Kenney Had Numerous Strengths but the Critical One Was That He Got Along with Douglas Macarthur

hen the US Army needed too flamboyant. That was rich coming who had a reputation in the Air Corps for a new commander for air from MacArthur, who was famous far being outspoken and pugnacious. forces in the Southwest and wide for his egocentric style. When Kenney got to MacArthur’s WPacific in July 1942, Maj. Thus it came down to Kenney to replace headquarters in Australia, he confronted Gen. George C. Kenney was not the competent, easygoing Lt. Gen. George H. Sutherland first. Drawing a dot on first choice. Brett, who had clashed The Army’s first selection was Lt. with MacArthur and his Gen. Frank Andrews, but Andrews had heavy-handed chief of Kenney had numerous strengths previous knowledge of Gen. Doug- staff, Maj. Gen. Richard but the critical one was that he got las MacArthur, commander of Allied K. Sutherland. forces in that part of the world, and Lt. Gen. Henry H. along with Douglas MacArthur. detested him. He managed to evade “Hap” Arnold, com- the assignment. mander of the Army Air The Army’s second choice was Brig. Forces, said, “My God, if MacArthur can’t a piece of paper, he said, “This dot Gen. Jimmy Doolittle, hero of the air raid get along with Brett, how do you think he represents what you know about air on Tokyo, but MacArthur said he was can get along with Kenney?”—an airman operations, the entire rest of the paper 64 AIR FORCE M agazine / April 2015 of a man.” He stood five feet five-and-a- half inches tall and had a scar on his chin from an old aircraft accident. Kenney left MIT, “bored,” before graduation in 1911 and worked in con- By John T. Correll struction and civil engineering jobs until joining the aviation cadets when the US George Kenney (r) delivered results said he was. The two soon formed a entered World War I. He completed flight in the South Pacific, and the acer- mutual admiration society. training, flew 75 missions in France, shot bic Kenney and the temperamental N a t i n a l Arc h iAfter e s p o t o the war, MacArthur said, “Of all down two German airplanes, and was shot Douglas MacArthur (l) formed a the commanders of our major air forces down once himself. He ended the war as mutual admiration society. engaged in World War II, none surpassed a captain and remained in service, con- General Kenney in those three great es- centrating on aeronautical development sentials of successful combat leadership: and its application to warfare. aggressive vision, mastery over air strat- Kenney became known as an innovator. egy and tactics, and the ability to extract In 1924, he demonstrated that the fire- the maximum in fighting qualities from power of an airplane could be increased both men and equipment.” by installing machine guns on the wings. Of MacArthur, Kenney said, “This was Up to then, guns had been located only an able general, the most able general near the nose. we ever had, and one of the most able He was not part of the fraternity close generals the world has ever seen.” to Arnold—which notably included Carl A. “Tooey” Spaatz and Ira C. T H E I T L E U L L D O Eaker—in the 1920s and 1930s, nor Journalist Clare Boothe Luce fondly did he subscribe to their deep emphasis called Kenney a “scar-faced little bulldog on high-altitude strategic bombing. He what I know.” When Kenney suggested they take the question to MacArthur, Sutherland uncharacteristically backed down. A meeting with MacArthur was next. According to Kenney, he said that he knew how to run an air force, that he could produce results, and that he would be loyal to MacArthur. In return, “You be loyal to me and my gang and make this thing 50-50, or I’ll be calling you from San Francisco and telling you that I have quit.” Whatever was said exactly, MacArthur S t a f fm ab p yZ a u r E y l n b e k o v took a liking to Kenney, who fortunately turned out to be every bit as good as he AIR FORCE Magazine / April 2015 6 5 was the developer and champion of army general and the naval forces by a low-altitude attack. US admiral. His most effective forces, “I was the papa of attack aviation,” however, were the Allied air forces said Kenney, who was seldom modest. led by George Kenney—especially the “I wrote the textbooks on it, taught it, American component, Fifth Air Force, developed the tactics. When World War which Kenney also commanded. II broke out, by that time, I was the only By early 1942, the Japanese line of one who believed in attack aviation.” conquest had reached the northern part of As historian Phillip