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War Plan ORANGE: Evolution of a Strategy*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2011

Louis Morton
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Extract

The emergence of the United States as a world power at the opening of the twentieth century found the nation ill-prepared to assume the burdens imposed by its new status. For American military and naval leaders, possession of an island empire stretching across 7,000 miles of ocean from San Francisco to the Philippines and almost to the mainland of Asia created new and serious problems. Slowly, during the first years of the century, the Army and Navy evolved a military strategy which would ensure the defense of these islands while supporting the foreign policy shaped by the nation's civilian leaders.

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Type
Research Article
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World Politics , Volume 11 , Issue 2 , January 1959, pp. 221 - 250
Copyright
Copyright © Trustees of Princeton University 1959

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References

1 The Board consisted initially of Maj. Gen. S. B. M. Young, Army Chief of Staff, Maj. Gen. Henry C. Corbin, Brig. Gen. Tasker H. Bliss, and Brig. Gen. Wallace F. Randolph for the Army; the Navy members were Admiral Dewey, Rear Adm. Henry C. Taylor, Capt. John E. Pillsbury, and Comdr. William J. Barnette. The first meeting of the Board was held on 17 July 1903.

2 Ltr, Chaffee to Secy of War, 22 Apr 1904; Mins, JB Mtgs, 23 May and 10 Jun 1904; ltrs, JB to Secy of War and Secy of Navy, 24 Jun 1904; Bliss to Secy, JB, 10 Jun 1904, all in JB 325 (1903–1905), Serial 16.

3 Memo, Brig. Gen. M. M. Macomb, Chief, War College Division, for Chief of Staff, 13 Apr 1915, sub: Plan for War with Japan, WCD 7820–16; Army Plan in Case of War in the Pacific Before the Panama Canal Is Completed, 19 May 1913, approved by Chief of Staff, 20 May 1913, by order of Secy of War, WCD 7820–13.

4 For a fuller statement of these views and the background of planning in this period, see Morton, Louis, The Origins of Pacific Strategy,” Marine Corps Gazette, XLI (August 1957), pp. 36–44Google Scholar; idem, “Preparations for the Defense of the Philippines During the War Scare of 1907,” Military Affairs, XIII (Summer 1949), pp. 95–104; Braisted, William R., “The Philippine Naval Base Problem, 1898–1909,” Mississippi Valley Historical Review, XLI (June 1954), pp. 21–40CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Roy Watson Curry, “Woodrow Wilson and Philippine Policy,” ibid. (December 1954), pp. 435–52.

5 Ltr, Yarnell to Col. John McA. Palmer, 25 Apr 1919, JB 325, Ser 28C.

6 Capt. Knox, Dudley W. (USN), The Eclipse of American Sea Power, New York, 1922, pp. 135–36.Google Scholar

7 Memo, Col. B. H. Wells, AC of S, WPD, for C of S, 24 May 1922, sub: AAA Defense of Cavite, JB 303, Ser 169A.

8 Precept of the Joint Board, 24 July 1919. The membership of the Board consisted of three Army and three Navy members, designated by office rather than by name, as had been the case earlier. The Army members were the Chief of Staff, the Deputy Chief of Staff, and the Chief of the War Plans Division. The Navy members were the Chief of Naval Operations, the Assistant Chief of Naval Operations, and the Director of the War Plans Division.

9 Memo, Yarnell for Col. J. W. Guliek, 28 Oct 1919, sub: National Policy and War Plans, JB Ser Mise 18.

10 See, e.g., Senator Lodge's remarks on 28 Mar 1922 in Congressional Record, 67th Cong, 2nd Sess, p. 4683.

11 Memo, Embick for JPC, 29 Mar 1920, sub: Naval Base at Guam, JB 322, Ser 28.

12 Ltrs, Col. John McA. Palmer and Capt. H. E. Yarnell (USN), JPC, to JB, 15 Oct 1919 sub: Strategy in Pacific, JB 325, Ser 28E; Yarnell and Embick, JPC, to JB, 27 Apr 1920, sub: Pacific Bases, JB 305, Ser 90.

