1973) was an Admiral (United States), admiral in the United States Navy during World War II. Fletcher commanded five different Task force#United States Navy, task forces through WWII; he was the ...

(11 October 1943 – 2 September 1945)

References

Citations

Sources

* * * * * * * * *

External links

*{{Cite book, url = http://www.history.army.mil/brochures/72-4/72-4.htm, publisher =

United States Army Center of Military History The United States Army Center of Military History (CMH) is a directorate within the United States Army Training and Doctrine Command. The Institute of Heraldry remains within the Office of the Administrative Assistant to the Secretary of the Ar ...

, title = Central Pacific 1941–1943, series = The U.S. Army Campaigns of World War II, id = CMH Pub 72-4, access-date = 2010-08-17, archive-date = 2012-02-02, archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120202165835/http://www.history.army.mil/brochures/72-4/72-4.HTM, url-status = dead
''Strategy and Command: The First Two Years''
* Allied commands of World War II Military units and formations established in 1942 Military units and formations disestablished in the 1940s