The "Tactical Air Force, Tenth Army" (TAF) was activated at Schofield Barracks, Oahu, Territory of Hawaii on November 21, 1944 under the command of Major General Francis P. Mulcahy, then commander of the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing. 2nd MAW was chosen to lead the TAF because it had recent combat experience from Peleliu and more importantly it was available in Hawaii as planning for the invasion began to ramp up. When first formed, TAF's Marine Corps and United States Army Air Forces units were scattered across the Pacific Theater. Expecting a very large number of kamikaze attacks, MajGen Mulcahy selected his Chief of Staff, Brigadier General William J. Wallace, to serve as the head of TAF's most important task unit, the Air Defense Command. The ADC was initially responsible for overseeing the day and night fighters squadrons from three Marine Aircraft Groups and the four ground based early warning squadrons. BGen Wallace was a seasoned veteran who had previous combat experience as a Marine Air Group commander during the Guadalcanal Campaign. Marine Aircraft Group 43 (MAG-43), under the command of one of the most experienced radar officers in the Marine Corps Robert O. Bisson, was also brought from Marine Corps Air Station El Centro, California to Hawaii to serve as the administrative headquarters for the TAF.