Commanders and Command Issues. The Allied decision to invade Guadalcanal developed during a period of clashes at the highest level of command. As early as February 1942, US Fleet Commander Admiral Ernest King began promoting a more offensive posture in the Pacific. This was in opposition to both the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, including General George Marshall, and Britain's war leadership, all of whom were more in accord with the "Germany first" priorities for war resources. King succeeded in having greater resources committed to the Pacific, even as the American effort in North Africa was flagging. By March, a bitter dispute broke out between Adm. King and General Douglas MacArthur as to how these resources were to be deployed. This was ultimately resolved with a compromise leaving Gen. MacArthur in charge of the Southwest Pacific Area and charged with seizure of the Solomon Islands west of Guadalcanal, the northwest coast of New Guinea, and the Bismarck Archipelago including the Japanese naval fortress at Rabaul. Admiral Chester Nimitz would command the Pacific Ocean Areas and drive across the central Pacific. Admiral Robert Ghormley, under Nimitz, would command the South Pacific Area and seize Tulagi, where the Japanese had established a seaplane base. Ghormley would also, almost as an afterthought, seize Guadalcanal, where a Japanese airstrip was under construction. Under Ghormley, Admiral Frank Fletcher became commander of Allied Task Force 61.