Endnotes for Chapter I

1 AR 10-15, par. 11, 13 Jul 42, sub: GS Orgn and Gen Dvs.

2 Biennial Report of the Chief of Staff of the United States Army, July 1, 1941 to June 30, 1943 to the Secretary of War, p. 35.

3 Simpson Board Report, 28 Dec 45, title: Rpt of Bd of Offs on Orgn of WD, P&O 020, WD, 2.

4 See pp. 6-8 below.

5 The present volume, under the subseries title The War Department, presents the life history of a staff, the story of the development of WPD into OPD, and a description of the mature characteristics of OPD. A few extended case histories illustrate in detail at critical stages in its development the process of planning and making military decisions. For the most part, concrete examples of what is summary and abstract in this volume will be presented in subsequent volumes of the series containing a narrative of the Army's strategic planning and direction of military operations during World War II. Specific references to them are not included in this volume, but many of the generalizations about strategic planning herein are based on the voluminous research already undertaken in the presentation of the strategy volumes.
For the history of the Office of the Chief of Staff during the prewar period, see the volume in this series, Mark S. Watson, Chief of Staff: Prewar Plans and Preparations (Washington, D. C., 1950).

6 WD Manual for Comdrs of Large Units (Prav): Opns, 10 Apr 30, p. 1.

7 The principal sources of the ideas presented in this section, in addition to the 1930 Manual for Comdrs of Large Units (n. 6), were: (1) WD Fld Serv Regulations: Larger Units (FM 100-5), 22 May 41; (2) WD Stf Offs Fld Manual (FM 101-5), 19 Aug 40; (3) WD Fld Serv Regulations: Larger Units (FM 100-15), 29 Jun 42.
A convenient summary of doctrine contained in these publications, with some historical background and analysis, was prepared in 1937 for use in the Command and General Staff School, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and entitled Command and Staff Principles (Tentative) (hereafter cited as Command and Staff Principles).

8 Command and Staff Principles, pp. 10, 15.

9 Ibid., p. 18.

10 WD Fld Serv Regulations: Opns (FM 100-5), 22 May 41, p. 33.

11 Command and Staff Principles, pp. 27-28.

12 Annual Report of the Secretary of War, 1939, App. B, p. 53. Strength as of 1 July 1939 in the Hawaiian Department, the Panama Canal Department, the Philippine Department, Alaska, and Puerto Rico totaled 47,189 officers and men. Cf. Annual Report of the Secretary of War, 1941, App. B, p. 96. By 1 July 1941 there were 128,988 officers and men in the overseas bases and Alaska.

13 Ltr, CofS to CGs Corps Areas and Depts, 9 Aug 32, sub: Establishment of Fld Armies, AG 320.2 (8-6-32), 1-a.

14 (1) AG ltr, 3 Oct 40, sub: Orgn, Tng, and Administration of Army, AG 320.2 (9-27-40) M-C. (2) Army Directory, 20 Oct 40. (3) Army Directory, 20 Oct 41.

15 The corps area continued to do similar work during World War II under the more appropriate name of service commands and under the jurisdiction of the then recently established Services of Supply rather than directly under the Chief of Staff. See WD GO 35, 22 Jul 42.

16 Biennial Report of the Chief of Staff of the United States Army, July 1, 1939, to June 30, 1941 . . ., p. 2.

17 Ibid., p. 9.

18 For number of aircraft on hand, see Army Air Forces Statistical Digest, World War II, 1945, p. 135. For 1941 plans on combat groups, see W. F. Craven and J. L. Cate, Plans and Early Operations, Vol. I, THE ARMY AIR FORCES IN WORLD WAR II (Chicago, 1948), pp. 104-05 (hereafter cited as Craven and Cate, AAF I).

19 Handbook for the War Department General Staff, 1923, p. 6.

20 Memo, WPD for TIG, 10 Jul 40, sub: WD Orgn as Affecting WPD, WPD 2160-4. This expression of criticism almost coincided with the activation of GHQ.

