text: The Philippines, at that time an American protectorate, were also a Japanese target. The Japanese military concluded an invasion of the Philippines would provoke an American military response. Rather than seize and fortify the islands, and wait for the inevitable U.S. counterattack, Japan's military leaders instead decided on the preventive Pearl Harbor attack, which they assumed would negate the American forces needed for the liberation and reconquest of the islands. (Later that same day [December 8, local time], the Japanese indeed launched their invasion of the Philippines).


title: Events leading to the attack on Pearl Harbor

text: Planning for the attack on Pearl Harbor had begun in very early 1941, by Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto. He finally won assent from the Naval High Command by, among other things, threatening to resign. The attack was approved in the summer at an Imperial Conference and again at a second Conference in the autumn. Simultaneously over the year, pilots were trained, and ships prepared for its execution. Authority for the attack was granted at the second Imperial Conference if a diplomatic result satisfactory to Japan was not reached. After the Hull note and final approval by Emperor Hirohito the order to attack was issued at the beginning of December.


text: Both the Japanese public and political perception of American antagonism began in the 1890s. The American acquisition of Pacific colonies near Japan as well as its brokering of the end of the Russo-Japanese War via the Treaty of Portsmouth (which left neither belligerent, particularly Japan, satisfied) left a lasting general impression that the United States was inappropriately foisting itself into Asian regional politics and intent on limiting Japan, setting the stage for later more contentious politics between the two nations.


text: Tensions between Japan and the prominent Western countries (the United States, France, United Kingdom and the Netherlands) increased significantly during the increasingly militaristic early reign of Emperor Hirohito. Japanese nationalists and military leaders increasingly influenced government policy, promoting a Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere as part of Japan's alleged "divine right" to unify Asia under Hirohito's rule.


text: During the 1930s, Japan's increasingly expansionist policies brought it into renewed conflict with its neighbors, Russia and China, the latter was in 1922 overhanded Germany's former Chinese colony of Shandong which was transferred to Japan in the Treaty of Versailles (Japan had fought the First Sino-Japanese War with China in 1894–95 and the Russo-Japanese War with Russia in 1904–05; Japan's imperialist ambitions had a hand in precipitating both conflicts, after which Japan gained a large sphere of influence in Manchuria and saw an opportunity to expand its position in China). In March 1933 Japan withdrew from the League of Nations in response to international condemnation of its conquest of Manchuria and subsequent establishment of the Manchukuo puppet government there. On January 15, 1936, Japan withdrew from the Second London Naval Disarmament Conference because the United States and the United Kingdom refused to grant the Japanese Navy parity with theirs. A second war between Japan and China began with the Marco Polo Bridge Incident in July 1937.


text: Japan's 1937 attack on China was condemned by the U.S. and by several members of the League of Nations, including Britain, France, Australia and the Netherlands. Japanese atrocities during the conflict, such as the notorious Nanking Massacre that December, served to further complicate relations with the rest of the world. The U.S., Britain, France and the Netherlands each possessed colonies in East and Southeast Asia. Japan's new military power and willingness to use it threatened these Western economic and territorial interests in Asia.


text: Beginning in 1938, the U.S. adopted a succession of increasingly restrictive trade restrictions with Japan, including terminating its 1911 commercial treaty with Japan in 1939, further tightened by the Export Control Act of 1940. These efforts failed to deter Japan from continuing its war in China, or from signing the Tripartite Pact in 1940 with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, officially forming the Axis Powers.


text: Japan would take advantage of Hitler's war in Europe to advance its own ambitions in the Far East. The Tripartite Pact guaranteed assistance if a signatory was attacked by any country not already involved in conflict with the signatory; this implicitly meant the U.S. By joining the pact, Japan gained geopolitical power and sent the unmistakable message that any U.S. military intervention risked war on both of her shores—with Germany and Italy in the Atlantic, and with Japan in the Pacific. The Roosevelt administration would not be dissuaded. it committed to help the British and Chinese through loans of money and materiel, and pledged sufficient continuing aid to ensure their survival. Thus the United States slowly moved from being a neutral power to one preparing for war.


text: In mid-1940 Roosevelt moved the U.S. Pacific Fleet to Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, to deter Japan. On October 8, 1940, Admiral James O. Richardson, Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet, provoked a confrontation with Roosevelt by repeating his earlier arguments to Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Harold R. Stark and Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox that Pearl Harbor was the wrong place for his ships. Roosevelt believed relocating the fleet to Hawaii would exert a "restraining influence" on Japan.


text: At least as early as October 8, 1940, ...affairs had reached such a state that the United States would become involved in a war with Japan. ... 'that if the Japanese attacked Thailand, or the Kra Peninsula, or the Dutch East Indies we would not enter the war, that if they even attacked the Philippines he doubted whether we would enter the war, but that they (the Japanese) could not always avoid making mistakes and that as the war continued and that area of operations expanded sooner or later they would make a mistake and we would enter the war.' ... .


text: Japan's 1940 move into Vichy-controlled Indochina further raised tensions. Along with Japan's war with China, withdrawal from the League of Nations, alliance with Germany and Italy and increasing militarization, the move induced the United States to intensify its measures to restrain Japan economically. The United States embargoed scrap-metal shipments to Japan and closed the Panama Canal to Japanese shipping. This hit Japan's economy particularly hard because 74.1% of Japan's scrap iron came from the United States in 1938. Also, 93% of Japan's copper in 1939 came from the United States. In early 1941 Japan moved into southern Indochina, thereby threatening British Malaya, North Borneo and Brunei.


text: Japan and the U.S. engaged in negotiations during the course of 1941 in an effort to improve relations. During these negotiations, Japan considered withdrawal from most of China and Indochina after drawing up peace terms with the Chinese. Japan would also adopt an independent interpretation of the Tripartite Pact, and would not discriminate in trade, provided all other countries reciprocated. However General Tojo, then Japanese War Minister, rejected compromises in China. Responding to Japanese occupation of key airfields in Indochina (July 24) following an agreement between Japan and Vichy France, the U.S. froze Japanese assets on July 26, 1941, and on August 1 established an embargo on oil and gasoline exports to Japan. The oil embargo was an especially strong response because oil was Japan's most crucial import, and more than 80% of Japan's oil at the time came from the United States.


text: Japanese war planners had long looked south, especially to Brunei for oil and Malaya for rubber and tin. In the autumn of 1940, Japan requested 3.15 million barrels of oil from the Dutch East Indies, but received a counteroffer of only 1.35 million. The complete U.S. oil embargo reduced Japanese options to two: seize Southeast Asia before its existing stocks of strategic materials were depleted, or submission to American demands. Moreover, any southern operation would be vulnerable to attack from the Philippines, then a U.S. commonwealth, so war with the U.S. seemed necessary in any case.


text: After the embargoes and the asset freezes, the Japanese ambassador to Washington, Kichisaburō Nomura, and U.S. Secretary of State Cordell Hull held multiple meetings in order to resolve Japanese-American relations. No solution could be agreed upon for three key reasons:


text: In their final proposal on November 20, Japan offered to withdraw its forces from southern Indochina and not to launch any attacks in southeast Asia provided the U.S., Britain, and the Netherlands ceased aiding China and lifted their sanctions against Japan. The American counterproposal of November 26 (the Hull note) required Japan to evacuate all of China, unconditionally, and to conclude non-aggression pacts with Pacific powers.


text: Part of the Japanese plan for the attack included breaking off negotiations with the United States 30 minutes before the attack began. Diplomats from the Japanese embassy in Washington, D.C., including the Japanese ambassador, Admiral Kichisaburō Nomura and special representative Saburō Kurusu, had been conducting extended talks with the State Department regarding the U.S. reactions to the Japanese move into French Indochina in the summer.


text: In the days before the attack, a long 14-part message was sent to the embassy from the Foreign Office in Tokyo (encrypted with the Type 97 cypher machine, in a cipher named by U.S. cryptanalysts), with instructions to deliver it to Secretary of State Cordell Hull at . The last part arrived late Saturday night (Washington time), but because of decryption and typing delays, as well as Tokyo's failure to stress the crucial necessity of the timing, embassy personnel did not deliver the message to Secretary Hull until several hours after the attack.


text: The United States had decrypted the 14th part well before the Japanese managed to, and long before embassy staff composed a clean typed copy. The final part, with its instruction for the time of delivery, had been decoded Saturday night but was not acted upon until the next morning (according to Henry Clausen).


text: Ambassador Nomura asked for an appointment to see Hull at , but later asked it be postponed to 1:45 as the ambassador was not quite ready. Nomura and Kurusu arrived at and were received by Hull at 2:20. Nomura apologized for the delay in presenting the message. After Hull had read several pages, he asked Nomura whether the document was presented under instructions of the Japanese government; the Ambassador replied it was. After reading the full document, Hull turned to the ambassador and said:


text: I must say that in all my conversations with you...during the last nine months I have never uttered one word of untruth. This is borne out absolutely by the record. In all my fifty years of public service I have never seen a document that was more crowded with infamous falsehoods and distortions--infamous falsehoods and distortions on a scale so huge that I never imagined until today that any Government on this planet was capable of uttering them.


text: Japanese records, admitted into evidence during congressional hearings on the attack after the war, established that Japan had not even written a declaration of war until hearing news of the successful attack. The two-line declaration was finally delivered to U.S. ambassador Joseph Grew in Tokyo about ten hours after the completion of the attack. Grew was allowed to transmit it to the United States, where it was received late Monday afternoon (Washington time).


text: In July 1941, IJN headquarters informed Emperor Hirohito its reserve bunker oil would be exhausted within two years if a new source was not found. In August 1941, Japanese prime minister Fumimaro Konoe proposed a summit with President Roosevelt to discuss differences. Roosevelt replied Japan must leave China before a summit meeting could be held. On September 6, 1941, at the second Imperial Conference concerning attacks on the Western colonies in Asia and Hawaii, Japanese leaders met to consider the attack plans prepared by Imperial General Headquarters. The summit occurred one day after the emperor had reprimanded General Hajime Sugiyama, chief of the IJA General Staff, about the lack of success in China and the speculated low chances of victory against the United States, the British Empire and their allies.


