 In March 1942 , Streett became chief of the Theater Group of the Operations Division in the Office of the Chief of Staff . When United States Army Air Forces ( USAAF ) Chief of Staff Henry H. " Hap " Arnold proposed to George Marshall in October 1942 that an Army man be named supreme commander for the whole Allied effort in the Pacific , suggesting Douglas MacArthur , Lesley McNair or airman Joseph T. McNarney for the position , Marshall without comment passed the request to his staff for analysis . There , Albert Wedemeyer and Streett examined the problem . Wedemeyer , an Army officer , thought the supreme commander should be an airman ; either Arnold or McNarney . Streett , too , was in favor of one supreme commander but he recognized the political challenges — he projected that the president would have to make the appointment , not a committee of military men prone to interservice rivalry . For supreme commander in the Pacific , Streett suggested McNarney or Admiral Chester W. Nimitz , depending on whether an air or a naval strategy was considered most important . About MacArthur , Streett wrote that " [ a ] t the risk of being considered naive and just plain country @-@ boy dumb , " he thought that MacArthur would have to be removed from the Pacific in order for there to be any sound cooperation in the theater . Streett suggested MacArthur be appointed ambassador to " Russia " or some similar position of high stature but low military influence . Of this analysis work , nothing was enacted ; Marshall did not bring the problem and its suggested solutions to either the Navy or the president . 