13 Ltr, Sims to CNO, 13 Aug 1920, General Board 404, Ser 1000.

14 Ltr, JPC to JB, 13 Apr 1922, sub: Defense of the Philippines, JB 303, Ser 179.

15 Preliminary Estimate of the Situation, War Plan ORANGE, 3 Dec 1921, WPD 368.

16 Ltr, Col. J. L. DeWitt and Capt. L. M. Overstreet (USN), JPC, to JB, 20 May 1922, sub: Order of Importance to the Navy of the Defense of Harbors and Sections of the Coast, JB 303, Ser 184.

17 Ltr, Secy of War to CG Phil Dept, 27 Jul 1922, cited in ltr, Leonard Wood, Gov-Gen of the Phil, to Secy of War, 5 Feb 1923, JB 305, Ser 209.

18 Ltr, Wood to Secy of War, 5 Feb 1923, JB 305, Ser 209.

19 Ibid.

20 Memo, JPC for JP, May 1923, sub: Synopsis of the Joint Army and Navy Estimate of the ORANGE Situation, JB 325, Ser 207. See also General Board 425, Ser 1136, 26 Apr 1923.

21 Memo, Pershing for Secy of War, 7 Jul 1923, sub: Defense of the Philippines, JB 305, Ser 208.

22 Draft of Joint Army-Navy Basic War Plan ORANGE, 12 May 1924, JB 325, Ser 228. The plan was approved by the Joint Board on 16 July and by the Secretaries of the War and Navy Departments the following month. Relevant papers filed in JB 325, Ser 228.

23 Bywater, Hector, Sea Power in the Pacific, Boston, 1921, pp. 256–57.Google Scholar

24 Joint Army-Navy Basic War Plan ORANGE, 6 Oct 1926; ltr, JPC to JB, 11 Oct 1926, sub: Revision of Plan ORANGE; Mins, JB Mtg, 14 Oct 1926, all in JB 325, Ser 280.

25 Ltr, JPC to JB, 26 Nov 1926, sub: Revision of Plan ORANGE, JB 325, Ser 280.

26 Ltr, JPC to JB, 9 Jan 1928, sub: Joint Estimate of Situation Blue-Orange, and Joint Army-Navy Basic War Plan ORANGE, JB 325, Ser 280.

27 Memo, JB for JPC, 26 Jan 1928, sub: Joint Army-Navy Basic War Plan ORANGE, JB 325, Ser 280.

28 Joint Army-Navy Basic War Plan ORANGE, 24 Apr 1928, JB 325, Ser 280. Other papers relating to the plan in same file. The plan was approved by the Secretary of the Navy on 19 June 1928, and by the Secretary of War on 10 July.

29 Ltr, JB to Secy of War, IO May 1927, sub: Japanese Proposal for Status quo in Hawaii and Canal Zone, JB 338, Ser 291.

30 Ibid.

31 Ltr, JB to Secy of War, IO Apr 1930, sub: Relations with the Phil, JB 305, Ser 472. The Secretaries of both services approved the policy recommended by the Joint Board.

32 Memo, Chief, WPD, for G-4, 16 Jul 1930, sub: Possible Reduction in Phil Garr, WPD 3251–7.

33 Ltr, JPC to JB, 16 Oct 1931, sub: Military Value of the Phil Is to the U.S., JB 305, Ser 499.

34 Ltr, JB to Secy of War, 23 Oct 1931, sub: Military Value of the Phil Is to the U.S., JB 305, Ser 499.

35 Ltr, JPC to JB, 28 Feb 1934, sub: Independence of Phil Is, JB 305, Ser 525.

36 Memo, Brig. Gen. S. D. Embick for CG Phil Dept, 19 Apr 1933, sub: Military Policy of the U.S. in the Phil Is and ist Ind, HQ Phil Dept, 25 Apr 1933, WPD 3251–15.

