U.S.
Army Forces Far East in the Philippines
Source/Picture:The Fall of Philippines (Chapter
2 ) by Louis Morton:
Originally
Transcribed and formatted for HTML by Patrick Clancey, HyperWar Foundation;
When
General MacArthur assumed command
of U.S. Army Forces in the Far East, the Philippine Department consisted
of 22,532 men, 11,972 of whom were Philippine Scouts.[16]
Of the 1,340 officers, 775 were reservists on active duty. The largest
group of men--7,293--was assigned to the infantry, and the Coast Artillery
Corps was next with 4,967. Almost the entire strength of the command was
stationed on Luzon.
The largest single U.S. Army unit in the Philippines was the Philippine Division, commanded by Maj. Gen. Jonathan M. Wainwright. Theoretically, it was a square division, but was not equipped as such, and lacked a brigade organization and some of its organic elements. All of the enlisted men in the division, except those in the 31st Infantry and a few military police and headquarters troops, were Philippine Scouts; the 31st was the only American infantry unit in the Islands composed entirely of Americans. in addition to this regiment, the Philippine Division contained the 45th and 57th Infantry (PS).[17] Authorized strength for these Scout regiments was 2,435 officers and men, and for the 31st, 1,729. In July 1941 the former were slightly below strength and the latter was 402 overstrength in officers and enlisted men.[18]
Field artillery components of the Philippine Division consisted of the two-battalion 24th Regiment (truck-drawn British 75-mm. guns) with 843 officers and enlisted men, and one battalion of the 23d, with 401 men and armed with 2.95-inch mountain guns (pack). Plans existed for the organization at a later date of the 25th Field Artillery and a separate battalion of 155-mm. guns for use with the division. The division also included the standard engineer, ordnance, signal, military police, medical, and quartermaster units. The total strength of the Philippine Division on 31 July was 10m473 men, distributed as shown in Table 1.
The Philippine Division rarely functioned as a division, for its elements were scattered. headquarters and the bulk of the division were at Fort William McKinley, just south of the city. The 31st Infantry was stationed at the Post of manila, in the city itself, and a battalion of the 12th Quartermaster Regiment was located in the Manila port area. The 1st Battalion, less one company, of the 45th Infantry was stationed at the Post of Limay on the southeast coast of the Bataan peninsula. The rest of the division, including the artillery components, the 12th Ordnance Company, and a platoon of the quartermaster regiment, was at Fort Stotsenburg, about fifty miles north of Manila, close to Clark Field.
The major nondivisional U.S. Army ground elements in the Philippines in
July
Table 1--Strength of Philippine Division, 31 July 1941 Enlisted Unit Total Officer Total American Philippine
ScoutsAll Units
10,473 *516 9,957 2,036 7,921 Hq and Hq Co 181 30 151 4 147 Special Troops 5 5 0 0 0 31st Infantry 2,100 114 1,986 1,986 0 45th Infantry 2,265 117 2,148 2,147 57th Infantry 2,279 118 2,161 0 2,161 23d FA Regt 401 10 391 0 391 24th FA Regt 843 39 804 0 804 12th MP Co 136 5 131 45 86 12th QM Regt 592 18 574 0 574 12th Med Regt 421 22 399 0 399 12th Ord Co 142 3 139 0 139 12 Sig Regt 227 10 217 0 217 14th Engr Regt 870 24 846 0 846 4th Vet Co 11 1 10 0 10 * Includes 15 Philippine Scout Officers: 2 Hq, 2 Sp Trs, 3 45th Inf, 1 57th Inf, 5 24th FA Regt, 1 12th QM Regt, and 1 14th Engr. Source: Phil Dept, Machine Rcds Unit Station Strength and Misc., Officer and Enlisted Men, Jul 41.
1941 included the Harbor Defenses of Manila and Subic Bays, a cavalry regiment, two field artillery regiments, and quartermaster, signal, and military police units. The Harbor Defenses were commanded by Maj. Gen. George F. Moore, who had his headquarters at Fort Mills on Corregidor. They included not only the defenses of Corregidor, but also those on Caballo Island (Forth Hughes), El Fraile (Fort Drum), and Carabo (Fort Frank)--all at the entrance to Manila Bay--and Fort Wint on Grande Island at the entrance to Subic Bay.
