A Pattern for Joint Operations: World War II Close Air Support, North Africa

World War II Operations and North Africa 

Intelligence sources did not anticipate the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor that brought the United States into war. Despite the buildup of forces and planning for potential war during 1939 and 1940, the War Department was not as prepared as it wanted to be. Still, the military flung what it had into battle with the Japanese and began a buildup of forces in Europe and other parts of the world. Marshall recognized that it would require months before a ground force could be raised big enough for an invasion of the Continent. The British believed it would take years. Army Air Forces leaders promised that their forces could start an offensive against the Germans earlier than the ground forces, but it meant a slowdown in development of air support forces. With presidential approval, in early 1942, the Eighth Air Force started preparations for a bombing campaign against Germany. 

Then in mid-1942, pressured by the Russians and British to start a serious land offensive, Roosevelt insisted that the military follow the British suggestion and initiate a ground and air campaign in North Africa before the end of the year. Field General Erwin Rommel's June offensive had created a crisis for the British in the desert west of Cairo. In response, the Americans lined up some air units, initiating the process with a detachment of B-24s under Col. Harry A. Halverson. By the fall of 1942 the United States had sent a sizable American contingent of aircraft to the British Western Desert Air Force, including some assigned to close air support roles (Map 1). By November American forces had formed into the Ninth Air Force, commanded by Maj. Gen. L. H. Brereton. 

American aviators gained experience with the unique British air-ground cooperation system for the first time. The combined forces of General Sir Bernard L. Montgomery's Eighth Army and the air units of Air Vice Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham's Western Desert Air Force shared a great victory between August and October 1942 in the desert west of Cairo. Montgomery and Coningham mutually decided that ground and aviation command components functioned best as equal partners at the army level. Air and ground field staffs also had the same headquarters and living quarters. It was a true joint command, as neither Montgomery nor Coningham demanded final authority. It helped that the techniques involved in joint command were amenable to offensive, as opposed to defensive, operations. Success in pushing Rommel to the west helped make the adventure a positive one in the minds of many observers and participants. By August Brereton had grasped the significance of Coningham's employment of air support fighters and bombers. He reported to Arnold on the importance of the command arrangement in the Western Desert, and how the cooperation came from a natural sympathy and understanding between air and ground commander. ¹ 

At the same time, as staff and forces were gathering in England for Operation TORCH, Allied strategists were contending with multiplying demands for resources from other theaters. Increasing requirements for worldwide operations reduced air resources for close air support. The fight against Rommel to clear the Mediterranean received special attention, if not a higher priority than TORCH, in the late summer of 1942. The desire to relieve pressure against the Soviet Union grew in importance as the victorious German summer campaign brought the Axis into the Caucasus and closer to the Middle East. The Allies juggled resources to expand the commitment to the Middle East. Thus, large quantities of fighters and light and medium bombers, used in close support work, were diverted from TORCH to the Western Desert, the Middle East, and Russia. In one case, General Dwight David Eisenhower, supreme commander of TORCH, interceded to prevent the 33d Fighter Group from being sent to the Western Desert .²

On 2 October President Roosevelt directed Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson to increase the flow of aircraft to Russia. Marshall was concerned, and after conferences with Arnold and presidential adviser Harry Hopkins, he went directly to the president. He told Roosevelt that the only way to increase the monthly lend-lease airplane schedule to the Soviet Union would be Ira reduction of planes urgently needed for our units in combat theaters, or to curtail seriously the plans for TORCH. Roosevelt wanted TORCH to be a success, but he kept pressure on Marshall to support all theaters. For example, on 24 October Roosevelt ordered his military chiefs to make sure the South Pacific as well as North Africa operations were supported with "munitions and planes and crews. . . ."  In order "to take advantage of our success, " he judged, "we must have adequate air support in both places. . . In England, planning for the invasion of North Africa, Eisenhower wanted as much air power as possible. He was not entirely clear about the published doctrine on close air support, and he was uncertain about understanding among his lieutenants. He would give close air support special attention. After all this was the first major land campaign for the United States, and the eyes of the Americans and Allies were looking for results.³