Pacific Theater of Operations

The Pacific Theater of Operations (PTO) is the term used in the United States for all military activity in the Pacific Ocean and the countries bordering it, in World War II. Pacific War is a more common name, around the world, for the broader conflict between the Allies and Japan, between 1937 and 1945.

Related Topics:
United States - Pacific Ocean - World War II - Pacific War - Allies - Japan - 1937 - 1945

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Partly because of the nearly equal roles of the U.S. Army and the U.S. Navy in conducting war in the Pacific Theater, but largely for domestic political reasons, there was not a single Allied or US commander for the theater (comparable to Eisenhower in the ETO). Indeed, the organizational structure was rather tangled, with the Joint Chiefs of Staff frequently required to be involved, and the Army and Navy commanders reporting to both the Secretary of the Navy and the Secretary of War. (No doubt the attendant difficulties helped motivate the formation of the Department of Defense in 1947.)

Related Topics:
U.S. Army - U.S. Navy - Theater - Eisenhower - ETO - Joint Chiefs of Staff - Secretary of the Navy - Secretary of War - Department of Defense - 1947

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The two main Allied commanders in the PTO were Commander-in-Chief Pacific Ocean Areas, the title held by Admiral Chester Nimitz and Supreme Allied Commander South West Pacific Area1, General Douglas MacArthur (following termination of the short-lived ABDACOM, in early 1942.)

Related Topics:
Pacific Ocean Areas - Chester Nimitz - South West Pacific Area - 1 - Douglas MacArthur - ABDACOM - 1942

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