21 AG ltr, 26 Jul 40, sub: General Headquarters, AG 320.2 (7-25-40) M (Ret) M-OCS.

22 This fact was emphasized in the clearest possible terms in the War Department letter a few months later, AG ltr, 13 Dec 40, sub: GHQ Trs and Armies, AG 320.2 (12-5-40) M-P-M.

23 The GHQ concept and the World War II institution established in conformity with it are discussed in Chapters II and IV. For General Marshall's plans to expand GHQ functions, see memo, Actg ACofS WPD for CofS, 12 Aug 40, sub: Allocation of Responsibilities Between WPD and GHQ, WPD 3209-5.

24 (1) Memo, WPD for CofS, 19 Dec 40, sub: Caribbean Def Cmd, WPD 4440-1. The Chief of Staff approved this study 4 January 1941. (2) AG ltr, 9 Jan 41, sub: Caribbean Def Cmd, AG 320.2 (1-8-42) M-C.

25 AG ltr, 4 Feb 41, sub: Designation of Alaska Def Cmd, AG 320.2 (12-20-42) M (Ret) M-C. Alaska was in the Ninth Corps Area and under the Western Defense Command when that agency was constituted on 17 March 1941.

26 (1) Memo, WPD for CofS, 13 Mar 41, sub: Def Plans—Continental U. S., WPD 4247-9. (2) AG ltr, 17 Mar 41, same sub, AG 320.2 (2-28-41) M-WPD-M. Initially the commanding generals of the four continental defense commands were concurrently the commanding generals of the four field armies.

27 For the unique status of the Caribbean Defense Command, see Revised Jt Army and Navy Bsc War Plan—RAINBOW 5, Annex I, par. 2.

28 Notes on Conferences in OCS, I, 207-08, 227-28, 239-40, WDCSA Rcds. These entries contain lengthy explicit statements by the Chief of Staff at conferences of 14 and 19 February 1941 on the nature of the defense commands.

29 Memo, DCofS for WPD, 28 Feb 41, sub: Def Cmds and Air Def Set-up, WPD 4247-9.

30 Memo for file, 30 Jun 41, WPD 4247-18. The memorandum contained an agreed statement by General Arnold, Brig. Gen. Carl Spaatz, and Brig. Gen. Leonard T. Gerow, as follows: "Active operations will be controlled by G. H. Q. These operations will be directed by appropriate commanders, either ground or air, as may be dictated by the situation."

31 Regulations for the Army of the United States 1901, Art. XXVII.

32 (1) Annual Report of the Secretary of War, 1903, p. 5. The Secretary (Elihu Root) declared that the old system caused "almost constant discord and a consequent reduction of efficiency." (2) H Com on Mil Affairs, 69th Cong, 2d sess, hearings, The National Defense: Historical Documents relating to the Reorganization Plans of the War Department and to the Present National Defense Act, Part I, pp. 77-103. Pages cited contain statements by Lt. Gen. J. M. Schofield, Commanding General, 1889-95. This document, a convenient collection of testimony on Army affairs during the first two decades of the twentieth century, is cited hereafter as Historical Documents.

33 For Army organization before the creation of the General Staff, see Regulations for the Army of the United States, 1901. Cf. Annual Report of the Secretary of War, 1919, p. 61.

34 S Doc 221, 56th Cong, 1st sess, Report of the Commission Appointed by the President to Investigate the Conduct of the War With Spain.

35 Annual Report of the Secretary of War, 1902, pp. 42-43.

36 The General Staff concept was far from new. The German General Staff had been in operation for almost a century. In Secretary of War Newton D. Baker's opinion, expressed at the end of World War I, American delay in adopting the idea derived to a great extent from the traditional fear that it represented a kind of militarism which might involve the United States unnecessarily in war. See his analysis in Annual Report of the Secretary of War, 1919, pp. 61-62. Secretary Baker also pointed out that, besides the inevitable opposition from the bureau chiefs, the General Staff concept suffered because the "high degree of centralization which an effective General Staff employs inspired many Members of Congress with the fear that it would grow to be a tyrannical and arbitrary power."