text: Prime Minister Konoe argued for more negotiations and possible concessions to avert war. However, military leaders such as Sugiyama, Minister of War General Hideki Tōjō, and chief of the IJN General Staff Fleet Admiral Osami Nagano asserted time had run out and that additional negotiations would be pointless. They urged swift military actions against all American and European colonies in Southeast Asia and Hawaii. Tōjō argued that yielding to the American demand to withdraw troops would wipe out all the gains of the Second Sino-Japanese War, depress Army morale, endanger Manchukuo and jeopardize control of Korea; hence, doing nothing was the same as defeat and a loss of face.


text: On October 16, 1941, Konoe resigned and proposed Prince Naruhiko Higashikuni, who was also the choice of the army and navy, as his successor. Hirohito chose Hideki Tōjō instead, worried (as he told Konoe) about having the Imperial House being held responsible for a war against Western powers.


text: On November 3, 1941, Nagano presented a complete plan for the attack on Pearl Harbor to Hirohito. At the Imperial Conference on November 5, Hirohito approved the plan for a war against the United States, Great Britain and the Netherlands, scheduled to start at the beginning of December if an acceptable diplomatic settlement were not achieved before then. Over the following weeks, Tōjō's military regime offered a final deal to the United States. They offered to leave only Indochina, but in return for large American economic aid. On November 26, the so-called Hull Memorandum (or Hull Note) rejected the offer and demanded that, in addition to leaving Indochina, the Japanese must leave China (without Manchoukuo) and agree to an Open Door Policy in the Far East.


text: On November 30, 1941, Prince Takamatsu warned his brother, Hirohito, the navy felt the Empire could not fight more than two years against the United States and wished to avoid war. After consulting with Kōichi Kido (who advised him to take his time until he was convinced) and Tōjō, the Emperor called Shigetarō Shimada and Nagano, who reassured him that war would be successful. On December 1, Hirohito finally approved a "war against United States, Great Britain and Holland" during another Imperial Conference, to commence with a surprise attack on the U.S. Pacific Fleet at its main forward base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.


text: On February 3, 1940, Yamamoto briefed Captain Kanji Ogawa of Naval Intelligence on the potential attack plan, asking him to start intelligence gathering on Pearl Harbor. Ogawa already had spies in Hawaii, including Japanese Consular officials with an intelligence remit, and he arranged for help from a German already living in Hawaii who was an "Abwehr" agent. None had been providing much militarily useful information. He planned to add 29-year-old Ensign Takeo Yoshikawa. By the spring of 1941, Yamamoto officially requested additional Hawaiian intelligence, and Yoshikawa boarded the liner "Nitta-maru" at Yokohama. He had grown his hair longer than military length, and assumed the cover name Tadashi Morimura.


text: Yoshikawa began gathering intelligence in earnest by taking auto trips around the main islands, and toured Oahu in a small plane, posing as a tourist. He visited Pearl Harbor frequently, sketching the harbor and location of ships from the crest of a hill. Once, he gained access to Hickam Field in a taxi, memorizing the number of visible planes, pilots, hangars, barracks and soldiers. He was also able to discover that Sunday was the day of the week on which the largest number of ships were likely to be in harbor, that PBY patrol planes went out every morning and evening, and that there was an antisubmarine net in the mouth of the harbor. Information was returned to Japan in coded form in Consular communications, and by direct delivery to intelligence officers aboard Japanese ships calling at Hawaii by consulate staff.


text: In June 1941, German and Italian consulates were closed, and there were suggestions Japan's should be closed, as well. They were not, because they continued to provide valuable information ("via" ) and neither President Franklin D. Roosevelt nor Secretary of State Cordell Hull wanted trouble in the Pacific. Had they been closed, however, it is possible Naval General Staff, which had opposed the attack from the outset, would have called it off, since up-to-date information on the location of the Pacific Fleet, on which Yamamoto's plan depended, would no longer have been available.


text: Expecting war, and seeing an opportunity in the forward basing of the U.S. Pacific Fleet in Hawaii, the Japanese began planning in early 1941 for an attack on Pearl Harbor. For the next several months, planning and organizing a simultaneous attack on Pearl Harbor and invasion of British and Dutch colonies to the south occupied much of the Japanese Navy's time and attention. The plans for the Pearl Harbor attack arose out of the Japanese expectation the U.S. would be inevitably drawn into war after a Japanese attack against Malaya and Singapore.


text: The intent of a preventive strike on Pearl Harbor was to neutralize American naval power in the Pacific, thus removing it from influencing operations against American, British, and Dutch colonies. Successful attacks on colonies were judged to depend on successfully dealing with the Pacific Fleet. Planning had long anticipated a battle in Japanese home waters after the U.S. fleet traveled across the Pacific, under attack by submarines and other forces all the way. The U.S. fleet would be defeated in a "decisive battle", as Russia's Baltic Fleet had been in 1905. A surprise attack posed a twofold difficulty compared to longstanding expectations. First, the Pacific Fleet was a formidable force, and would not be easy to defeat or to surprise. Second, Pearl Harbor's shallow waters made using conventional aerial torpedoes ineffective. On the other hand, Hawaii's distance meant a successful surprise attack could not be blocked or quickly countered by forces from the continental U.S.


text: Several Japanese naval officers had been impressed by the British action in the Battle of Taranto, in which 21 obsolete Fairey Swordfish disabled half the "Regia Marina" (Italian Navy). Admiral Yamamoto even dispatched a delegation to Italy, which concluded a larger and better-supported version of Cunningham's strike could force the U.S. Pacific Fleet to retreat to bases in California, thus giving Japan the time necessary to establish a "barrier" defense to protect Japanese control of the Dutch East Indies. The delegation returned to Japan with information about the shallow-running torpedoes Cunningham's engineers had devised.


text: Japanese strategists were undoubtedly influenced by Admiral Togo's surprise attack on the Russian Pacific Fleet at Port Arthur in 1904. Yamamoto's emphasis on destroying the American battleships was in keeping with the Mahanian doctrine shared by all major navies during this period, including the U.S. Navy and Royal Navy.


text: In a letter dated January 7, 1941, Yamamoto finally delivered a rough outline of his plan to Koshiro Oikawa, then Navy Minister, from whom he also requested to be made Commander in Chief of the air fleet to attack Pearl Harbor. A few weeks later, in yet another letter, Yamamoto requested Admiral Takijiro Onishi, chief of staff of the Eleventh Air Fleet, study the technical feasibility of an attack against the American base. Onishi gathered as many facts as possible about Pearl Harbor.


text: After first consulting with Kosei Maeda, an expert on aerial torpedo warfare, and being told the harbor's shallow waters rendered such an attack almost impossible, Onishi summoned Commander Minoru Genda. After studying the original proposal put forth by Yamamoto, Genda agreed: "[T]he plan is difficult but not impossible". Yamamoto gave the bulk of the planning to Rear Admiral Ryunosuke Kusaka, who was very worried about the area's air defenses. Yamamoto encouraged Kusaka by telling him, "Pearl Harbor is my idea and I need your support." Genda emphasized the attack should be carried out early in the morning and in total secrecy, employing an aircraft carrier force and several types of bombing.


text: Although attacking the U.S. Pacific Fleet anchorage would achieve surprise, it also carried two distinct disadvantages. The targeted ships would be sunk or damaged in very shallow water, meaning it would be quite likely that they could be salvaged and possibly returned to duty (as six of the eight battleships eventually were). Also, most of the crews would survive the attack, since many would be on shore leave or would be rescued from the harbor afterward. Despite these concerns, Yamamoto and Genda pressed ahead.


text: By April 1941, the Pearl Harbor plan became known as "Operation Z", after the famous Z signal given by Admiral Tōgō at Tsushima. Over the summer, pilots trained in earnest near Kagoshima City on Kyūshū. Genda chose it because its geography and infrastructure presented most of the same problems bombers would face at Pearl Harbor. In training, each crew flew over the mountain behind Kagoshima and dove into the city, dodging buildings and smokestacks before dropping to at the piers. Bombardiers released torpedoes at a breakwater some away.


text: However, even this low-altitude approach would not overcome the problem of torpedoes bottoming in the shallow waters of Pearl Harbor. Japanese weapons engineers created and tested modifications allowing successful shallow water drops. The effort resulted in a heavily modified version of the Type 91 torpedo, which inflicted most of the ship damage during the eventual attack. Japanese weapons technicians also produced special armor-piercing bombs by fitting fins and release shackles to 14- and 16-inch (356- and 406-mm) naval shells. These were able to penetrate the lightly armored decks of the old battleships.


text: At several stages during 1941, Japan's military leaders discussed the possibility of launching an invasion to seize the Hawaiian Islands; this would provide Japan with a strategic base to shield its new empire, deny the United States any bases beyond the West Coast and further isolate Australia and New Zealand.


text: Genda, who saw Hawaii as vital for American operations against Japan after war began, believed Japan must follow any attack on Pearl Harbor with an invasion of Hawaii or risk losing the war. He viewed Hawaii as a base to threaten the west coast of North America, and perhaps as a negotiating tool for ending the war. He believed, following a successful air attack, 10,000-15,000 men could capture Hawaii, and saw the operation as a precursor or alternative to a Japanese invasion of the Philippines. In September 1941, Commander Yasuji Watanabe of the Combined Fleet staff estimated two divisions (30,000 men) and 80 ships, in addition to the carrier strike force, could capture the islands. He identified two possible landing sites, near Haleiwa and Kaneohe Bay, and proposed both be used in an operation that would require up to four weeks with Japanese air superiority.


text: With an invasion ruled out, it was agreed a massive carrier-based three wave airstrike against Pearl Harbor to destroy the Pacific Fleet would be sufficient. Japanese planners knew that Hawaii, with its strategic location in the Central Pacific, would serve as a critical base from which the United States could extend its military power against Japan. However, the confidence of Japan's leaders that the conflict would be over quickly and that the United States would choose to negotiate a compromise, rather than fight a long, bloody war, overrode this concern.


text: Watanabe's superior, Captain Kameto Kuroshima, who believed the invasion plan unrealistic, after the war called his rejection of it the "biggest mistake" of his life.


text: On November 26, 1941, the day the Hull note (which the Japanese leaders saw as an unproductive and old proposal) was received, the carrier force under the command of Vice Admiral Chuichi Nagumo (already assembled in Hitokappu Wan) sortied for Hawaii under strict radio silence.