S. Meilinger has New Guinea. Their stronghold was Rabaul said, Kenney’s name “infrequently ap- on the island of New Britain, northeast of pears in accounts of the great air events New Guinea. Rabaul had a deep harbor of the interwar years. He did not partici- with five airfields around it. The Japanese pate in the air refueling demonstrations, threatened to overrun the rest of the island long-range flights to Alaska and South and position themselves at Port Moresby America, or air races, or write inflam- on New Guinea’s southern coast, 300 miles matory articles from a desk at Maxwell across the Coral Sea from Australia. Field. Nevertheless, he was an excellent The most advanced Allied base was at officer with a solid combat record.” Port Moresby, where Kenney established Kenney managed to stay in the dog- the Advanced Echelon of Fifth Air Force, Kenney made the cover of both T im e house of Maj. Gen. Oscar M. Westover, commanded by his able subordinate, Brig. magazine and L IFE magazine in 1943. chief of the Air Corps, until Westover died Gen. Ennis C. Whitehead. in a 1938 aircraft accident and Arnold At the Arcadia conference in Decem- That brought the exceptional abilities became chief. Arnold rescued Kenney ber 1941, the United States and Britain of Kenney the innovator to the fore. from organizational purgatory and made had agreed to a “Germany First” policy Nobody was better at adapting what he him his troubleshooter. For the rest of his by which they would seek victory in had to fill his needs or at winning battles life, Kenney professed his friendship and Europe before making an all-out push with limited means. harmony with Arnold but he rarely passed in the Pacific. To the disgruntlement of Kenney began by getting rid of the dead up a chance to express his differences. MacArthur and Kenney, the Pacific was wood, although his claim that “within The two grated on each other regularly the second theater in more ways than the first week, I got rid of a couple of as the years went by. one, including a lower priority for forces major generals and a couple of brigadiers “Hap and I understood each other, we and resources. and about 40 colonels and lieutenant respected each other’s judgment and were strong personal friends of over 20 years’ standing,” Kenney said. “He called me almost daily about a multitude of matters, some big, some little, and sometimes, I suspected, just to blow off a little excess steam. Hap lived with the throttle well open most of the time.” Much the same could be said of Kenney. MACAR H U R S ACIFIC OMAI Before the war, MacArthur had been commander of US Army forces in the Far East with headquarters in the Philip- pines. In February 1942, just ahead of the Japanese takeover, President Roos- evelt ordered MacArthur to evacuate to Australia to be commander of the newly organized Southwest Pacific Area. Under the Allied division of respon- sibility in World War II, the Americans had command of the Pacific and the British had command of the Far East. The United States then split the Pacific into the Pacific Ocean Area, commanded by Adm. Chester W. Nimitz, and Mac- Arthur’s SWPA, which included the Philippines, the Dutch East Indies, New Guinea, and Australia. MacArthur set up his new headquarters in an insurance building in Brisbane. The Allied ground forces under his command were headed by an Australian S t a f f a p y a u r y l n b e k o v 6 6 AIR FORCE Magazine / April 2015 colonels and one captain” overstates inforce their remaining garrisons it somewhat. on New Guinea. In February He relied on Fifth Air Force as his main 1943, radio intercepts revealed striking arm, with the Australian Royal the Japanese would send a large Army Air Force concentrating on air convoy in early March from defense of Australia and anti submarine Rabaul across the Bismarck duties. In August 1942, Kenney’s total Sea to Lae on the eastern coast air strength was 517 combat aircraft, of New Guinea. but of those only 150 were combat ready Patrolling B-24s sighted a and most of the Australian aircraft were huge convoy off New Britain obsolete. March 1. US and Australian The Japanese offensive plan depended air forces struck the convoy on sea transport of troops, equipment, and promptly, before it could reach supplies from Rabaul, so Kenney applied the Vitiaz Strait leading into the his attack aviation tactics and improvisa- Solomon Sea and Lae. The most tion skills to sinking merchant shipping dramatic results were achieved and destroying Japanese airfields.

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