37 Secretary Root's account of the creation of the General Staff, Annual Report of the Secretary of War, 1903, pp. 3-8, and Apps. A, B, C, D, and E. Maj. Gen. W. H. Carter, Assistant Adjutant General in 1902, was the Army officer most prominent in work on General Staff legislation. Secretary Root paid special tribute to his services. General Carter declared that he originally convinced Secretary Root of the need for a "board of directors to plan and coordinate" for the Army. See S Doc 119, 68th Cong, 1st sess, Creation of the American General Staff: Personal Narrative of the General Staff System of the American Army, pp. 2-14.
The contemporary writing of a British student of military organization may have helped spur the General Staff movement in the United States, as it did in Great Britain. See Spenser Wilkinson, Brain of an Army (London, 1895).

38 Annual Report of the Secretary of War, 1902, p. 46.

39 PL 88, 58th Cong, An Act to Increase the Efficiency of the Army.

40 Ibid.

41 Regulations for the Army of the United States, 1904, Art. LIX.

42 Annual Report of the Secretary of War, 1903, p. 6.

43 Annual Report of the Secretary of War, 1902, p. 46.

44 A full account of the early and middle period of General Staff history, 1904-19, is given in Maj. Gen. Otto L. Nelson, Jr., National Security and The General Staff (Washington, D. C., 1946), pp. 73-273. For an example of General Staff difficulty with one of the older bureaus, see the account of the 1911 controversy between Maj. Gen. Leonard Wood, Chief of Staff, and Maj. Gen. F. C. Ainsworth, The Adjutant General in Nelson pp. 138-66.

45 Report of the Chief of Staff, U. S. Army, 1919, p. 23. Even General Pershing admitted that the weakness of the bureaus was the principal cause of the trouble but also blamed overzealous, poorly trained General Staff officers. See statement by General Pershing in Historical Documents, p. 367.

46 Report of the Chief of Staff, U. S. Army, 1918, p. 6. Maj. Gen. H. L. Scott became Chief of Staff on 16 November 1914 and retired 21 September 1917. Gen. T. H. Bliss was Chief of Staff from 22 September 1917 until General March was assigned, but he was absent from Washington a great deal of the time. Thus, Maj. Gen. John Biddle was Acting Chief of Staff from 29 October 1917 until 16 December 1917. General Bliss returned and served from 16 December until 9 January 1918, when he left for France. General Biddle again served in acting capacity from 9 January until 3 March 1918. On 4 March, General March became Acting Chief and on 20 May was confirmed as Chief of Staff, which post he retained until after the end of the war.

47 Report of the Chief of Staff, U. S. Army, 1919, p. 15. General March was particularly concerned about the lack of consolidation and co-ordination. There were nine different systems of estimating requirements, five sources of supplies for organizations to be equipped, five different systems of property accountability, and ten different agencies for handling money accounts with five different systems of fiscal accounting. See Report of the Chief of Staff, U. S. Army, 1919, pp. 15-17.

48 WD GO 80, 26 Aug 18. This reorganization followed the line of development initiated by WD GO 14, 9 Feb 18 and WD GO 36, 16 Apr 18. For a brief summary of General Staff organization, see OPD Hist Unit Study A.

49 War Department reorganization in 1946 reverted to the 1918 title of "director" for heads of General Staff Divisions. The term was chosen in 1946 to indicate that a certain amount of supervisory "operating activity" was proper for the General Staff so long as administrative detail had been delegated.