text: In 1941, Japan was one of the few countries capable of carrier aviation. The "Kido Butai", the Combined Fleet's main carrier force of six aircraft carriers (at the time, the most powerful carrier force with the greatest concentration of air power in the history of naval warfare), embarked 359 airplanes, organized as the First Air Fleet. The carriers (flag), , , , and the newest, and , had 135 Mitsubishi A6M Type 0 fighters (Allied codename "Zeke", commonly called "Zero"), 171 Nakajima B5N Type 97 torpedo bombers (Allied codename "Kate"), and 108 Aichi D3A Type 99 dive bombers (Allied codename "Val") aboard. Two fast battleships, two heavy cruisers, one light cruiser, nine destroyers, and three fleet submarines provided escort and screening. In addition, the Advanced Expeditionary Force included 20 fleet and five two-man "Ko-hyoteki"-class midget submarines, which were to gather intelligence and sink U.S. vessels attempting to flee Pearl Harbor during or soon after the attack. It also had eight oilers for underway fueling.


text: On December 1, 1941, after the striking force was "en route", Chief of Staff Nagano gave a verbal directive to the commander of the Combined Fleet, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, informing him:


text: Finally, Order number 9, issued on 1 December 1941 by Nagano, instructed Yamamoto to crush hostile naval and air forces in Asia, the Pacific and Hawaii, promptly seize the main U.S., British, and Dutch bases in East Asia and "capture and secure the key areas of the southern regions".


text: On the home leg, the force was ordered to be alert for tracking and counterattacks by the Americans, and to return to the friendly base in the Marshall Islands, rather than the Home Islands.


text: In 1924, General William L. Mitchell produced a 324-page report warning that future wars (including with Japan) would include a new role for aircraft against existing ships and facilities. He even discussed the possibility of an air attack on Pearl Harbor, but his warnings were ignored. Navy Secretary Knox had also appreciated the possibility of an attack at Pearl Harbor in a written analysis shortly after taking office. American commanders had been warned that tests had demonstrated shallow-water aerial torpedo attacks were possible, but no one in charge in Hawaii fully appreciated this. In a 1932 fleet problem, a surprise airstrike led by Admiral Harry E. Yarnell had been judged a success and to have caused considerable damage, a finding corroborated in a 1938 exercise by Admiral Ernest King. In October 1941, Lord Louis Mountbatten visited Pearl Harbor. While lecturing American naval officers on Royal Navy tactics against the Germans, an officer asked when and how the United States would enter the war. Mountbatten pointed to Pearl Harbor on a map of the Pacific and said "right here", citing Japan's surprise attack on Port Arthur, and the British attack on Taranto. In Washington he warned Stark about how unprepared the base was against a bomber attack; Stark replied, "I'm afraid that putting some of your recommendations into effect is going to make your visit out there very expensive for the U.S. Navy".


text: By 1941, U.S. signals intelligence, through the Army's Signal Intelligence Service and the Office of Naval Intelligence's OP-20-G, had intercepted and decrypted considerable Japanese diplomatic and naval cipher traffic, though nothing actually carrying significant information about Japanese military plans in 1940–41. Decryption and distribution of this intelligence, including such decrypts as were available, was capricious and sporadic, some of which can be accounted for by lack of resources and manpower. At best, the information available to decision makers in Washington was fragmentary, contradictory, or poorly distributed, and was almost entirely raw, without supporting analysis. It was thus, incompletely understood. Nothing in it pointed directly to an attack at Pearl Harbor, and a lack of awareness of Imperial Navy capabilities led to a widespread underlying belief Pearl Harbor was not a possible attack target. Only one message from the Hawaiian Japanese consulate (sent on 6 December), in a low level consular cipher, included mention of an attack at Pearl; it was not decrypted until 8 December. While the Japanese "Diplomatic" codes (Purple code) could be read, the current version (JN-25C) of the Japanese "Naval" code (JN-25) which had replaced JN-25B on 4 December 1941 could not be read until May 1942.


text: U.S. civil and military intelligence had, amongst them, good information suggesting additional Japanese aggression throughout the summer and fall before the attack. At the time, no reports specifically indicated an attack against Pearl Harbor. Public press reports during summer and fall, including Hawaiian newspapers, contained extensive reports on the growing tension in the Pacific. Late in November, all Pacific commands, including both the Navy and Army in Hawaii, were separately and explicitly warned war with Japan was expected in the very near future, and it was preferred Japan make the first hostile act. It was felt war would most probably start with attacks in the Far East: the Philippines, Indochina, Thailand, or the Russian Far East; Pearl Harbor was never mentioned as a potential target. The warnings were not specific to any area, noting only that war with Japan was expected in the near future and all commands should act accordingly. Had any of these warnings produced an active alert status in Hawaii, the attack might have been resisted more effectively, and perhaps resulted in less death and damage. On the other hand, recall of men on shore leave to the ships in harbor might have led to still more being casualties from bombs and torpedoes, or trapped in capsized ships by shut watertight doors (as the attack alert status would have required), or killed (in their obsolete aircraft) by more experienced Japanese aviators. When the attack actually arrived, Pearl Harbor was effectively unprepared: anti-aircraft weapons not manned, most ammunition locked down, anti-submarine measures not implemented ("e.g.", no torpedo nets in the harbor), combat air patrol not flying, available scouting aircraft not in the air at first light, Air Corps aircraft parked wingtip to wingtip to reduce sabotage risks (not ready to fly at a moment's warning), and so on.


text: Nevertheless, because it was believed Pearl Harbor had natural defenses against torpedo attack (e.g., the shallow water), the Navy did not deploy torpedo nets or baffles, which were judged to inconvenience ordinary operations. As a result of limited numbers of long-range aircraft (including Army Air Corps bombers), reconnaissance patrols were not being made as often or as far out as required for adequate coverage against possible surprise attack (they improved considerably, with far fewer remaining planes, after the attack). The Navy had 33 PBYs in the islands, but only three on patrol at the time of the attack. Hawaii was low on the priority list for the B-17s finally becoming available for the Pacific, largely because General MacArthur in the Philippines was successfully demanding as many as could be made available to the Pacific (where they were intended as a deterrent). The British, who had contracted for them, even agreed to accept fewer to facilitate this buildup. At the time of the attack, Army and Navy were both on training status rather than operational alert.


text: There was also confusion about the Army's readiness status as General Short had changed local alert level designations without clearly informing Washington. Most of the Army's mobile anti-aircraft guns were secured, with ammunition locked down in armories. To avoid upsetting property owners, and in keeping with Washington's admonition not to alarm civil populations (e.g., in the late November war warning messages from the Navy and War Departments), guns were not dispersed around Pearl Harbor (i.e., on private property). Additionally, aircraft were parked on airfields to lessen the risk of sabotage, not in anticipation of air attack, in keeping with Short's interpretation of the war warnings.


text: Chester Nimitz said later, "It was God's mercy that our fleet was in Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941." Nimitz believed if Kimmel had discovered the Japanese approach, he would have sortied to meet them. With the three American aircraft carriers (, , and ) absent and Kimmel's battleships at a severe disadvantage to the Japanese carriers, the likely result would have been the sinking of the American battleships at sea in deep water, where they would have been lost forever with tremendous casualties (as many as twenty thousand dead), instead of in Pearl Harbor, where the crews could easily be rescued, and six battleships ultimately raised.


title: Ronnie Bass

text: Ronald Edwin "Sunshine" Bass (born October 28, 1955) is a former American football player who played at T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Virginia and the University of South Carolina. He was portrayed by actor Kip Pardue in the 2000 film "Remember the Titans" which is about his high school’s 1971 State Championship team, on which he was the starting quarterback.


title: Ronnie Bass

text: Bass was born in Fort Walton Beach, Florida in October 1955, the son of Williamson G. "Bill" Bass and Betty Jean McCauley. Bass' father was an officer in the United States Air Force. Due to his father's military career, Bass and his family moved frequently as he was growing up. The family lived in Smackover, Arkansas, Stillwater, Oklahoma, Huntington Beach, California, and finally Alexandria, Virginia. Most of Bass' education took place in Huntington Beach, where he attended Gill Elementary, Stacey Jr. High, and Marina High School. After moving to Alexandria, Bass finished his last two years of High School at T.C. Williams, graduating with the class of 1972.


title: Ronnie Bass

text: During his early years at Huntington Beach, Bass realized he wanted to play football. At Marina High, he started his sophomore year as a defensive back while also playing backup quarterback. After moving to Virginia, Bass became the starting quarterback, as well as adopting the nickname "Sunshine", at T.C. Williams High School. The nickname was given to him by his teammates due to his blonde hair and sunburn. Bass was a starter on the team during both his junior and senior years, and led T.C. Williams to the Virginia AAA state High School championship his junior year in 1971.


title: Ronnie Bass

text: Bass and others have stated that many scenes in the 2000 film "Remember the Titans" are fictional, and do not portray the real-life Ronald Bass accurately. For example, in the movie, Bass is depicted as a long-haired hippie. He has, however, been quoted in the "Greenville News" as saying, "I was never quite like that ... But that's Hollywood. I'll say for the record my hair was never that long."


title: Ronnie Bass

text: In the film, Bass, played by Kip Pardue, arrives after camp begins and is introduced to the Titans' coaches by his father, United States Navy Colonel Bass, as they had just arrived in town. In real life, the Bass family had already been in Alexandria before camp started and had practiced with rival quarterback "Rev" in unofficial workouts held during the summer. "Ronnie went down (to the Burg) every day, and he related to the kids there in the ghetto," Boone stated in the film's DVD commentary. "This is one of the reasons they called him 'Sunshine.' ".


title: Ronnie Bass

text: Commenting on the scene in the movie in which his character kisses Gerry Bertier (Ryan Hurst) on the lips in the locker room, Bass has stated that the incident never happened.


title: Ronnie Bass

text: Bass has also observed that in the movie, "(Denzel Washington) did come across as a disciplinarian, which Coach Boone was, he was a perfectionist, which Coach Boone tried to be, and he had a temper and was in your face a lot." Boone admits, in his DVD commentary, that he was a disciplinarian, but adds that he has a warm side that doesn't come across in the film. "I wanted to make the team," Bass noted. "I think that's where most of the kids' minds were. We were just trying to play football."


