Pacific Ocean Areas (command)
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[[Image:Pacific Theater Areas;map1.JPG|thumb|300px|right|Map of Pacific Theater]]
'''Pacific Ocean Areas''' was the major [[Allied]] military command in the [[Pacific Ocean theater of World War II|Pacific Ocean theater]] of [[World War II]]. It was one of four major Allied commands during the [[Pacific War]], and one of two [[United States]] commands in the [[Pacific Theater of Operations]]. Admiral '''[[Chester Nimitz]]''' of the [[US Navy]] headed the command throughout its existence.
The vast majority of Allied forces in the theatre were from the [[US Navy]] and [[US Marine Corps]]. However units and/or personnel from [[New Zealand]], the [[United Kingdom]], [[Australia]], [[Canada]], [[Mexico]], [[Fiji]] and other countries also saw active service.
On [[24 March]] [[1942]], the newly-formed British and US [[Combined Chiefs of Staff]] issued a directive designating the Pacific theater an area of American strategic responsibility. Six days later the US [[Joint Chiefs of Staff]] (JCS) divided the Pacific theater into three areas: the Pacific Ocean Areas (POA), the [[South West Pacific Area|Southwest Pacific Area]] (SWPA), and the [[Southeast Pacific Area]].<ref>For SE Pacific Area, see also http://www.militaryhistoryonline.com/forums/ViewPost.aspx?ForumID=34&ID=8976</ref>
The JCS designated Admiral Chester W. Nimitz as Commander in Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas (CINCPOA), with operational control over all units (air, land, and sea) in that area. Mainland [[Asia]] was excluded from the POA, as were the [[Philippines]], the [[Netherlands East Indies]], the Territory of [[New Guinea]] (including the [[Bismarck Archipelago]]) and the western part of the [[Solomon Islands]]. US strategic bomber forces in the theatre were under the direct control of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff. All land forces in [[Alaska]] and [[Canada]] remained under the control of the [[United States Army|US Army]]'s [[Western Defense Command]] (see [[World War II: Aleutian Islands]]).
The Joint Chiefs further divided the Pacific Ocean Areas into the [[North Pacific Area|North]], [[Central Pacific Area|Central]], and South Pacific Areas. Nimitz designated subordinate commanders for the North and South Pacific Areas (NORPAC and SOPAC) but retained the Central Pacific Area (CENPAC), including the [[Hawaiian Department]], under his direct command.
In the separate South West Pacific Area, General [[Douglas MacArthur]] assumed command. The effective result of this organizational scheme was the creation of two separate commands in the Pacific: POA and SWPA, each reporting separately to the Joint Chiefs, each competing for scarce resources in an economy-of-force theater, and each headed by a commander in chief (CINC) from a different service. In particular, the division of the Solomons caused problems, since the battles of the [[Solomon Islands campaign]] in 1942–1943 ranged over the whole region, with the main [[Japan]]ese bases in SWPA and the main Allied bases in SOPAC.
== Commanders, South Pacific Area ==
* Vice Admiral [[Robert L. Ghormley]] ([[19 June]]–[[18 October]] [[1942]])
* Vice Adm./Adm. [[William F. Halsey]] ([[18 October]] [[1942]]–[[15 June]] [[1944]])
* Vice Adm. [[John H. Newton]] ([[15 June]] [[1944]]–[[13 March]] [[1945]])
* Vice [[Admiral William L. Calhoun]] ([[13 March]]–[[2 September]] [[1945]])
== Commanders, North Pacific Area ==
* Rear Adm. [[Robert A. Theobald]] ([[17 May]] [[1942]]–[[4 January]] [[1943]])
* Rear Adm. [[Thomas C. Kinkaid]] ([[4 January]]–[[11 October]] [[1943]])
* Vice Adm. [[Frank J. Fletcher]] ([[11 October]] [[1943]]–[[2 September]] [[1945]])
== External links ==
<references/>
*[http://www.army.mil/cmh-pg/brochures/72-4/72-4.htm army.mil: ''Central Pacific 1941–1943'']
*[http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USA/USA-P-Strategy/Strategy-11.html ''Strategy and Command: The First Two Years'']
*[http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/USN-Chron/USN-Chron-I.html ''The Official Chronology of the U.S. Navy in World War II, Appendix I'']
[[Category:Allied commands of World War II]]