50 Gen. Peyton C. March, The Nation at War (New York, 1932), p. 266.

51 Regulations for the Army of the United States, 1904, Art. LIX.

52 James G. Harbord, The American Army in France (Boston, 1936), p. 111.

53 (1) Statement by General Pershing in Historical Documents, p. 367. (2) John J. Pershing, My Experiences in the World War (New York, 1931), I, 16.
There were particularly stormy disagreements in regard to the supply program and the number of troops to be sent to France, subjects with which both the Chief of Staff and the commanding general of AEF were intimately concerned. See: (1) March, The Nation at War, p. 253; (2) Pershing, My Experiences in the World War, II, 186-87, 190-92, 223.

54 The effect of the new act was described for the benefit of the Army in WD GO 31, 18 Jul 21. For an explanation of the tremendous improvement this system effected over traditional American military policy with respect to manpower and the use of militia, see John McAuley Palmer, America in Arms (New Haven, 1941). Compare this volume with Maj. Gen. Emory Upton's Military Policy of the United States (Washington, D. C., 1907), an older classic text recommending a different mobilization system.

55 The completely new branches were Air Service, Chemical Warfare Service, and Finance Department. Infantry, Cavalry, and Field Artillery (components of the "troops of the line") were simply given the status of branches with bureau chiefs. Coast Artillery had been a bureau since 1908. For official designation of branches in 1921, see WD GO 24, 17 Jun 21.

56 General Pershing appointed the Harbord Board immediately after he became Chief of Staff (see WD SO 155-0, 7 Jul 21). Extracts from the minutes and memoranda of the Harbord Board and committees are in Historical Documents, pp. 568-648. The recommendations of the board were put into effect by WD GO 41, 16 Aug 21, embodied without significant change in AR 10-15, 25 Nov 21. For Pershing's approval, see his memo for TAG, 16 Aug 21, no sub, AG 020 (7-6-21).

57 The "G" terminology was derived from usage of AEF general staff divisions, which had adopted it from the French Army.

58 WD SO 155-0, 7 Jul 21.

59 Memo, Brig Gen Fox Connor, etc. for Maj Gen Harbord, 13 Jul 21, sub: Reasons for Establishing Nucleus of GHQ Within WDGS, Historical Documents, p. 576.

60 Preliminary Rpt of Com, 11 Jul 21, title: Nucleus for GHQ in Fld in Event of Mobilization, Historical Documents, p. 572.

61 WD Fld Serv Regulations: Opns (FM 100-5), 22 May 41, p. 2.

62 AR 10-15, par. 1, 18 Aug 36, sub: GS Orgn and Gen Dys. See note on Designation of Commanding General, Field Forces, OPD Hist Unit Study B.

63 For 1942 definition of superior position of the Chief of Staff, see Ch. VI.

64 AR 95-5, 20 Jun 41. See also Craven and Cate, AAF I, Ch. IV.

65 For the expression quoted, see diary, Brig Gen Leonard T. Gerow, entry for 13 Jun 41, noting a conference with representatives of other General Staff Divisions, the "Air Service," and GHQ, Item 1, Exec 10.
For a contemporary statement of the degree and kind of autonomy which the Army Air Forces enjoyed, see memo, OCS for WPD, etc., 24 Jun 41, no sub, WPD 888-116.

66 For a presentation of the Army Air Forces point of view on its drive toward autonomy, see Craven and Cate, AAF I. See also Watson, Chief of Staff: Prewar Plans and Preparations, Ch. IX.

67 (1) Statistical Summary, WDGS Asgmts (1903-46), Papers 1 and 3, Item 10, OPD Hist Unit file. (2) Memo, G-1 for CofS, 4 May 39, sub: Increase, WDGS, AG 320.2 (4-17-39). (3) Cf. Annual Report of the Secretary of War, 1939, App. B. In this statistical summary, 232 General Staff Corps officers are listed, but about half were in the field with troops.

68 (1) AR 10-15, par. 2, 25 Nov 21, sub: GS Orgn and Gen Dys. (2) AR 10-15, par. 2, 18 Aug 36, same sub.