title: Ronnie Bass

text: Bass went on to play at the University of South Carolina on a football scholarship. He started at quarterback his junior and senior year and lettered all four years. As a sophomore, in the October 26, 1974, game against their rival and 14-point favorite University of North Carolina, Bass ran the ball 39 times for 211 yards and two touchdowns in a 31–23 upset victory. He was named "Sports Illustrated" offensive player of the week.


title: Island of Bryan

text: Island of Bryan is an HGTV Canada reality television series of renovation, home life, and business activities, premiering in Spring 2019. The show is similar to "House of Bryan" and "Bryan Inc.", two previous shows starring builder Bryan Baeumler, his wife Sarah, and their children; along with Bryan's apprentice Adam. The Baeumler family is renovating and restoring a tropical island beachfront resort, to operate as their own, that the Baeumler couple has bought by leveraging everything they have, and their financial safety net.


title: Island of Bryan

text: In its first season the series ranked third of all specialty television programs in Canada and became the highest rated show on HGTV Canada in over a decade. The series was renewed for a second season, to continue the renovations and bring the resort to its opening. The series was renewed for a 13 episode third season which was filmed during the COVID-19 pandemic. A fourth season aired during the spring of 2022, and the fifth season aired during the fall of 2022.


title: Island of Bryan

text: The Baeumlers have bought Emerald Palms, a beachfront resort on South Andros island, the largest and least developed of the Bahamas islands. They have moved their entire family to the resort to live while they rebuild it, and hope to open within six months or lose it, without its cashflow. Emerald Palms has not operated for a decade.


title: Island of Bryan

text: In 2017, the Baeumlers vacationed on South Andros in the Bahamas. They found the abandoned resort, Emerald Palms, the original half-century old 18-room hotel and clubhouse; plus 22 villas, spa and beach bar added later, on a property; that had been renovated a few times since. The resort had closed down in 2011. When weather socked them in, they found the resort for sale on the internet. The resort is located 20 minutes from Nassau and an hour from Fort Lauderdale. They bought the resort, and starting living on a boat initially, and then moved into one of the 500-sqft. villas while renovating it. The couple left a management team back home to manage their businesses, while they work on the resort project. They originally planned to open the resort in May 2019. They started renovation work on the resort in March 2018.


title: Island of Bryan

text: HGTV greenlit the TV series in 2017, succeeding the second season of Bryan Inc., with the same production company, Si Entertainment. Filming started in 2018 for the 2019 premiere. Island of Bryan premiered on 7 April 2019, in a 60-minute timeslot on HGTV Canada, to start a season of 13 episodes. The TV show marks the first time a HGTV Canada show renovated a site that was open for the public to visit. The Royal Bank of Canada has integrated into the series, with custom commercials advertising its products with the series stars in the commercial breaks.


title: Island of Bryan

text: In May 2019, it was announced that the series would return for a second season in the Winter, and cover the six months needed to complete renovations to the remaining portion of the resort, ending the series. Season two would be eight episodes filling a 60-minute timeslot starting Winter 2020. The second season premiered on 23 February 2020 and ended on 12 April 2020.


title: Island of Bryan

text: The show was renewed for a third season by distributor Corus. The third season, consisting of ten hour-long episodes, aired from 18 April 2021 to 25 July 2021. It began amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, and continued renovations to the resort that were not part of Phase I or were not completed in time for the grand opening; it also covered the operations of the resort. The season consisted of an initial five episodes, airing from 18 April 2021 to 16 May 2021, followed by the remaining five episodes, airing from 27 June 2021 to 25 July 2021.


title: Island of Bryan

text: On 26 July 2021, Bryan Baeumler confirmed, on social media, that a fourth season was in the process of being filmed. Season 4 and season 5 were greenlit for fall 2022 and fall 2023, with eight-hour-long episodes each. The seasons will cover further Bahamas resort stuff, and renovations to their Florida taxiway house.


title: Island of Bryan

text: The shows two main cast are Bryan Baeumler and Sarah Baeumler along with their family. The show also has other cast such as contractors and hotel staff.


title: Island of Bryan

text: "Renovation Island" season 4 aired in the Summer 2022 U.S. TV season on HGTV USA, later than the Spring 2022 Canadian TV season for "Island of Bryan" season 4 on HGTV Canada.


title: Island of Bryan

text: Following its success in Canada, the series was picked up by HGTV U.S. and premiered on 7 June 2020, under the title Renovation Island. The U.S. series "Renovation Island" is an edited version of the Canadian series "Island of Bryan". Following the success of "Renovation Island" on HGTV U.S., this led to the licensing of the preceding Canadian series "Bryan, Inc." as "Renovation, Inc.", for the U.S. channel. A spin-off of "Renovation Island"/"Island of Bryan" is set to air in 2023, called "Renovation Resort", will set up a lakefront resort bought by Scott McGillivray, where Bryan Baeumler will come in and help renovate and set up the resort.


title: Island of Bryan

text: The first season ranked third in Canada for specialty television programming, and was the highest rated show on HGTV Canada in over a decade.


title: Island of Bryan

text: With the conclusion of season 5 in fall 2022 TV season, a new follow-up hour-long TV series is to air in 2023 with 10 episodes.


title: Island of Bryan

text: Caerula Mar Club is an island resort located in the South Andros part of Andros, Bahamas. The resort was named "Caerula Mar" (Latin for 'deep blue sea') in reference to the cerulean-coloured sea. Its stated philosophy is to have barefoot luxury for guests. As a luxury resort, initial pricing was between US$350 and US$1100 per night. This is with the saga of seeing, acquiring, Phase 1 renovations, and Phase 1 grand opening occurring over a two-year period. The resort has been designed around eco-friendliness, fair trade, and sourcing from sustainable farms and producers.


title: Island of Bryan

text: The resort is located near Drigg's Hill, where the Drigg's Hill Dock (the local harbour) is located. The local airport is Congo Town International Airport.


title: Island of Bryan

text: The resort was previously called "Las Palmas Hotel", then "Ritz Beach", then "Emerald Beach Club", then "Emerald Palms". It was originally built in the 1960s and last operated eight years before production on the show began. It contained a central hotel of 18 rooms, plus 22 villas. The oldest building, the hotel block, was completed in 1969 for the resort's original opening. At the time the resort last operated, it had room intercoms (but no outside phone lines for rooms), marble floors, and private decks with palm-lined individual gardens.


title: Island of Bryan

text: During the show "Island of Bryan", the Baeumlers turn the abandoned resort into Caerula Mar Club, which was initially planned to be completed in mid-May 2019, and opened in June 2019.


title: Island of Bryan

text: The business established by the Baeumlers by the end of the first season of "Island of Bryan" is Caerula Mar Club resort. Its first season of business was to start in mid-May 2019, but this was delayed until June 2019. With the unanticipated delays and travails, opening was pushed back for a summer soft opening and a Phase I grand opening in fall 2019. The planned grand opening was 1 November 2019. It opened with a snackbar, bar, and restaurant, along with a spa offering massage services.


title: Island of Bryan

text: At the time of the December 2019 Phase I grand opening, there were 18 hotel suites and six villas in operation on the property, with four dining areas, both fine and casual. The opening represented the first new resort on the island in two decades. The Robb Report named it one of the 12 best hotels in the Caribbean. It was later named on the "2020 Hot List" of new hotels for Condé Nast Traveler.


title: Island of Bryan

text: In March 2020, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the resort had to close down. The resort reopened for business in October 2020. As a COVID mitigation measure, Caerula Mar started to offer a full resort reservation, to buy out the entire resort, when it reopened. Caerula Mar, along with other Bahamian resorts, started to offer on-site COVID-19 SARS-CoV-2 testing to guests in 2021.


title: Kendama

text: The is a traditional Japanese skill toy. It consists of a handle ("ken"), a pair of cups ("sarado"), and a ball ("tama") that are all connected together by a string. On one end of the "ken" is a cup, while the other end of "ken" is narrowed down, forming a spike ("kensaki") that fits into the hole ("ana") of the "tama". The "kendama" is the Japanese version of the classic cup-and-ball game, and is also a variant of the French cup-and-ball game "bilboquet". Kendama can be held in different grips, and many tricks and combinations can be performed. The game is played by tossing the ball into the air and attempting to catch it on the stick point.


title: Kendama

text: The origins of kendama are disputed, but it is generally believed to have originated during the 17th or 18th century. Kendama started to evolve when it came to Japan during the Edo period, and since then the use of the toy has spread throughout the world. The size and materials used to create kendamas now vary as they are offered in jumbo and mini sizes, and have been created out of plastic, metal, and nylon. There are now kendama competitions held in countries all over the world, the biggest competition being the annual Kendama World Cup in Japan.


title: Kendama

text: "Stringing" a kendama is the action of connecting all three pieces of the kendama ("ken, sarado," and "tama") together. A bead (or mini bearing) and a piece of string are required to string a kendama. The steps to string a kendama are as follows:


title: Kendama

text: A kendama can be held in numerous types of grips. Choosing the type of grip to hold the kendama depends on which trick a person wants to perform. Some of these grips include:


title: Kendama

text: The general concept of kendama is pulling the "ken" up and balancing the "tama" somewhere on the "ken", or vice versa. There are not any specific rules on how to play kendama. However, bending the knees while playing kendama is a method that experts use. Endless tricks and trick combinations can be made with just "ken grip, sara grip, tama grip," and "candle grip" by themselves or together in a combination. Some examples of tricks in each of these grips are as follows:


title: Kendama

text: Airplane: This trick involves the hole in the ball and the spike. "Airplane" mirrors the movement pattern of "Swing Spike."


title: Kendama

text: The origins of the game are disputed. It is believed by some to be a variant of the French ball-and-cup game bilboquet ("bil" "ball" "boquet" "small tree"), a toy that dates back to the 16th century and was popular in Europe during the 17th century. During that same period the kendama is believed to have arrived in Japan via the Silk Road from China during the Edo period (1600-1868), with some scholars specifying that it arrived between 1420-1500.