The 26th Cavalry was a Philippine Scout organization with two squadrons of three troops each. It was considerably smaller than a similar regiment in the United States and had a strength of 784 enlisted men and 54 officers. The home station of the regiment, except for one troop, was at Fort Stotsenburg; Troop F was stationed at Nichols Field, south of Manila.[19] Also at Fort Stotsenburg were two Philippine Scout field artillery regiments, the 86th and 88th the first with a strength of 388 and the second with 518 men.
Service and supply elements in the Philippine Department at the end of July 1941 totaled approximately 2,500 officers and men, exclusive of those service with the Air Forces. The largest part of these troops were assigned to quartermaster and medical units, stationed at the various posts on Luzon, and at Pettit Barracks in Zamboanga (Mindanao). A military police company, the 808th, was stationed in Manila, as were the headquarters of the Philippine Department and of USAFFE. (See Table 2.)
On 4 August, the air forces in the Philippines were brought under the control of MacArthur's headquarters, "except for routine administration and supply," and redesignated the USAFFE Air Force. It was only a token force. Of the 210 aircraft in the Islands, only the thirty-one P-40Bs could be considered modern aircraft; the others, consisting of P-26s, P-35s, B-10s, B-18s, A-29s, C-39s and observation planes, were largely obsolescent. One field alone, Clark Field near Fort Stotsenburg, could accommodate heavy bombers.[20]
Air Forces headquarters was located at Nielson Field on the outskirts of Manila; the majority of the planes were based at either Nichols, also near Manila, or Clark Field. The 4th Composite Group at Clark Field had under it a headquarters squadron, three pursuit squadrons, one bombardment squadron, and an observation squadron. The 20th Air Base Group at Nichols Field contained miscellaneous supporting units, including the 27th and 28th Materiel Squadrons, and the 19th Air Base Squadron. Total strength of the air forces was 254 officers and 2,049 men.[21]
With the establishment of USAFFE, the Philippine Department became a subordinate command. The headquarters staff was left largely intact, although General MacArthur designated some of its members to serve on his staff in addition to their regular duties, but the mission of the Department was narrowed until its principal task became the training and supply of the Philippine Army. In effect, it became a service command, "and administrative echelon," MacArthur explained, "analogous to a Corps Area."[22] Planning and the tactical control of field troops. organized into task forces, were now centered in USAFFE.
Under the circumstances, there seemed little need for the services of so senior an officer as General Grunert, and MacArthur recommended that he be relieved and another officer, "who had not enjoyed such high command" be appointed to the position. Point out that Grunert would complete his tour of duty in less than four months, MacArthur declared, "It would be advantageous to relieve him, as I am loath, as long as he is here, to contract the functions of the Department Commander. ..."[23] The War Department accepted this suggestion and on 23 October names MacArthur commander of the Philippine Department, relieved Grunert, and ordered him back to he United States.[24] Thus, the Philippine Department, which had been for so long the highest Army command in the Far East, became, in fact first and later in name, a service command. The headquarters
Table 1--Strength of Philippine Division, 31 July 1941 Enlisted Unit Total Officer Total American Philippine
ScoutsAll Units
10,473 *516 9,957 2,036 7,921 Hq and Hq Co 181 30 151 4 147 Special Troops 5 5 0 0 0 31st Infantry 2,100 114 1,986 1,986 0 45th Infantry 2,265 117 2,148 2,147 57th Infantry 2,279 118 2,161 0 2,161 23d FA Regt 401 10 391 0 391 24th FA Regt 843 39 804 0 804 12th MP Co 136 5 131 45 86 12th QM Regt 592 18 574 0 574 12th Med Regt 421 22 399 0 399 12th Ord Co 142 3 139 0 139 12 Sig Regt 227 10 217 0 217 14th Engr Regt 870 24 846 0 846 4th Vet Co 11 1 10 0 10 * Includes 15 Philippine Scout Officers: 2 Hq, 2 Sp Trs, 3 45th Inf, 1 57th Inf, 5 24th FA Regt, 1 12th QM Regt, and 1 14th Engr. Source: Phil Dept, Machine Rcds Unit Station Strength and Misc., Officer and Enlisted Men, Jul 41.
Service and supply elements in the Philippine Department at the end of July 1941 totaled approximately 2,500 officers and men, exclusive of those service with the Air Forces. The largest part of these troops were assigned to quartermaster and medical units, stationed at the various posts on Luzon, and at Pettit Barracks in Zamboanga
which had made the plans and preparations for war had no tactical control when war came.
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