the command of Colonel Frederick W. Bradshaw, whom Krueger had first encountered during the Louisiana maneuvers. The top graduates of the six-week training course were assigned to the Alamo Scouts; the other graduates were returned to their units where they could be used for similar work. By the end of the war, Alamo Scouts teams had conducted 106 missions. 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 . Krueger accepted reports of a Japanese counterattack at Saidor, and sent reinforcements in response, but the attack did not eventuate. Because the 32nd Infantry Division was required for the upcoming Hansa Bay operation, he was initially reluctant to authorize it to block the trails behind the American beachhead. When he finally did so, it was too late. The retreating Japanese made good their escape, thereby defeating the whole purpose of the operation. The next operation, the Admiralty Islands campaign in February 1944, played out differently. Based on Fifth Air Force reports that the islands were unoccupied, MacArthur accelerated his timetable and ordered an immediate reconnaissance in force of the islands. Krueger sent in the Alamo Scouts, who confirmed that the islands were still well-defended. Krueger did what he could to accelerate the movement of units of Major General Innis P. Swift's 1st Cavalry Division to the Admiralty Islands in response to urgent pleas from Brigadier General William C. Chase, who managed to defeat the numerically superior Japanese forces. Krueger was unimpressed with Chase. "His task", Krueger