title: Kendama

text: Hatsukaichi City in Hiroshima Prefecture is considered to be the birthplace of the modern Japanese Kendama due to the city becoming the first place for kendama manufacturing. Hamagatsu Ekusa created the shape of the kendama that is widely recognized today in 1919 in Kure city. During the early 20th century the toy had two side cups and was called a "jitsugetsu ball" ., literally translating to "sun and moon ball", because of the ball's representation of the sun and the cups' likeness to the crescent moon.


title: Kendama

text: Despite not being originated in Japan, the shape of kendama that is known today was formed and evolved in Japan.


title: Kendama

text: "Deer horn and ball" was the form that the kendama took on when it arrived in Japan for the first time, literally a deer horn attached to a ball. Later on, some people replaced the deer horn with a piece of bamboo due to deer horn costing too many resources, making the bamboo and ball. The next model started to resemble what the kendama looks like today: the ken and ball. This model was a "ken" piece strung to the ball.


title: Kendama

text: The jisugetsu ball kendama model was the first model made by Ekusa (1919), and later went on to be produced as many as 300,000 times in one year by Hongo woodworking factory in Hatsukaichi (1921). The "jisugetsu" has a similar design as lined folk craft kendamas, which were made by factories that also produced Kokeshi dolls from spinning lathe machines. The strings of both the jisugetsu ball and folk craft kendamas were placed on the "ken" using a loose metal fitting, making the string prone to detaching or breaking.


title: Kendama

text: The S (Shinma)-Type kendama was the first competition style kendama invented in 1975 by Hideo Shinma, the president of the Tokyo Kendama Club. The first S-type prototype emerged in 1976, and the "Japan Kendama Association" (JKA) asked Shinma to make them a competition style model based on the S-Type design in 1977.


title: Kendama

text: The F (Fujiwara)-Type (F16) kendama emerged in 1978, invented by Issei Fujiwara. The F-Type incorporated new modifications unknown to kendamas at the time. The F-Type had two small holes drilled in the middle of each side of the "sarado", and also used a sturdier string that was unlikely to break. The two string holes in the "sarado" offer more fluidity of play as well as the option to switch the kendama between left handed or right handed.


title: Kendama

text: The Tortoise kendama by Tortoise, Inc. was a take on the S-type kendama after the S-type discontinued in 1990. Tortoise kendamas came in different models: the T-8, T-14, T-16, and T-17. The numbers indicating each different Tortoise model corresponds with the height of each model in centimeters. Tortoise kendamas stopped production in 2012 due to not having enough resources.


title: Kendama

text: The F16-2, the second version of the F16, was released in 2001. The main change in the F16-2 from the F16 is that the position of the string hole was moved slightly off from the cup body's center, enabling the kendama to turn and rotate in a new fluid way. This string hole adjustment is still used in various shapes of kendamas to this day.


title: Kendama

text: Kendama has increased in popularity since its initial evolution in Japan. During the 2000s, kendama surged in popularity outside Japan, which influenced the creation of the first kendama companies in foreign countries.


title: Kendama

text: The first kendama company in the United States was Kendama USA in 2006. They began to promote kendama in North America and were able to reach the winter sports, bmx, and rollerblading communities. Since its founding, Kendama USA has spread kendama worldwide and continues to do so.


title: Kendama

text: In 2010, the company Sweets Kendamas was founded in the USA in Minnesota by Matt "Sweets" Jorgenson. Sweets Kendamas' mission is to "Spread Kendama Love," and they also have done that over the years.


title: Kendama

text: As for the European kendama scene, some kendama companies that emerged in the late 2000s were Kendama Europe in 2008. Kendama Europe's first competition model kendama came out in 2011, and they have worked to spread kendama throughout Germany by attending the Nuremberg-Germany toy fair. Another company that emerged in the late 2000s was KROM Kendama from Denmark in 2010.


title: Kendama

text: Almost every kendama company has a team of sponsored players to help promote their brands. Sponsored players range in age and location around the world.


title: Kendama

text: The kendama community connects through social media platforms such as Instagram, Youtube, Facebook, Tiktok, Twitch and Twitter.


title: Kendama

text: Kendama play has also been used as a measure of accuracy, agility, and learning ability in robotic arms.


title: Kendama

text: There are no specific rules on how to play kendama. However, all forms of kendama competition are regulated by rules. 4 styles of kendama competition are speed ladder, open division, freestyle, and Kendama World Cup (KWC). It is rare that the KWC style of competing is used as an event other than KWC itself.


title: Kendama

text: The speed ladder is a style of competition that is a race of who can finish a set of tricks the fastest. Players will race through an order of tricks that they are given at the event or prior to the event via the internet. The players who finish the trick ladder the fastest wins. There are divisions that sign up to compete in based on their skill level (ex: beginner, intermediate, and advanced/pro).


title: Kendama

text: Open Division is a head-to-head 1vs1 competition style format. Each round, two players compete against each other and take turns drawing a trick at random. Each trick drawn warrants a maximum of three exchanges – the number of times the players can go back and forth attempting the trick. The first player to 3 points wins.


title: Kendama

text: Freestyle is a head-to-head 1vs1 style of competition. Each match is judged by a panel of three or five judges. The two players competing against each other in each round will take turns performing tricks in 45-second time periods twice each. During the time periods, both players may perform any trick that they choose.


title: Kendama

text: Each judge individually decides which player wins based on who did the best in the following three categories: "Creativity, Consistency," and "Difficulty". The player with the most votes wins the round.


title: Kendama

text: One hundred and twenty tricks are released online prior to the KWC and are split up into groups of 10 tricks each 12 times, forming a level 1 to 12 trick list. The higher level a trick is, the more difficult it is and the more points it is worth. KWC is split into 2 days of competition: Day 1: Qualifying, and Day 2: Finals. Each day has its own set of rules.


title: Kendama

text: During Day 1, all players choose 12 tricks from the levels 1–10 in the trick list. Players split the 12 tricks into two rounds of six tricks each, and each player will get 3 minutes for each round to complete as many tricks as possible. The 25 players with the highest point scores will advance to Day 2.


title: Kendama

text: Note: The number of points each trick is worth is equivalent to the face value of the level of the trick (ex. level 6 trick is worth 6 points).


title: Kendama

text: During Day 2, the players compete one by one from the lowest scoring qualifying player to the highest scoring qualifying player. Each player has three minutes to do an unlimited number of tricks from levels 3–12, and each trick can only be done once. The player who gets the highest number of points in their time period wins.


title: Kendama

text: Note: The number of points each trick is worth is equivalent to the level of that trick squared (ex. level 6 trick is worth 36 points), with the exception of level 11 tricks (worth 151 points) and level 12 tricks (worth 194 points).


title: Kendama

text: Kendama competitions have been occurring since 1979, with the first competition being the All Japan Kendama-Do Championships held by the Japan Kendama Association. The British Kendama Association was the first group to hold a formal kendama contest outside Japan in 2008 at the British Juggling Convention in Doncaster. Kendama competitions have taken a variety of formats including speed ladders, freestyle, head-to-head, and world championship style.


title: Kendama

text: Typically at these events, there are vendors that sell kendamas, clothing, and accessories. Competitions can range from 1–3 days long and prizes are provided for the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners of each competition category. Popular competitions include the North American Kendama Open & the Kendama World Cup (KWC).


title: Kendama

text: Starting in 2014, the Kendama World Cup (KWC) is an annual two-day event in the summer that takes place in Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima, Japan and is the largest kendama competition in the world. In 2018 alone, the KWC had an audience of 49,000 members that were watching 415 competitors from 18 countries compete for the title of Kendama World Champion.


title: Kendama

text: At KWC, there is also an abundance of vendors selling their merchandise and kendamas, kendama games, and live performances all spread out over the 2 days of the event. Admission to the KWC is free.


title: Kendama

text: Formerly known as the "Minnesota Kendama Open," the North American Kendama Open (NAKO) has been an annual kendama event in Minnesota every Fall since 2013. The NAKO has developed in length over the years, going from a one day event in 2013-2014, to a two-day event in 2015–2017, to a three-day event in 2018–2019. The event has been hosted all over Minnesota; in 2013 it was held in Saint Paul, in the years 2014–2018 it was held in the Mall of America in Bloomington, and in 2019 it was hosted in Minneapolis at the Varsity Theater.


title: Kendama

text: Each style of competition is split up into different times across each day of the event, so a portion of every competition is completed by the time each day ends. On the final day, a champion is crowned in all divisions.


title: Kendama

text: Catch and Flow, Freestyle World Championship was first held in September 2014 in downtown Tokyo, Japan. Using a new format to determine the best freestyle skills in the world, the Catch and Flow defined a new way to perform freestyle kendama and to judge such style. Players from around the world apply to participate by listing their achievements. The top approx. 60 players are selected to perform for 90 seconds one by one. Judges determine 16 finalists who will go head to head with 2 x 45 seconds for each player in one-on-one battle towards the final.


title: Kendama

text: The Battle at the Border is the longest-standing annual kendama competition in the United States. The event is currently hosted by Kentucky-based kendama company Sol Kendamas. The event occurs on the first weekend of January in Tennessee, USA.


title: Kendama

text: In June 2011, the first public Kendama competition (battle) was held in the state of Tennessee. The event occurred in the city of Nashville hosted by a kendama blog called the "Kensession Stand". The event was called the "Nashville Kendama Battle", and was held at 12th South Taproom.


title: Kendama

text: In subsequent years, a group of kendama players called The Kendama Squad (Chad Covington, Nicholas Bellamy, and John Ross Rudolph) -- alongside the Kensession Stand (Tyler Marshall) -- hosted annual kendama battles in Clarksville, Tennessee. While the competition continued to occur annually, the name "Battle at the Border" was not implemented until the 2014 competition. In 2015, Sol Kendamas began officially coordinating the event. In 2015, the competition reached its largest attendance (approximately 150 people). Battle at the Border (2015-2016) was held in Nashville, Tennessee on the first weekend of January at Rocketown. Battle at the Border (2017-2018) was held on the first weekend of January at The Foundry in Nashville, TN. Battle at the Border returned to Rocketown and has continued to be hosted there since.


title: Kendama

text: Dama Fest is North America's original and first large scale Kendama competition, hosted by Kendama USA. The first Dama Fest was in 2011, and the second was in 2013. Kendama players travelled from all over North America, Europe, and Japan. Players competed in a single-elimination head-to-head bracketed format.


