In December 1943, Devers and other commanders with tank experience succeeded in convincing George Marshall of the need for a tank with more armor and firepower than the M3 and M4. An improved prototype, the T26, was produced as the M26 Pershing, and the Army ordered 250 Pershings. McNair was opposed, stating that the M4 was adequate, and arguing that tank-on-tank battles requiring the U.S. to employ heavier tanks with bigger guns were unlikely to occur. The Pershings were fielded, but arrived in Europe too late to have an effect on the conduct of the war. McNair's views on the employment of tanks also factored into reorganizations of the Army's armored divisions. The Armored Force had been created in 1940, and grew to include 16 divisions, though McNair unsuccessfully recommended reducing the number to six. The Armored Force created an armored corps headquarters in 1942, but it was deactivated at McNair's instigation after only a few months. In addition to arguing against the need for an armored corps, McNair believed the task organization for an armored division to be too large and unwieldy, again presuming that tanks would primarily serve as an exploitation force for rapid advances and as infantry support, but were not likely to engage in tank-on-tank battles. As a result, he played a key role in downsizing the armored divisions in 1942 and 1943, with the 1943 reorganization reducing the divisions by 4,000 soldiers and between 130 and 140 tanks. The downsizing enabled the creation of separate tank battalions, which could be deployed to support infantry divisions on an as-needed basis. (The downsizing did not affect the 2nd or 3rd Armored Divisions, which maintained their "heavy" task organization.) Death and burial In 1943, McNair traveled to North Africa on an inspection tour of AGF troops to acquire firsthand information about the effectiveness of training and doctrine, with the goal of making improvements in AGF's mobilization and training process. On April 23, he was observing front line troops in action in Tunisia when he sustained fragmentation wounds to his arm and head; a company first sergeant standing nearby was killed. McNair deployed to the European Theater in 1944; his assignment was initially undetermined, and Marshall and Dwight Eisenhower, the supreme commander in Europe, considered him for command of the Fifteenth United States Army or the fictitious First United States Army Group (FUSAG). With Lieutenant General George S. Patton,