Waking the Sleeping Giant at Pearl Harbor: A Case for Intelligence and Operations Fusion
Abstract
Although for many years the United States conducted detailed defense planning for Hawaii, the Japanese were still able to conduct a successful attack on Pearl Harbor. The 1907 war scare with Japan led to the initiation of war planning against the threat of Japanese aggression, and the establishment of a standing American capability at the Army War College, where each year students critically analyzed and recommended updates to standing defense plans. Based on these strategic plans, the Hawaiian Department implemented and developed Joint defense plans for Oahu. Historians have shown that the U.S. military possessed the intelligence to indicate an impending attack on Pearl Harbor. However, the ability to respond to an attack depended on two things: early warning and effective defense planning. In 1941, radar -- the primary means of early warning -- remained a new technology. Radar proved to be effective and correctly detected the incoming attack, but it lacked the ability to discriminate between friendly and enemy aircraft. This monograph has particular significance given today's concern in the United States regarding homeland defense, since the lessons learned from analyzing the successful attack on Pearl Harbor will offer insight to homeland defense planners whose present-day concerns are terrorist attacks against the United States involving chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons. By determining whether poor planning or lack of early warning and response capability led to the tragedy at Pearl Harbor, this research will contribute to modern efforts to prepare for homeland defense.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 23, 2013
- Accession Number
- ADA589718
Entities
People
- Blanca E. Reyes
Organizations
- United States Army Command and General Staff College