title: Kendama

text: Deutsche Kendama Meisterschaft DKM also called German Kendama Championship is the longest-standing annual Kendama competition in Europe. The first DKM was held in Berlin, 2014. Ever since then, the event has been organised, hosted and run by the german based company Kendama Europe. Each year the event is held in different locations and cities. The championship format relates to the original classic competition formats of the JKA (Japanese Kendama Association).


title: Kendama

text: It includes Speed trick competition, Knock out competition and Freestyle competition and is separated in three different skill levels: beginner, advance and pro.


title: Son of India (2022 film)

text: Son of India is a 2022 Indian Telugu-language action drama film written and directed by Diamond Ratnababu, and produced by Vishnu Manchu under the banner of Sree Lakshmi Prasanna Pictures and 24 Frames Factory. The film stars Mohan Babu, Meena, Srikanth, and Pragya Jaiswal. The film was released theatrically on 18 February 2022 to a highly negative reception and was box-office bomb.


title: Son of India (2022 film)

text: The story about a typical person (Mohan Babu). Mohan Babu introduction starts with the much hyped song “Jai Jai Mahaveera Maha Dheera”. Sunil, Ali and Vennela Kishore are reporters who confirm that minister (Srikanth) is kidnapped when he was planning to go to Tirumala.


title: Son of India (2022 film)

text: The film began its production in October 2020 in Hyderabad. Initially the makers wanted to finalize the deal with an OTT platform but it did not materialize. The film was then released on 18 February 2022 with a pre-release event held at Hyderabad.


title: Son of India (2022 film)

text: The film received mixed reviews from critics. A reviewer from "Eenadu" reviewed the film and called it Mohan Babu's "one man show". "123Telugu" rated the movie with 2.25/5. Surya Prakash from "Asianet News" gave 2/5 rating and wrote Mohan Babu did an experiment at this age with the movie. Thadhagath Pathi of "The Times of India" gave the film a rating of 1.5 out of 5 and wrote "Son of India has a short run-time but the film feels stretched despite that. It’s not a theatrical experience everyone is longing for".


title: Son of India (2022 film)

text: "Pinkvilla" gave the film 1.5 out of 5 an wrote "'Son Of India' has been made to feel like an ode to Mohan Babu's illustrious career. Most of the actors, for almost three-fourths of the film, are either unseen from the front, or their faces are relentlessly blurred on the pretext of letting the lead man do mono-action". Sangeetha Devi Dundoo of "The Hindu" stated "An amateurish narration of an outdated story makes ‘Son of India’ an excruciating watch".


title: League of Ireland

text: The League of Ireland (), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally used to refer to a single division league. However today the League of Ireland features five divisions – the Premier Division, the First Division, U19 Division, U17 Division, U15 Division and starting U13 Division. The League of Ireland has always worked closely with the FAI and in 2006 the two bodies formally merged. All the divisions are currently sponsored by Airtricity and as a result the league is also known as the SSE Airtricity League. In 2007, it became one of the first leagues in Europe to introduce a salary cap.


title: League of Ireland

text: The League of Ireland was founded in 1921 as a single division known as the A Division. The first season featured eight teams, all from County Dublin. The teams that competed in the first season were Bohemians, Dublin United, Frankfort, Jacobs, Olympia, St. James's Gate, Shelbourne and YMCA. The eight founding members had spent the 1920–21 season playing in the Leinster Senior League. Bohemians and Shelbourne had played in the 1919–20 Irish League. St James's Gate were the inaugural champions. Gate also went on to complete a treble having already won both the 1921–22 FAI Cup and 1921–22 Leinster Senior Cup. In 1922–23 the league was expanded to twelve clubs. Among the new members were Shamrock Rovers, who finished as champions, and Athlone Town who became the first team from outside County Dublin to compete in the league. Together with fellow Dublin clubs teams, Bohemians and Shelbourne, Shamrock Rovers would go onto dominate the league during the 1920s and the 1930s.


title: League of Ireland

text: In 1924–25 Bray Unknowns and Fordsons became the second and third teams from outside County Dublin to join the league. Fordsons also became the first team from Munster to play in the league.


title: League of Ireland

text: The league continued to expand numerically and geographically during its first two decades of existence. In 1926–27 Dundalk were elected to the league and in 1932–33 became the first club from outside County Dublin to win the title. Dundalk were subsequently joined by Waterford in 1930–31, Cork Bohemians in 1932–33,


title: League of Ireland

text: Sligo Rovers in 1934–35 and Limerick F.C. in 1937–38. In 1936–37, Sligo Rovers became the second club from outside County Dublin to win the title. During The Emergency/Second World War era Cork United emerged as the league's strongest team. The club won five league titles between 1940–41 and 1945–46, including three in succession. However they subsequently resigned from the league in 1948.


title: League of Ireland

text: The 1950s was marked by the emergence of St Patrick's Athletic and the re-emergence of Shamrock Rovers. The former succeeded in winning the title at the first attempt in 1951–52 and claimed a further two in the middle of the decade. In 1953–54 the "Coad's Colts" earned Shamrock Rovers their first title in fifteen years. Drumcondra and Dundalk claimed two League of Ireland titles each during the 1960s but Waterford secured their status as the team of the decade with four league titles, including three in succession between 1967–68 and 1969–70. Six clubs won the League of Ireland title during the 1970s with Waterford, Bohemians and Dundalk winning two titles each. Athlone Town won two league titles at the start of the 1980s but the decade was marked by the four successive league titles won by Shamrock Rovers between 1983–84 and 1986–87. Following the conclusion of the 1984–85 season the league was restructured and the A Division was replaced by the League of Ireland Premier Division.


title: League of Ireland

text: The League of Ireland first organised a second level division in 1964–65. The B Division featured reserve teams and emerging senior teams. Although there was no relegation and promotion to and from the A Division, a number of B Division teams, including Home Farm, Bray Wanderers, Athlone Town, UCD, Longford Town and Monaghan United, were subsequently elected to the A Division. In 1985–86 the B Division was replaced as the second level division by the First Division. The First Division featured first teams and a relegation and promotion system operated with the new Premier Division.


title: League of Ireland

text: Between 2008 and 2011 the FAI organised a short lived national third level league known as the A Championship. Like the earlier the B Division, the A Championship featured a mixture of League of Ireland reserve teams and emerging senior teams. Unlike the B Division, a promotion and relegation system operated between the Premier Division, the First Division and the A Championship.


title: League of Ireland

text: Since 2000–01 the League of Ireland has organised a youth league. It was originally an under-21 league, later becoming an under-20 league, but is now an U19 league. The winners of the overall competition are awarded the Dr Tony O'Neill Cup. In 2015, the League of Ireland also introduced an U17 league. An under-15 league was introduced in 2017, beginning with a truncated season, before fully aligning with the League of Ireland calendar in 2018. An under-13 league is planned to start April 2019.


title: League of Ireland

text: League of Ireland games are broadcast by both RTÉ and Eir Sport. In 2014 it was announced that RTÉ will show 78 live Premier Division and FAI Cup games as part of a new agreement with the FAI. The agreement expires in November 2018. RTÉ also broadcast a highlights show, "Soccer Republic", throughout the season. In 2015 the FAI agreed a deal with TrackChamp to stream all Premier Division and First Division outside Ireland - though customers criticised this as they had to sign up for a betting account first.


title: United States Army Central

text: The United States Army Central, formerly the Third United States Army, commonly referred to as the Third Army and as ARCENT, is a military formation of the United States Army which saw service in World War I and World War II, in the 1991 Gulf War, and in the coalition occupation of Iraq. It is best known for its campaigns in World War II under the command of General George S. Patton.


title: United States Army Central

text: Third Army is headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina with a forward element at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. It serves as the echelon above corps for the Army component of CENTCOM, US Central Command, whose area of responsibility (AOR) includes Southwest Asia, some 20 countries of the world, in Africa, Asia, and the Persian Gulf.


title: United States Army Central

text: The Third United States Army was first activated as a formation during the First World War on 7 November 1918, at Chaumont, France, when the General Headquarters of the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) issued General Order 198 organizing the Third Army and announcing its headquarters staff. On the 15th, four days after the Armistice with Germany, Major General Joseph T. Dickman assumed command and issued Third Army General Order No. 1. The Third Army consisted of three corps (III, Maj. Gen. John L. Hines; IV, Maj. Gen. Charles Henry Muir; and VII, Maj. Gen. William G. Haan) and seven divisions.


title: United States Army Central

text: On 15 November 1918, Major General Dickman was given the mission to move quickly and by any means into Central Germany on occupation duties. He was to disarm and disband German forces as ordered by General John J. Pershing, commander of the AEF.


title: United States Army Central

text: The march into Germany for occupation duty was begun on 17 November 1918. By 15 December the Third Army Headquarters at Mayen opened at Coblenz. Two days later, on 17 December 1918, the Coblenz bridgehead, consisting of a pontoon bridge and three railroad bridges across the Rhine, had been established.


title: United States Army Central

text: Third Army troops had encountered no hostile act of any sort. In the occupied area, both food and coal supplies were sufficient. The crossing of the Rhine by the front line divisions was effected in good time and without confusion. Troops, upon crossing the Rhine and reaching their assigned areas, were billeted preparatory to occupying selected positions for defense. The strength of the Third Army as of 19 December, the date the bridgehead occupation was completed, was 9,638 officers and 221,070 enlisted men.


title: United States Army Central

text: On 12 December, Field Order No. 11 issued, directed the Third Army to occupy the northern sector of the Coblenz bridgehead, with the advance elements to cross the Rhine river at seven o'clock, 13 December. The northern (left) boundary remained unchanged. The southern (right) boundary was as has been previously mentioned.


title: United States Army Central

text: Before the advance, the 1st Division passed to the command of the III Corps. With three divisions, the 1st, 2d, and 32d, the III Corps occupied the American sector of the Coblenz bridgehead, the movement of the troops into position beginning at the scheduled hour, 13 December. The four bridges available for crossing the river within the Coblenz bridgehead were the pontoon bridge and railroad bridge at Coblenz, the railroad bridges at Engers and Remagen. On 13 December the advance began with the American khaki crossing the Rhine into advanced positions. On the same day the 42d Division passed to the command of the IV Corps, which, in support of the III Corps, continued its march to occupy the Kreise of Mayen, Ahrweiler, Adenau, and Cochem.


