United States Army in World War II: The War Department

Washington Command Post: The Operations Division

by Ray S. Cline

Center of Military History

United States Army

Washington, D.C.

1951

. . . to Those Who Served

Foreword

Preface

Chapter 1: The Army High Command Before Pearl Harbor

Principles of Command—Territorial and Tactical Elements of the Army in 1941—Origins and Development of the General Staff—The War Department after World War I—General Staff Doctrine and Procedure

Chapter 2: The War Plans Division

Strategic Planning Agency for the Army—WPD and the GHQ Concept—War Planning: 1921-40—Staff Authority

Chapter 3: Early Inter-service and International Staff Planning

Politico-Military Coordination—Joint Board Machinery—International Military Collaboration

Chapter 4: Developments in 1941

Organization, Duties, and Strength of WPD—War Planning: 1941—Expansion of the Functions of GHQ—The Army Air Forces Drive for Autonomy—Early Proposals for Reorganization of the War Department

Chapter 5: Transition into War

The Failure of Follow-Up—WPD and Actual Operations—Strength, Personnel, and Organization of WPD—The First Wartime International Conference

Chapter 6: Organizing the High Command for World War II

Reorganization of the War Department—The “Streamlined” War Department—National and International Planning—Development of the Joint and Combined Chiefs of Staff System—Military Planning and National Policy

Chapter 7: The New Army Command Post

Functions of the Operations Division—Staff Procedure after the Reorganization—OPD’s Relations with Other War Department Agencies—Unique Function of OPD

Chapter 8: Inside OPD

Group Organization and Duties—Records, Procedures, and Personnel—The New Planning Process—The New Theater Orientation—Basic Administrative Practices

Chapter 9: Case History: Drafting the Bolero Plan

The Search for a Common Strategy—WPD’s Recommendations on Strategy—JCS Decision on Deployment Policy—The Bolero Plan—British Acceptance of the Marshall Memorandum—Machinery for Executing the Bolero Plan

Chapter 10: The Torch Period

Redefinition of Levels of Planning—Staff Work in the Joint Committee System—Theater Group Organization—Expansion of Logistics Group Activities—Personnel and Personnel Problems—OPD’s Role in Torch—Case History in Confusion

Chapter 11: Transition to the Later War Years

Staffing the Command Post (1943-45)—Officer Personnel (1943-45)—The Secretariat—Army Planning and Control of Operations (1943-45)—New Patterns of Staff Work in OPD

Chapter 12: Mid-war International Military Conferences

Casablanca Conference: 14-23 January 1943—Trident: 12-25 May 1943—Quadrant: 14-24 August 1943—Sextant: 22 November-7 December 1943—Through Overlord

Chapter 13: OPD and Joint Planning (1943-45)

Need for Better Joint Planning—Reorganization of the Joint Staff System—Joint War Plans Committee—Army Versus Joint Advice for the Army Planner—Joint Strategic Preparation for CCS Discussions—Planning with Army Air Forces—Control of Army Air Operations Overseas—Joint Logistic Planning—Creation of the Joint Logistics Committee—OPD and Joint Logistic Planning

Chapter 14: Controlling Troops and Materiel

The General Staff and the Army Service Forces—Logistics Inside the General Staff—The Issue of Staff Authority—The Issue of Staff Organization in OPD—Logistics and Troop Movements (October 1943–September 1945)

Chapter 15: Links with the Overseas Theaters

Special Trip for the Chief of Staff, 1943—Preview of Amphibious Assault—The Overlord Period and After—Liaison with Commands in the Pacific and Far East—Strategic Planning Liaison—Attitudes of the Theater Commanders

Chapter 16: Military Planning and Foreign Affairs

Liaison with the White House—Liaison with the State Department—Early Politico-Military Committee Work—State-War-Navy Coordinating Committee—Staff Action by OPD—The International Conferences of 1944 and 1945

Chapter 17: Case History: Planning the End of the War Against Japan

Initial American Strategy—Planning for a Prolonged Pacific War—Evolution of the Terminal Surrender Formula—The Atomic Bomb—Surrender Documents and Occupation Plans

Chapter 18: After OPD

Postwar Study of Army Organization—Reorganization in 1946—National Security Act

Appendices

Appendix A: Division, Group, and Section Chiefs in OPD, 21 February 1942–2 September 1945

Appendix B: U.S. Army Commanders in Major Theater Commands, December 1941–September 1945

Bibliographical Note and Guide to Footnotes

Glossary of Abbreviations

Glossary of Code Names

Index