In what became a standard procedure in SWPA, MacArthur's General Headquarters (GHQ) nominated the objectives, set the target date, and allocated the troops to the operation, leaving Alamo Force to work out the details. MacArthur was not inflexible, however, and allowed Krueger to alter the staging areas, and postpone the operation by a month. Krueger's concerns about the possibility of high casualties in securing the Gasmata area, and doubts as to whether the area was suitable for airbase development, led to it being dropped as a target. Arawe was substituted, and the size of the whole operation was scaled back. Krueger hoped to observe the 1st Marine Division's landing at Cape Gloucester in December 1943, but was unable to do so until the planning for the January 1944 landing at Saidor was complete. He crossed the Dampier Strait in a PT boat in stormy weather. PBY Catalinas sent to bring him back were unable to land, and he had to return on the destroyer .