title: United States Army Central

text: The VII Corps occupied under the same order that portion of the Regierungsbezirk of Trier within army limits.


title: United States Army Central

text: On 15 December, Third Army Headquarters at Mayen opened at Coblenz: III Corps Headquarters at Polch opened at Neuwied and IV Corps Headquarters remained at Cochem, with the VII Corps at Grevenmacher. In crossing the Rhine on the shortened front—from Rolandseck to Rhens on the west bank—the Third Army encountered no hostile act of any sort. In the occupied area both food and coal supplies were sufficient.


title: United States Army Central

text: By the night of 14 December, Third Army troops had occupied their positions on the perimeter of the Coblenz bridgehead.


title: United States Army Central

text: During January 1919, the Third Army was engaged in training and preparing the troops under its command for any contingency. A letter of instruction was circulated to lower commanders prescribing a plan of action in case hostilities were resumed. Installations were set up throughout the Army area to facilitate command.


title: United States Army Central

text: In February, military schools were opened through the Third Army area; a quartermaster depot was organized; 2,000 officers and enlisted men left to take courses in British and French universities; better leave facilities were created; and plans for sending American divisions to the United States were made. On 4 February, the military control of the Stadtkreis of Trier was transferred from GHQ to the Third Army.


title: United States Army Central

text: In March, routine duties of occupation and training were carried on; an Army horse show was held; Army, corps, and divisional educational centers were established in the Third Army Zone; the Coblenz port commander took over the duties of the Coblenz regulating officer; and the 42d Division was released from IV Corps and was placed in Army Reserve.


title: United States Army Central

text: In April, the exodus of American divisions from Third Army to the United States began. During the month, motor transport parks were established; an Army motor show was held; the Army area was reorganized; and the centralization of military property was initiated in anticipation of returning it to the United States. On 20 April 1919, Third Army command changed from Maj. Gen. Dickman to Lt. Gen. Hunter Liggett.


title: United States Army Central

text: On 14 May 1919, Marshal Ferdinand Foch, General-in-Chief of the Allied Armies, submitted plans of operations to the Third Army commander to be used in the event that Germany should refuse to sign the peace treaty. On 20 May, Marshal Foch directed allied commanders to dispatch troops toward Weimar and Berlin in the event the peace treaty was not signed. On 22 May, the Third Army issued its plan of advance, effective 30 May, in view of the impending emergency. On 27 May, Foch informed Pershing that the Supreme War Council desired allied armies be made ready immediately to resume active operations against the Germans.


title: United States Army Central

text: On 1 June, the advance GHQ, AEF, at Trier was discontinued. On 16 June, Foch notified Pershing that allied armies must be ready after 20 June to resume offensive operations and that preliminary movements were to begin 17 June. On 19 June, Pershing notified Foch that beginning 23 June the Third Army would occupy the towns of Limburg, Westerburg, Hachenburg, and Altenkirchen, and that III Corps would seize the railroad connecting these towns. On 23 June, the Germans signified their intention to sign the peace treaty and contemplated operations were suspended. On 30 June, Foch and Pershing conferred about the American troops to be left on the Rhine.


title: United States Army Central

text: On 1 July, General Pershing notified the War Department that upon Germany's compliance with military conditions imposed upon her (probably within three months after German ratification of the treaty), the American forces in Europe would be reduced to a single regiment of infantry supplemented by necessary auxiliaries. Accordingly, the Third Army was disbanded on 2 July 1919. Its headquarters and all personnel (numbering about 6,800 men) and units under it were thereafter designated American Forces in Germany. This force would remain in Germany for over three years. This was due, at least in part, to the fact that the United States, having rejected the Treaty of Versailles, was therefore still "de jure" at war with Germany. This situation remained unresolved until the summer of 1921 when a separate peace treaty was signed.


title: United States Army Central

text: On 15 October 1921, the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Third Army, was constituted in the Organized Reserve as one of six field armies to control the units of the U.S. Army that were stationed on home soil. The Headquarters was initiated on 25 February 1922 in Omaha, Nebraska, while the Headquarters Company was initiated in April 1924 in St. Louis, Missouri; the Headquarters Company was concurrently relocated to Omaha. On 18 August 1933, the Headquarters Company was withdrawn from the Organized Reserve and allotted to the Regular Army and the Headquarters was demobilized.


title: United States Army Central

text: In a reorganization of field forces in the United States, the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Third Army, was reconstituted in the Regular Army as one of four field armies to control the units of the U.S. Army that were stationed on home soil. The Headquarters was organized on 15 September 1932 in Houston, Texas, although the Headquarters Company was not activated until 23 November 1940. The responsibility of the Third Army was overseeing the training and mobilization plans of its assigned units, and developing contingency defense plans for the Southern United States.


title: United States Army Central

text: As a result of mobilization, the Third Army took on the role of training some of the huge numbers of recruits that the draft was bringing into the United States Armed Forces. Lieutenant General Walter Krueger, later to gain fame for his command of Sixth Army during operations in the Pacific, commanded Third Army from May 1941 until February 1943. Under his leadership, the basis of the Army's later success as a combat formation was laid. Krueger was succeeded by Lieutenant General Courtney Hodges who led the Army for the rest of 1943. The news that many had expected came in December 1943 and the Third Army was shipped from the United States to the United Kingdom.


title: United States Army Central

text: Third Army did not take part in the initial stages of Operation Overlord. However, when it did take the field, it was led by George S. Patton. When Third Army was moved to France, it was just after formations under the command of Omar Bradley had achieved the breakout from Normandy. Third Army followed up on that success and began a great dash across France, ultimately out-running its supply lines which halted it near the German border.


title: United States Army Central

text: After a period of consolidation, Third Army was ready to go on the offensive again. However, the Germans then launched their last great offensive of the war – the Battle of the Bulge. This battle was an attempt to repeat the decisive breakthrough of 1940. However, in 1944, the Germans were doomed to failure. Their own logistical problems surfaced, and they ground to a halt. Nevertheless, they had broken the U.S. front, and it took a great effort to reduce the resulting salient. In one of the great moves of the war, Patton heeded the advice of his Intelligence Officer, Oscar Koch, and planned to aid First Army if required. When the German offensive commenced, Patton was prepared to turn Third Army's axis of advance ninety degrees and advance north to the southern flank of the German forces. The German salient was reduced by the end of January 1945, and the remainder of the process of closing up to the Rhine could be completed. Some vicious fighting took place, but by April there was but one great natural barrier between Third Army and the heart of Germany. Unlike in 1918, the crossing of the Rhine was opposed. However, the bridgehead was won, and Third Army embarked on another great eastward dash. It reached Austria and in May liberated the Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camps complex. Its forces ended up in Czechoslovakia, the furthest east of any American units.


title: United States Army Central

text: The Third Army After Action of May 1945 states that the Third Army captured 765,483 prisoners of war, with an additional 515,205 of the enemy already held in corps and divisional level POW camps processed between 9 May and 13 May 1945, for a total of 1,280,688 POWs, and that, additionally, Third Army forces killed 144,500 enemy soldiers and wounded 386,200, for a total of 1,811,388 in enemy losses. Fuller's review of Third Army records differs only in the number of enemy killed and wounded, stating that between 1 August 1944 and 9 May 1945, 47,500 of the enemy were killed, 115,700 wounded, and 1,280,688 captured. Fuller's combined total of enemy losses is 1,443,888 enemy killed, wounded, or captured by the Third Army. The Third Army suffered 16,596 killed, 96,241 wounded, and 26,809 missing in action for a total of 139,646 casualties according to the aforementioned After Action Report of May 1945. According to Fuller, the Third Army lost 27,104 killed and 86,267 wounded. There were 18,957 injuries of all kinds and 28,237 men listed as missing in action. Including 127 men captured by the enemy, total casualties of the Third Army were 160,692 in 281 continuous days of operations. Fuller points out that the ratio of German troop deaths to American deaths in the Third Army operating area was 1.75:1.


title: United States Army Central

text: In the immediate postwar occupation, Army G-2 briefly hosted the Fedden Mission. Third Army remained in Germany until recalled to the United States again in 1947. When back in the United States, its duties were much the same as those of the 1930s, acting as a command and training force for units in the United States. The Korean War saw a repeat of the earlier World War II training duties. The Third Army remained responsible for this aspect of U.S. Armed Forces operations until 1974, when a new major headquarters, that of Forces Command, or FORSCOM was activated to replace Third Army. Third Army was thus inactivated, and it remained so for the better part of a decade.


title: United States Army Central

text: On 3 December 1982, a special ceremony was held at Fort McPherson to mark the return to Active Army status of Headquarters, Third U.S. Army under the command of Lieutenant General M. Collier Ross. Guests at the event included former Third Army Commanders, General (Retired) Herbert B. Powell and Lieutenant General (Retired) Louis W. Truman.


title: United States Army Central

text: The new headquarters was established at Fort McPherson, and its new mission was to serve as the Army component in a unified command, the United States Central Command, which has responsibility over a vast overseas area covering parts of Africa, Asia, and the Persian Gulf.


title: United States Army Central

text: For its part, Third Army could draw upon a reservoir of Army units, and became responsible for planning, exercising, and rapidly deploying these units in crisis situations.


title: United States Army Central

text: It was not until 1990 that Third Army returned to combat. Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait in August 1990, and American forces were immediately dispatched to Saudi Arabia to protect the Saudi oil fields. Since Saudi Arabia came within the CENTCOM area, Third Army was sent to command the Army units in theatre. At first, XVIII Corps made up the forces assigned to Third Army; enough men to ensure that the Iraqis could not invade Saudi Arabia. However, in November 1990, massive reinforcements were announced in the form of VII Corps from Germany. This deployment marked the largest use of armored formations by the U.S. since World War II, and thus it was fitting that Patton's old command, Third Army, should have control of the battle. By the opening of hostilities, XVIII Corps had three American and one French division and VII Corps four American and one British division under command, thus giving Third Army a total of nine divisions, plus the armored cavalry regiments attached to both corps.


