Command and Control Structure and Organization: Operation Toenails
Operation Toenails, also called Operation A and the New Georgia Campaign, was part of Operation Cartwheel, in turn a series of offensives by the Allied forces against the Japanese in the South Pacific during World War II (Miller 1970). This campaign was undertaken in the New Georgia group of islands at the central Solomon Islands from June 20 to August 25, 1943. Its purpose was to isolate Rabaul, a critical Japanese base, to protect Australia and to pave the way for succeeding initiatives (Miller).
The Question of Command
The Army and the Navy were in heated disagreement over a unified leadership in the entire Pacific (Miller 1970). The initial sentiment was for a joint leadership and mutual cooperation between General Douglas MacArthur and Admiral William Halsey. This idea was, however, rejected . The Joint Chiefs came out with a directive on July 2, 1942 that MacArthur would be the commander of operations of the southwest Pacific forces, while Admiral Halsey's South Pacific forces in the Solomon Islands will come under General MacArthur's overall command. The Joint Chiefs also decided on March 28 that all the units of the Pacific Ocean areas besides those assigned by them to task forces would stay under the overall control of Admiral Chester Nimitz. This limited General MacArthur's authority over Halsey's forces in the Solomon Islands. Admiral Nimitz would keep Admiral Hasley's forces and the Pacific Fleet not assigned by the Joint Chiefs under his control and command (Miller).
Structure
Most of the commands in the Southwest and South Pacific areas that would implement the orders of the Joint Chiefs were also in place beforehand (Miller 1970). General MacArthur as Commander-in-Chief had already set up the general headquarters, an operational headquarters. Chief of Staff was Major General Richard K. Sutherland. Under him were the four standard sections of general staff and three for special staff. An American Army officer headed each of the sections. Serving in the most important staff sections were American navy officers and officers from the Australian, Netherlands, and Netherlands Indies armed forces. The general headquarters might have appeared like...
(e) MacArthur was a control freak and he hated the press; to the suggestion that he was implementing a socialist economy in Japan, he was outraged (Buhite, 2008). (f) When reporters did not write what he wanted while he was in Japan, he had them thrown out and not allowed back in; any negative reporting might hurt his chances to win the Republican nomination for the presidency (Buhite, 2008). Thesis THREE: MacArthur,
His flexibility in this regard as an expert communicator is amply demonstrated by the wide range of high-level leadership positions over the course of his lengthy military career. According to Grandstaff (2007), "Army General Douglas MacArthur is a prime candidate for the study of leadership. The son of Army General Arthur MacArthur, he spent more than 70 years serving in a variety of leadership positions, including Superintendent of West
In spite of the setbacks of Operation Blueheart, MacArthur was admirable in his courageous "promptitude to act," in the words of Winston Churchill (cited by Starling 1998, p. 298). After Blueheart's execution proved inconceivable, MacArthur immediately proceeded to draft the plans for the similar Operation Chromite. Operation Chromite, like Operation Blueheart, would rally the support of various branches of the military in a sweeping amphibious counteroffensive. MacArthur hoped to achieve
American Military Leaders The fighting of the First World War (WWI) started during 1914 and ended on 1918. The Second World War (WWII) started a lot later in 1939 and ended in 1945. These are the biggest military conflicts in the history of humankind. In both wars, military alliances formed by groups of countries were involved. The First World War (World War I, the War to End All Wars, the Great
Post-World War II Japan: A Nation in Transition Devastated by the Allies in World War II, Japan has emerged as one of the world's most economically and technologically advanced societies today. Some observers have suggested that the "Japanese miracle" was the result of a collusion between the government and industry to prosecute economic growth through a series of subsidies and favorable business climates, while others maintain this explosive growth was due
On page 138 Halberstam explains that the initial American units "…thrown into battle were poorly armed, in terrible shape physically, and, more often than not, poorly led" (Halberstam, 2007, 138). The U.S. was trying to get by "…on the cheap," Halberstam explains, and it Korea "it showed immediately"; Truman wanted to keep taxes low, he wanted to try and pay off the debt from the enormous expenditures in WWII,
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now