37 Ibid.

38 Memo, Chief, WPD, for C of S, 12 Jun 1933, sub: Military Policy of the U.S. in the Phil Is, WPD 3251–15.

39 Ibid.

40 Ltr, C in C Asiatic Fleet and CG Phil Dept to CNO and C of S, 1 Mar 1934, sub: Inadequacy of Present Military and Naval Forces in Phil Area, JB 325, Ser 533.

41 Memo, Chief, WPD, for Army Members, JPC, 1 May 1934, sub: Military Policy in Phil Is, WPD 3251–18.

42 Ltr, JB to Secy of War, 20 Jun 1934, sub: Inadequacy of Present Military and Naval Forces in Phil Is, JB 325, Ser 533.

43 Ltr, C of S to CG Phil Dept, 6 Jul 1934, sub: Phil Defense, WPD 3251–17.

44 Ltr, MacArthur to JB, 18 Jan 1935, sub: Revision of Joint Basic War Plan ORANGE, JB 325, Ser 546.

45 Ltrs, JPC to JB, 23 Apr 1935, sub: Revision of ORANGE; JB to Secy of Navy, 8 May 1935, same sub, both in JB 325, Ser 546. The Secretaries of War and Navy approved the revised plan on 9 May 1935.

46 Ltr, Actg Secy of War and Secy of Navy to Secy of State, 26 Nov 1935, JB 305, Ser 573. Stanley K. Hornbeck, Chief of the Division of Far Eastern Affairs, was appointed as the State Department representative. Ltr, Hull to Woodring, 27 Nov 1935, same file.

47 App A to memo initialed SDE, 2 Dec 1935, sub: Military Aspects of Retention of Phil Is, JB 305, Ser 573.

48 Memo, Col. Walter Krueger, JPC, for C of S, Dep C of S, and Chief, WPD, 14 Feb 1936, sub: JB Case Serial No. 5-B, JB 305, Ser 573, Development File.

49 Ltr, JPC (Comdr. A. S. Carpcnder) to JB, 6 Feb 1936, Enel B, JB 305, Ser 573.

50 Ltr, JPC (Col. Walter Krueger) to JB, 5 Mar 1936, Enel A, JB 305, Ser 573.

51 Army Strategical Plan ORANGE, 1936 Revision, JB 325, Ser 546.

52 WD Ltr, 22 Oct 1937, sub: Defenses of the Phil.

53 New York Times, 9 Oct and 13 Dec 1936.

54 Memos, JB for JPC, IO Nov 1937, sub: Joint Army-Navy Basic War Plan ORANGE, JB 325, Ser 617; Embick for WPD, 3 Nov 1937, same sub, AGO 225.

55 Draft memo, Col. W. J. Krueger, 22 Nov 1937, sub: Some Thoughts on Joint War Plans, AGO 225.

56 Ltrs, Army and Navy Members JPC to JB, 29 and 30 Nov 1937, sub: Joint Army-Navy Basic War Plan ORANGE, JB 325, Ser 617. The Army plan is in Appendix A, the Navy's in Appendix B.

57 Ibid.

58 Directive, JB to JPC, 7 Dec 1937, sub: Joint Basic War Plan ORANGE, JB 325, Ser 618.

59 Ltr, JPC to JB, 27 Dec 1937, sub: Joint Army-Navy Basic War Plan ORANGE, JB 325, Ser 618.

60 Ibid.

61 Joint Committee on the Investigation of the Pearl Harbor Attack, Hearings, 79th Cong, 2nd Sess, Pt. 1, p. 294.

62 Joint Army-Navy Basic War Plan ORANGE, 21 Feb 1938, JB 325, Ser 618. The plan was approved by the Secretary of the Navy on 26 Feb and by the Secretary of War two days later.

63 Ibid.

64 Report on Need for Additional Naval Bases … (Hepburn Board Report), House Doc. 65, 27 Dec 1938, 76th Cong, 1st Sess, pp. 27–28.

65 Ibid., p. 28.

66 Ibid., p. 27.

67 House Committee on Naval Affairs, Hearing on H.R. 2880, 25 Jan-17 Feb 1939Google Scholar, 76th Cong, 1st Sess, p. 55.