<P> As a compromise on all these issues, Marshall made Arnold "Acting Deputy Chief of Staff for Air ." Although the Air Corps found the compromise unsatisfactory, this provisional position on the general staff did enable him to coordinate the two sections of the air arm until the organizational problems were repaired . Even in the short run, however, coordination proved to be no substitute for unit of command . </P> <P> In the spring of 1941, the combat successes of the British Royal Air Force and the Nazi Germans' Luftwaffe under centralized control made clear that the fragmenting of authority in the American air arm had resulted in a dangerous lack of clear channels of command . After a joint U.S. - British strategic planning agreement (ABC - 1) rebuffed the long - held argument that the Air Corps had no wartime mission except support of ground forces, the War Department revised Army Regulation 95 - 5 on 20 June in an attempt to end the divisions without legislative intervention by Congress . In creating the Army Air Forces with the Air Corps and the Air Force Combat Command (a redesignation of General Headquarters Air Force) as its major components, the War Department also authorized an Air Staff to manage planning and execution of expansion of the air arm and named Arnold as Chief of the Army Air Forces . It did not, however, end the dual chain of command difficulties, as air units of Air Force Combat Command still reported to Army GHQ as well as Headquarters AAF . Two further attempts by Arnold to implement his reorganization were again rejected by the WDGS in October and November . </P> <P> At this stage, support of airpower in public opinion reached unprecedented highs, increasing pressures from outside the military for an independent air arm with representation in the cabinet . Arnold made a decision to postpone any attempts to exploit the opportunity to push for an independent Air Force . Assured of a free hand by Marshall, Arnold thought that it would "be a serious mistake to change the existing setup" in the midst of the crucial expansion effort, which in less than five years would be more than 100 times its June 1939 size in personnel (much of it highly trained technically) alone . By November, however, the division of authority within the Army as a whole caused by the activation of Army GHQ prompted Marshall to assert that he had "the poorest command post in the Army ." Defense commands, particularly those affecting air defense, had in Marshall's words showed a "disturbing failure to follow through on orders ." Confronted with Marshall's dissatisfaction with Army GHQ, the General Staff reversed its opposition . Marshall appointed an Air Corps officer, Brig. Gen. Joseph T. McNarney, to chair a "War Department Reorganization Committee" within the War Plans Division, using Arnold's plan as a blueprint . </P> <P> Based on the recommendations of McNarney's committee, Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9082, which changed Arnold's title to Commanding General, Army Air Forces effective 9 March 1942, making him co-equal with the commanding generals of the other components of the Army of the United States . On that date, War Department Circular 59 formalized the changes, abolishing Army GHQ and organizing the Army into three autonomous components: the Army Air Forces, the Army Ground Forces, and the Services of Supply, each with a commanding general reporting to the Chief of Staff . The Office of Chief of Air Corps (OCAC) was abolished (as was Air Force Combat Command) and the functions of the Air Corps transferred to the AAF, reducing the status of the Air Corps to a combat arm classification . </P>

When did the army air corps change to the air force