Lieutenant General Walter C. Short commanded the U.S. Army’s Hawaiian Department during the Pearl Harbor attack. His command was responsible for Army forces and installations in Hawaii, including the defense of Oahu.
Short assumed command in February 1941. Before the attack, he ordered aircraft grouped closely together on airfields, partly to protect them from sabotage. That arrangement made the planes vulnerable to Japanese bombing and strafing on December 7.
Short and Admiral Husband Kimmel, who commanded the Pacific Fleet, were both relieved of command later in December. Investigations examined whether warnings from Washington had been communicated effectively and whether the Hawaiian commands had taken sufficient defensive measures.
The Army and Navy had different command structures in Hawaii, which is why Short should not be confused with Kimmel. Short was an Army general; Kimmel was the senior Navy commander. Short later retired and died in 1949. Historical assessments continue to discuss the limits of the information available to him before the attack.