CargoAdmin, Bureaucrats, Moderators (CommentStreams), fileuploaders, Interface administrators, newuser, Push subscription managers, Suppressors, Administrators
5,230
edits
Unified Combatant Commands: Difference between revisions
m
Text replacement - "Harry S. Truman" to "Harry S. Truman"
m (Text replacement - "Dwight D. Eisenhower" to "Dwight D. Eisenhower") |
m (Text replacement - "Harry S. Truman" to "Harry S. Truman") |
||
| Line 147: | Line 147: | ||
In the [[European Theatre of World War II|European Theater]], Allied military forces fell under the command of the [[Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force]] (SHAEF). After SHAEF was dissolved at the end of the war, the American forces were unified under a single command, the US Forces, European Theater (USFET), commanded by [[General of the Army (United States)|General of the Army]] Dwight D. Eisenhower. A truly unified command for the [[Pacific War]] proved more difficult to organize, as neither General of the Army [[Douglas MacArthur]] nor [[Fleet Admiral (United States)|Fleet Admiral]] [[Chester W. Nimitz]] was willing to be subordinate to the other, for reasons of [[interservice rivalry]].<ref>{{cite web |collaboration=Joint Chiefs of Staff |title=History of the Unified Command Plan, 1946–1977 |date=20 December 1977 |url=http://www.dod.gov/pubs/foi/reading_room/268.pdf |access-date=14 June 2020 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528174827/http://www.dod.gov/pubs/foi/reading_room/268.pdf |archive-date=28 May 2010|page=1}}</ref> | In the [[European Theatre of World War II|European Theater]], Allied military forces fell under the command of the [[Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force]] (SHAEF). After SHAEF was dissolved at the end of the war, the American forces were unified under a single command, the US Forces, European Theater (USFET), commanded by [[General of the Army (United States)|General of the Army]] Dwight D. Eisenhower. A truly unified command for the [[Pacific War]] proved more difficult to organize, as neither General of the Army [[Douglas MacArthur]] nor [[Fleet Admiral (United States)|Fleet Admiral]] [[Chester W. Nimitz]] was willing to be subordinate to the other, for reasons of [[interservice rivalry]].<ref>{{cite web |collaboration=Joint Chiefs of Staff |title=History of the Unified Command Plan, 1946–1977 |date=20 December 1977 |url=http://www.dod.gov/pubs/foi/reading_room/268.pdf |access-date=14 June 2020 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528174827/http://www.dod.gov/pubs/foi/reading_room/268.pdf |archive-date=28 May 2010|page=1}}</ref> | ||
The Joint Chiefs of Staff continued to advocate in favor of establishing permanent unified commands, and President | The Joint Chiefs of Staff continued to advocate in favor of establishing permanent unified commands, and President Harry S. Truman approved the first plan on 14 December 1946.<ref>JCS (1977), p. 2</ref> Known as the "Outline Command Plan", it would become the first in a series of Unified Command Plans.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Max Ostrovsky |url=https://archive.org/details/military-globalization/page/241/mode/2up?q=combatant&view=theater |title=Military Globalization |date=2018-08-01}}</ref> The original "Outline Command Plan" of 1946 established seven unified commands: [[Far East Command (United States)|Far East Command]], [[United States Pacific Command|Pacific Command]], [[Alaskan Command]], [[U.S. Northeastern Command|Northeast Command]], the [[U.S. Atlantic Fleet]], Caribbean Command, and European Command. However, on 5 August 1947, the CNO recommended instead that CINCLANTFLT be established as a fully unified commander under the broader title of Commander in Chief, Atlantic (CINCLANT). The Army and Air Force objected, and CINCLANTFLT was activated as a unified command on 1 November 1947. A few days later, the CNO renewed his suggestion for the establishment of a unified Atlantic Command. This time his colleagues withdrew their objections, and on 1 December 1947, the [[U.S. Atlantic Command]] (LANTCOM) was created under the Commander in Chief, Atlantic (CINCLANT).<ref>Joint History Office, ''History of the Unified Command Plan 1946–1993'', pp. 14–15.</ref> | ||
Under the original plan, each of the unified commands operated with one of the service chiefs (the [[Chief of Staff of the United States Army|Chief of Staff of the Army]] or [[Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force|Air Force]], or the [[Chief of Naval Operations]]) serving as an executive agent representing the Joint Chiefs of Staff.<ref>JCS (1977), p. 3.</ref> This arrangement was formalized on 21 April 1948 as part of a policy paper titled the "Function of the Armed Forces and the Joint Chiefs of Staff" (informally known as the "[[Key West Agreement]]").<ref>JCS (1977), p. 5.</ref> The responsibilities of the unified commands were further expanded on 7 September 1948 when the commanders' authority was extended to include the coordination of the administrative and logistical functions in addition to their combat responsibilities.<ref>JCS (1977), p. 6.</ref> | Under the original plan, each of the unified commands operated with one of the service chiefs (the [[Chief of Staff of the United States Army|Chief of Staff of the Army]] or [[Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force|Air Force]], or the [[Chief of Naval Operations]]) serving as an executive agent representing the Joint Chiefs of Staff.<ref>JCS (1977), p. 3.</ref> This arrangement was formalized on 21 April 1948 as part of a policy paper titled the "Function of the Armed Forces and the Joint Chiefs of Staff" (informally known as the "[[Key West Agreement]]").<ref>JCS (1977), p. 5.</ref> The responsibilities of the unified commands were further expanded on 7 September 1948 when the commanders' authority was extended to include the coordination of the administrative and logistical functions in addition to their combat responsibilities.<ref>JCS (1977), p. 6.</ref> | ||