Asiatic-Pacific theater

This article is about the United States military command area in the Pacific during World War II. For the operations in the central Pacific and East Asia, see Pacific War. For the operations in the South West Pacific, see South West Pacific theatre of World War II. For other uses, see Pacific Theater (disambiguation).
A map of the Asiatic-Pacific Theater showing its component areas. (The China-Burma-India Theater fell under the British-led South East Asia Command)
1944 Strategy Conference in Honolulu. Left to right: MacArthur, Roosevelt, Leahy, Nimitz. The discussion weighs the options of Formosa or the Philippine Islands as the next operational target in the Pacific theater.

The Asiatic-Pacific Theater was the theater of operations of U.S. forces during World War II in the Pacific War during 1941–1945. From mid-1942 until the end of the war in 1945, two U.S. operational commands were in the Pacific. The Pacific Ocean Areas (POA), divided into the Central Pacific Area, the North Pacific Area and the South Pacific Area,[1] were commanded by Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, Commander-in-Chief Pacific Ocean Areas. The South West Pacific Area (SWPA) was commanded by General of the Army Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Allied Commander South West Pacific Area.[2] During 1945, the United States added the United States Strategic Air Forces in the Pacific, commanded by General Carl A. Spaatz.

Because of the complementary roles of the United States Army and the United States Navy in conducting war, the Pacific Theater had no single Allied or U.S. commander (comparable to General of the Army Dwight D. Eisenhower in the European Theater of Operations). No actual command existed; rather, the Asiatic-Pacific Theater was divided into SWPA, POA, and other forces and theaters, such as the China Burma India Theater.

  1. ^ Potter & Nimitz 1960, pp. 652–653.
  2. ^ Douglas MacArthur as Supreme Commander SWPA