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HALES HANDFUL...UP FROM THE ASHES: The Forging of the Seventh Air Force from the Ashes of Pearl Harbor to the Triumph of V-J Day
by
Peter S. H. Ellis, Major, USAF
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Major (Lieutenant Colonel Select) Peter S. H. Ellis received his commission in 1986 and was an honor graduate of both Officer Training School and the Personnel Officer Technical School. Major Ellis has served in a variety of field and staff tours. He was a Section Chief in the Military Personnel Flight (MPF) at Offutt AFB, Nebraska, and served as Executive Officer at Lindsey Air Station, Germany. Then, Major Ellis was Chief of the Quality Force Branch at HQ AMC Scott AFB, Illinois, followed by a tour as the MPF Chief at Osan AB, Korea, and then was the Chief of the Commanders Action Group at the Air Force Personnel Center, Randolph AFB, Texas. Major Ellis was selected as the Outstanding Personnel Officer in the Air Force for 1994, and his MPF at Osan AB, Korea was selected as the Best in the Air Force that same year. Major Ellis has a bachelors degree from Texas Lutheran University, a masters degree from Webster University, and he was a Distinguished Graduate of the Air Command and Staff College. Major Ellis has been selected to command the 52 nd Mission Support Squadron, Spangdahlem AB, Germany upon graduation from SAAS.
DEDICATION
This thesis is dedicated to my Dad, Sherman K. Ellis, Jr., who was a naval aviator flying PB2Y-4 Coronado Seaplanes out of Saipan in World War II. My Dad died when I was young, so I never got to hear stories of his combat experience first-hand. However, my Mom shared with me that, for months after the war if she accidentally nudged him in his sleep, he would bolt upright in bed, reaching for a pistol that wasnt there. That was the genesis of my desire to learn more about the nature of combat experienced by US forces in the Central Pacific in World War II.
In an old scrapbook, along with pictures of the huge, 4-engine Coronado Seaplanes my Dad flew, there is a letter he wrote to my Mom in 1945 discussing some of what he did, since by then the war had just ended and censorship had been eased. Our destination was Saipan and our mission was antisubmarine patrol to keep the sea lanes to Okinawa open. Fifteen hour flights, each one covering over a hundred thousand square miles with our search radar. Not a single ship of the huge invasion and supply convoys was sunk or damaged by a Jap sub in this area during the time we patrolled it.
Unlike some naval personnel discussed in this thesis, I think my Dad would have understood the nature of the combat the Seventh Air Force bomber crews endured in the Central Pacific during World War II. I suspect, though, that he would have been quick to add that he and his Navy buddies did it better.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I would like to acknowledge several people who have been a tremendous source of guidance and encouragement in accomplishing this study. From the beginning, my SAAS Thesis Advisor, Dr. James S. Corum had a clear vision of what this thesis could be, and he helped keep me motivated and focused throughout the process. My SAAS Thesis Reader, Dr. Harold R. Winton, is a superb editor and organizer who had his hands full troubleshooting my natural inclination toward literary meandering. I am grateful to them both.
I would also like to thank Mr. Thomas Buell and Captain (Retired) Alexander Monroe for providing me with valuable insights into the interrelationships among Navy, Marine, Army, and Army Air Force leadership in the Central Pacific Theater during World War II. Additionally, Dr. James Mowbray of the Air War College is conducting extensive research to write a comprehensive operational history of the Seventh Air Force in World War II, and he provided invaluable insight into the various command and control relationships of the Seventh Air Force throughout the war.
Finally, there are two acknowledgements I would like to make of a personal nature. First, during the writing of this thesis, friends of our family, Mr. Dan Loring and his wife Mary came to visit us on their way to Florida. Dan was a B-25 Mitchell pilot in the China-Burma-India Theater in World War II, and during their stay with us he shared some of his combat experiences with meevidently going in low and fast with 12 .50 caliber machine guns on full could really tear up some stuff! Listening to Dan gave me an appreciation of what it must have been like for the Seventh Air Force Mitchell pilots going in low over Maloelap in the Central Pacific, and it gave me renewed motivation for this work when I really needed it. Lastly, I want to thank my Mom, who has been a constant source of encouragement throughout this tough but rewarding year at SAAS. I simply could not have done this work without her steadfast support.
ABSTRACT
This study analyzes the evolution of Seventh Air Forces joint command and control relationships as well as the development of joint operational procedures and doctrine in the Central Pacific during World War II. As this was arguably the most joint theater in World War II, there are many lessons about the challenges of joint command and control and the development of joint combat procedures that are relevant to contemporary airmen.
The Seventh Air Force was established in the aftermath of the attack on Pearl Harbor. It was initially a defensive and training oriented commandprotecting Hawaii from a possible attack by the Japanese and training replacement crews for units in the South Pacific. However, in the summer of 1943, the Seventh Air Force became an offensive, mobile combat command that, along with each of the other services, played a major role in the island-hopping campaign of World War II. Major General Willis H. Hale served as the commander of the Seventh Air Force during this transition period. This study uses him as a lens to explore the unique challenges his command met and overcame. Additionally, since the Pacific Theater was on the tail end of the Europe First resupply policy, the Seventh Air Force was chronically under-manned and under-equippedhence the moniker Hales Handful.
This study asks three questions in examining the development of joint command and control and operational procedures in the Central Pacific. The first question is to what extent did personalities drive the evolution of command and control relationships, and did they have an effect on the effectiveness of combat operations? This question takes on significance as this work explores General Hales rather stormy relationship with his naval superior, Vice Admiral John H. Hoover. Along similar lines, the second question is to what extent did service cultures affect command and control and the development of joint doctrine. Finally, this thesis asks to what extent did this theaters unique geographic challenges affect interservice friction and the effectiveness of combat operations?
