When the Navy learned that the Japanese planned a thrust into Alaskan waters as part of their Midway operation, Admiral Nimitz allocated five cruisers, fourteen destroyers, six submarines, and suitable auxiliaries to counter the opposing forces in the North. Five years before the outbreak of war the area had been virtually undefended. But by September 1941, Sitka, Kodiak, and Dutch Harbor had been commissioned as Naval Air Stations, and both Kodiak and Sitka were able to service submarines. In mid-1940, the Army had established the Alaska Defense Command, with Brigadier General Simon Bolivar Buckner in command; and the Navy created an Alaskan Sector under the 13th Naval District, appointing Captain Ralph C. Parker to the command.