U.S. DEFENCE FORCES

Press, Volume LXXXII, Issue 25061, 18 December 1946, Page 7

U.S. DEFENCE FORCES

UNIFIED COMMAND SYSTEM RESTORATION ORDERED BY TRUMAN (Rec. 9 p.m.) WASHINGTON, Dec. 16. The war-time unified command created after Pearl Harbour and abandoned at the end of the war has been restored on President Truman’s orders, placing all land, sea. and air forces in each region under a single commander to be chosen from the Navy or Army. The chief change will be in the Pacific theatre, where Admiral John Towers takes overall command of the central region. General Douglas MacArthur’s command in Japan and Lieutenant-Gen-eral J. T. McNarney’s command in Germany are not changed. General G. C. Kenney is to command the Strategic Air Force based in the United States. Major-General H. Craig is assigned to the Alaskan command, including the Aleutians, and Admiral Marc Mitscher is to command the Atlantic Fleet. # The restoration of the war-time single command system follows the Senate Pearl Harbour Investigating Committee’s warning that the post-war lapse into the old system was exposing the nation to a possible repetition of Pearl Harbour. Each overseas commander is now responsible to the Joint Chiefs of Staff for unified defence planning.