title: United States Army Central

text: Third Army, commanded by Lieutenant General John J. Yeosock, was the main striking force in Operation Desert Storm. Its units were on the left flank of the attacking force and swept into southern Iraq. They then turned east and engaged the Iraqi Republican Guard in fierce combat. Much of that force was destroyed. In terms of its immediate aims, the Persian Gulf War was a stunning success. The Iraqis were ejected from Kuwait and their forces were thoroughly mauled.


title: United States Army Central

text: During the crisis, the 22nd Support Command served as the primary Logistics and Combat Service Support organization for ARCENT during the Operation Desert Shield, Operation Desert Storm and Operation Desert Farewell portions of the operation. The Command was activated as the ARCENT SUPCOM (Provisional) on 19 August 1990, but had been in operation since 10 August 1990. The ARCENT SUPCOM (PROV) was redesignated the 22nd Support Command on 16 December 1990. During the conflict, the commander was Major General, and then Lieutenant General William 'Gus' Pagonis. When the Command was disestablished following Operation Desert Farewell, it was succeeded by the 1st Area Support Group.


title: United States Army Central

text: Third Army/ARCENT remained engaged in the Middle East after the end of the Persian Gulf War with various operations to enforce the cease fire.


title: United States Army Central

text: In October 1994, ARCENT was again called upon to command, control, and deploy U.S. Army forces to Kuwait during Operation Vigilant Warrior.


title: United States Army Central

text: The operation was initiated in response to Saddam Hussein's saber rattling and posturing of Iraqi military forces along the Iraqi-Kuwaiti border. This act of aggression threatened to upset the delicate balance of peace in the region.


title: United States Army Central

text: ARCENT's rapid generation and deployment of a formidable Army force clearly demonstrated U.S. resolve and commitment to its friends and allies in the region.


title: United States Army Central

text: Less than one year later, Saddam Hussein would again deploy Iraqi forces close to its border with Kuwait. In August, Third Army/ARCENT provided command and control for a rapid deployment of a heavy brigade task force. Once more, Iraqi threats were met while ARCENT simultaneously conducted a major training exercise in Egypt, "BRIGHT STAR 95," involving military forces from 6 other nations. This contingency operation validated critical procedures for deployment, particularly the off-loading of equipment from floating prepositioning ships and its distribution to arriving soldiers. The deployment of a "Fly-Away Package" of key contingency staff also validated procedures for a rapidly deployed command and control group able to conduct combat operations immediately upon arrival. The operation was described by Third Army as having convinced Hussein to withdraw his forces from the Kuwaiti border.


title: United States Army Central

text: In September 1996, it was alleged that Iraq violated United Nations sanctions by deploying forces north of the 36th Parallel and attacking ethnic Kurds in Northern Iraq. In response to Hussein's refusal to withdraw his forces, the U.S. launched cruise missile strikes against selected military targets inside Iraq. A heavy brigade task force, 2nd Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division, was deployed to Kuwait under the command of Third Army/ARCENT as follow on forces to an already deployed Task Force (Task Force Headhunter, 1/9th and 1/12th Cavalry) to deter potential retaliatory attacks on Kuwait. The Brigade Task Force was supported by elements of the United States Marines, British Royal Marines and the Kuwaiti Liberation Brigade. Hussein soon capitulated, withdrawing his military forces south of the 36th Parallel.


title: United States Army Central

text: When Saddam Hussein blocked United Nations weapons inspections, tested the resolve of coalition commitment by violating the no-fly zone, and publicly threatened to mimic earlier Soviet successes by shooting down U2 reconnaissance over-flights in the Fall of 1997, CENTCOM responded with a land, sea, and air strike force of more than 35,000 U.S. and coalition forces. In support of this powerful multi-service, multinational ground force, General Anthony C. Zinni, Commander-in-Chief, CENTCOM, established a permanent Coalition/ Joint Task Force (C/JTF), headquartered at Camp Doha, Kuwait, and commanded by Lieutenant General Tommy R. Franks, Commanding General, Third Army/ARCENT.


title: United States Army Central

text: In addition to the U.S. and coalition forces already in Kuwait, a brigade task force from 3d Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Georgia, rapidly deployed to Kuwait. Departing from Hunter Army Airfield, the brigade task force deployed 4,000 personnel and 2,900 short tons of equipment on 120 aircraft. Within 15 hours of landing at Kuwait City International Airport, the unit had drawn prepositioned equipment and was in battle positions in the desert. On 28 February, Combined Joint Task Force Kuwait (C/JTF-K) was prepared to defend Kuwait with a ground force strength of more than 9,000 personnel.


title: United States Army Central

text: Argentina, Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Hungary, New Zealand, Poland, Romania, the United Kingdom, and Kuwait rounded out the C/JTF by providing liaison teams, aircraft support, special operations elements, chemical/biological defense, base defense units, MASH units, and medical personnel.


title: United States Army Central

text: Added to forces on the ground was equipment for two more brigades (one Army and one Marine) afloat in the Persian Gulf with the Maritime Preposition Force. These ships were poised to link up with soldiers and Marines who would draw their equipment and begin combat operations if required. Attack air provided by Navy, Air Force, and Coalition assets rounded out this formidable force.


title: United States Army Central

text: This was the largest multinational force assembled in Southwest Asia since the conclusion of the Persian Gulf War.


title: United States Army Central

text: According to the Third Army, the demonstrated capability to quickly deploy combat forces from around the world deterred Iraqi aggression and helped reinstate compliance with the UN Weapons Inspection Program. In November 1998, when the work of the UN inspectors was again interrupted, Third Army quickly returned to the Persian Gulf to convince Saddam that the United States stood ready to enforce the terms of the cease-fire.


title: United States Army Central

text: As Saddam Hussein violated United Nations sanctions and threatened regional stability, the United States began deploying to Kuwait and preparing for combat operations. Combined/Joint Task Force-Kuwait, in place since Desert Thunder I, played a key role in the rapid deployment, reception, staging, onward movement, and integration of forces.


title: United States Army Central

text: Units deploying to Kuwait included advance parties from the 3d Infantry Division and the 32d Army Air and Missile Defense Command (AAMDC), personnel from the Theater Support Command (TSC), Air Support Operations Center (ASOC), and Marine forces. In addition, the redeployment of the Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) in the Persian Gulf was placed on hold and a second MEU was ordered to the Persian Gulf as reinforcement.


title: United States Army Central

text: While forces were deploying to the Persian Gulf region, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan flew to Baghdad to meet with Saddam Hussein.


title: United States Army Central

text: Following negotiations, Saddam Hussein agreed to allow uninterrupted resumption of United Nations weapons inspections. In mid-Nov, as the crisis defused, there were 2,300 personnel deployed to Kuwait in support of C/JTF-Kuwait.


title: United States Army Central

text: When Iraqi aircraft began challenging the established no-fly zones, and Iraqi air defense systems fired on allied aircraft in December 1998, US and UK forces responded with a massive display of firepower.


title: United States Army Central

text: Allied air force and navy aircraft, and cruise missiles engaged command and control, communications, and selected Republican Guards targets on the morning of 16 December. These concentrated attacks against Iraqi targets continued until the early morning of 19 December.


title: United States Army Central

text: During the campaign, Third Army again deployed forces to defend Kuwait, and to reassure allies in the Persian Gulf region.


title: United States Army Central

text: By late December, C/JTF-Kuwait consisted of approximately 6,000 personnel, including the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit.


title: United States Army Central

text: Third Army was deployed to attack Iraq again in early 2003. The forces it had under its command for Operation Iraqi Freedom were much smaller in numbers than those it had commanded twelve years before. It had V Corps as its main striking force, with only two complete divisions and an airborne brigade under that command. There was also I Marine Expeditionary Force, controlling a further two divisions and a brigade. However, numbers were made up for by the advances in technology, which rendered this a powerful force. It took six weeks to defeat Iraq, along with 3rd Infantry Division, the heavy mech/armor component of XVIII Airborne Corps.


title: United States Army Central

text: The aftermath of the campaign saw Third Army headquartered in Baghdad, directing its third occupation within one hundred years.


title: United States Army Central

text: As a result of July 2011 BRAC relocations, Third U.S. Army is headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina with a forward element at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. Administratively called ARCENT again, it continues to serve as the Army Component Command for CENTCOM, and the forward element is serving as the Coalition Forces Land Component Command (CFLCC). It provides support and services to theater ARFOR commands, as well as directed Army support to other services.


title: United States Army Central

text: Previously, in Saudi Arabia, its bases include King Abdul Aziz Air Base, King Fahad Air Base, King Khalid Air Base, Eskan Village Air Base and Riyadh Air Base. The Army moved all its bases and equipment to Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar in 2003.


title: United States Army Central

text: Focusing primarily on the Middle East, Central Command and Third Army's area of responsibility (AOR) is a large and complex region. It stretches from the Central Asian States to the Horn of Africa. The AOR encompasses an area of approximately consisting of 27 countries populated by over 650 million people speaking 12 major languages and representing seven major religions. Within this strategically important region lay the historical crossroads of three continents, the majority of the world's oil and natural gas reserves, and the primary maritime link between Europe and Asia. Resources, differing geography, religious influences, and historical conflict have shaped this region for centuries and continue to do so today.


title: United States Army Central

text: In keeping with US national security strategy, Third Army supports U.S. Central Command through a theater security cooperation strategy that encompasses the four fundamentals of the National Military Strategy. Third Army maintains a continued forward presence, conducts joint and coalition exercises throughout the region, provides humanitarian assistance when needed, develops close partnerships with responsible nations, assists in demining efforts, and provides support to other military service components. Third Army is prepared to rapidly respond by developing and executing war plans and contingency missions as required. This strategy provides the President with a wide range of options to deter aggression and coercion from a forward presence posture, and to decisively defeat any adversary if deterrence fails across the full spectrum of conflict.


title: United States Army Central

text: Organized 7–15 November 1918 in the Regular Army in France as Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, Third Army


title: United States Army Central

text: Reorganized and redesignated 16 June 2006 as Headquarters, United States Army Central, to consist of Main Command Post, Operational Command Post, and Special Troops Battalion (Special Troops Battalion – hereafter separate lineage)


title: United States Army Central

text: On a blue disc 2 1/4 inches (5.72 cm) in diameter a white letter "A" with members 1/8 inch (.32 cm) wide within a red circle 2 inches (5.08 cm) in diameter and 3/16 inch (.48 cm) in width.