Western Defense Command

Western Defense Command
Emblem of the Western Defense Command
Active	1941–1946
Country	United States of America
Branch	Army
Role	Home Defense & Training
Garrison/HQ	Presidio of San Francisco
Engagements	Aleutian Islands Campaign
Commanders
Commanding General	John L. DeWitt
Commanding General	Delos C. Emmons

Western Defense Command (WDC) was established on 17 March 1941 as the command formation of the U.S. Army responsible for coordinating the defense of the Pacific Coast region of the United States. A second major responsibility was the training of soldiers prior to their deployment overseas. The first Commanding General of WDC was Lieutenant General John L. DeWitt, who continued on in command of the Fourth U.S. Army. WDC headquarters were co-located at the existing Fourth Army headquarters at the Presidio of San Francisco. WDC's operational region covered the states of Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Utah and Arizona. However, until 11 December 1941 the command was little more than a planning agency. On that date the Army coast defense, antiaircraft, and fighter assets on the west coast and in Alaska were placed under the command, which until 20 March 1942 was known as the Western Theater of Operations, then reverted to the previous name. From 11 December 1941 until 1 November 1943 Alaska Defense Command was controlled through WDC.

On 14 February 1942, Western Defense Command sent a memorandum to Secretary of War Henry Stimson recommending that "Japanese and other subversive elements" be removed from the West Coast region. This led President Franklin D. Roosevelt to issue Executive Order 9066 on 19 February, which gave U.S. military commanders the authority to designate "military areas" and to then exclude any or all people from them. On 2 March 1942 General DeWitt issued a proclamation that designated the western halves of Washington, Oregon and California, and the southern third of Arizona to be military areas from which Americans of Japanese ancestry would be excluded. (The exclusion zone would later be expanded to include the entire state of California.) Americans of German and Italian ancestry were also affected by restrictions and in some cases internment.