69 (1) Notes on Conferences in OCS, I, 92, WDSCA rcds. At this conference, 1 October 1940, the Chief of Staff observed in connection with the appointment of additional Deputy Chiefs of Staff, that "things are getting very complicated here because of the lack of understanding on the part of some people as to how things work in the War Department." (2) Memo, SGS for All GS Divs, TAG, and Chiefs of Arms and Servs, 30 Oct 40, sub: Apmt of Add DCofS, WPD 4382. Maj. Gen. William Bryden was the principal Deputy Chief of Staff. General Arnold handled Air matters. Maj. Gen. R. C. Moore handled armored force problems and questions connected with housing, equipping, and transporting the expanding Army.

70 AR 10-15, par. 3, 18 Aug 36, sub: GS Orgn and Gen Dys. From 3 July 1939 to 30 August 1941 the secretary was Brig. Gen. Orlando Ward. For the extent of the secretary's activities during the mobilization period, see the extensive file of informal memos between the Secretary and the Chief of Staff, 1930-42, in WDCSA Nates on Conferences, WDCSA Binders 1-37.

71 For quite informal records of General Council and other conferences held by the Deputy Chief or the Chief of Staff, see Notes on Conferences in OCS, Vols. I and II, WDCSA rcds. These notes kept by the Secretary of the General Staff were the early counterpart of the formal minutes of the General Council kept after the March 1942 reorganization.

72 Scholarly analysis of General Staff doctrine has often been concerned with theoretical distinctions rather than concrete problems of military administration. An evaluation of the modern General Staff and a guide to some of the writing in this field is provided in an article by Dallas D. Irvine, "The Origin of Capital Staffs," Journal of Modern History, X, No. 2 (June 1938), pp. 161-79. A recent brief survey of the development of military staffs from a practical, descriptive point of view is presented in a book by Lt. Col. J. D. Hittle, The Military Staff: Its History and Development (Harrisburg, 1944).
There is one very useful modern history of the General Staff in the U. S. Army: Major General Otto L. Nelson, Jr., National Security and The General Staff (Washington, D. C., 1946). It covers the General Staff from its origin in 1903 through World War II. It deals of course only in small part with WPD and OPD. Readers may profitably consult the work, however, for the background against which WPD worked and OPD developed.

73 Palmer, America in Arms, p. 125. General Palmer succinctly stated the implications of what in effect was an adaptation of German usage to patterns of American culture and military tradition. A realization of this divergence from German concepts was only beginning to spread among higher ranking Army officers in the years before World War II.

74 E.g., Legislative History of the General Staff of the Army of the United States . . . from 1775 to 1901 (Washington, D. C., 1901).

75 (1) Report of the Chief of Staff, U. S. Army, 1916, pp. 5, 83. (2) Report of the Chief of Staff, U. S. Army, 1917, pp. 4-5, 10.

76 (1) AR 10-15, par. 1, 25 Nov 21, sub: GS Orgn and Gen Dys. (2) AR 10-15, par. 4a, 18 Aug 36, same sub.

77 WD Stf Offs Fld Manual (FM 101-5), 19 Aug 40, p. 5.

78 Ibid., p. 6. See elaboration of this idea in Command and Staff Principles, pp. 28-29.

79 AR 10-15, par. 4b, 18 Aug 36.

80 Handbook for the War Department General Staff, 1923, p. 6.

81 For administrative instructions concerning staff studies, see the "Green Book," a General Staff manual, 1941, title: Instructions for Preparation of Papers, Item 4, OPD Hist Unit file.
For concurrences, see WPD adm memo, 23 May 32, sub: Concurrences, Paper 139, Item 2A, OPD Hist Unit file.

82 E.g., memo, WPD for TIG, 10 Jul 40, sub: WD Orgn as Affecting WPD. WPD 2160-4.

83 Ltr, CofS to CGs of the Four Armies, 22 Oct 32, sub: Development of Four Fld Armies, AG 320.2 (8-6-32), 1-a.

84 Ibid.

Return to the Table of Contents

Search CMH Online
Last updated 19 October 2004