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“Seize฀This฀Golden฀Opportunity” 15 P R O L O G U E “Seize฀This฀Golden฀Opportunity!”฀ W hen฀Gen.฀George฀C.฀Marshall฀reported฀to฀his฀office฀in฀the฀Munitions ฀ Building฀ in฀Washington,฀ D.C.,฀ on฀ September฀ 1,฀ 1939,฀ after฀ being฀sworn฀in฀as฀the฀new฀chief฀of฀staff฀of฀the฀U.S.฀Army,฀a฀memo฀ prepared฀eleven฀days฀earlier฀by฀the฀War฀Plans฀Division฀(WPD)฀was฀ waiting฀on฀his฀desk.฀It฀called฀for฀Marshall฀to฀make฀an฀immediate฀ decision฀ on฀ future฀ military฀ policy฀ toward฀ the฀ Philippines,฀ a฀ commonwealth ฀ of฀ the฀ United฀ States฀ since฀ 1935.฀Three฀ options฀ were฀ identified:฀ Was฀the฀War฀Department฀to฀recommend฀that฀the฀United฀States฀maintain฀ the฀status฀quo,฀withdraw฀its฀forces฀from฀the฀Philippines฀to฀a฀new฀defense฀ line฀in฀the฀Pacific฀along฀the฀180th฀meridian฀(area฀of฀Midway฀Island),฀or฀ reinforce฀the฀islands฀in฀order฀to฀maintain฀a฀dominant฀U.S.฀position฀in฀the฀ western฀Pacific?1 ฀฀฀฀ But฀Marshall’s฀mind฀was฀focused฀on฀the฀situation฀in฀Europe฀rather฀ than฀in฀the฀Pacific.฀The฀startling฀news฀that฀day฀was฀that฀Germany฀had฀suddenly ฀launched฀a฀massive฀invasion฀of฀Poland.฀For฀the฀present,฀the฀question฀ of฀defense฀of฀the฀Philippines฀would฀have฀to฀take฀a฀backseat฀to฀the฀more฀ pressing฀concerns฀Marshall฀faced฀at฀home฀in฀the฀wake฀of฀Hitler’s฀lightning฀ attack. ฀฀฀฀The฀WPD—the฀War฀Department’s฀influential฀“think฀tank”—wanted฀a฀ decision฀on฀the฀Philippines฀question฀that฀would฀resolve฀its฀long-running฀ disagreement฀with฀the฀Navy฀Department฀on฀the฀issue.฀Under฀War฀Plan฀ Orange,฀which฀constituted฀the฀agreed฀upon฀army-navy฀position฀on฀Philippines ฀defense฀in฀the฀event฀of฀a฀Japanese฀attack,฀the฀Philippine฀garrison’s฀ mission฀was฀to฀hold฀Manila฀Bay฀as฀a฀base฀for฀the฀U.S.฀Pacific฀Fleet฀and฀a฀ relief฀force.2 ฀฀฀฀The฀navy฀had฀traditionally฀sought฀a฀strong฀naval฀base฀in฀the฀Philippines฀ and฀ the฀ army฀ defenses฀ necessary฀ to฀ protect฀ it,฀ but฀ the฀ army฀ regarded฀ the฀islands฀as฀a฀military฀liability฀rather฀than฀an฀asset฀and฀for฀that฀reason฀ opposed฀ reinforcing฀ them—particularly฀ after฀ the฀ 1934฀ U.S.฀ decision฀ to฀ prologue 4/2/03,฀1:02฀PM 15 December฀8,฀1941 16 grant฀ the฀ Philippines฀ independence฀ in฀ 1946.฀The฀ army’s฀ policy฀ was฀ to฀ maintain฀its฀existing฀strength,฀especially฀for฀providing฀protection฀for฀the฀ harbor฀defenses฀in฀Manila฀Bay,฀but฀“to฀go฀to฀no฀further฀expense฀for฀permanent ฀improvements฀unless฀thereby฀ultimate฀savings฀will฀result.”3 ฀฀฀฀ Beginning฀in฀the฀mid-1930s,฀defense฀of฀the฀Philippines฀meant฀primarily ฀air฀defense,฀given฀the฀rapid฀growth฀of฀airpower฀as฀a฀destructive฀force฀ in฀ warfare฀ during฀ the฀ period.฀The฀ army฀ had฀ maintained฀ a฀ composite฀ group฀of฀warplanes฀for฀Philippines฀defense฀since฀1920,฀but฀by฀the฀1930s฀ its฀aircraft฀were฀primarily฀discards฀from฀Hawaiian฀and฀continental฀U.S.฀air฀ bases฀that฀were฀becoming฀increasingly฀obsolete฀at฀the฀end฀of฀the฀decade.฀ A฀War฀Department฀Air฀Board฀created฀in฀March,฀1939,฀to฀recommend฀fundamental ฀policies฀governing฀the฀tactical฀and฀strategic฀use฀of฀the฀Army฀Air฀ Corps฀had฀concluded฀in฀its฀report฀six฀months฀later฀that฀“no฀further฀consideration ”฀should฀be฀given฀to฀strengthening฀the฀Philippines’฀air฀defenses฀ given฀the฀existing฀national฀policy฀of฀no฀modernization฀or฀expansion฀of฀ army฀forces฀there.฀It฀accepted฀that฀the฀Japanese฀could฀seize฀the฀Philippines฀ before฀the฀United฀States฀could฀reinforce฀the฀garrison.฀Consequently,฀it฀ deemed฀the฀Philippines฀garrison฀“a฀sacrifice฀force”฀and฀declined฀to฀study฀ air฀defense฀requirements฀for฀the฀islands.4 ฀฀฀฀ While฀ the฀Air฀ Board฀ report฀ conformed฀ to฀ the฀War฀ Department’s฀ position฀on฀defense฀of฀the฀Philippines,฀the฀Plans฀Division฀of฀the฀Office฀ of฀the฀Chief฀of฀the฀Air฀Corps฀(OCAC)฀was฀heading฀in฀an฀opposite฀direction .฀On฀September฀1,฀1939—just฀before฀the฀release฀of฀the฀Air฀Board’s฀ report—Lt.฀Col.฀Carl฀A.฀Spaatz,฀the฀division฀chief,฀signed฀a฀memorandum ฀for฀the฀attention฀of฀Maj.฀Gen.฀Henry฀H.฀Arnold,฀the฀Air฀Corps฀ chief,฀that฀developed฀an฀ambitious฀airpower฀strategy฀for฀the฀Philippines฀ diametrically฀opposed฀to฀War฀Department฀policy฀and฀the฀position฀of฀the฀ Air฀Board,฀three฀of฀whose฀five฀army฀members฀were฀War฀Department฀staff฀ officers.5 ฀฀฀฀The฀ author฀ of฀ this฀ heretical฀ report฀ was฀ a฀ forty-year-old฀West฀ Point฀ graduate฀brought฀to฀the฀Plans฀Division฀in฀the฀summer฀of฀1939฀by฀Spaatz฀ following฀completion฀of฀his฀one-year฀assignment฀to฀the฀Army฀War฀College฀ (AWC)฀in฀1938–39.฀Spaatz฀had฀given฀Capt.฀Hoyt฀S.฀Vandenberg฀an฀assignment ฀that฀summer฀to฀prepare฀one฀of฀five฀secret฀studies฀for฀determining฀Air฀ Corps฀requirements฀in฀connection฀with฀implementation฀of฀the฀Air฀Board’s฀ report.฀In...

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