Editing Hugh John Casey (section)

==World War II==
===Construction Division===
[[File:Pentagon construction.jpg|thumb|right|320px|Northwest exposure of the Pentagon's construction underway, 1 July 1942|alt=Expansive view of a construction site with lots of parked cars, scaffolding and cranes. There are a number of demountables in the foreground.]]
Casey returned to [[Washington, D.C.]] in October 1940 to become chief of the Design and Engineering Section in the Construction Division of the [[Quartermaster general (USA)|Office of the Quartermaster General]], under [[Brigadier General (United States)|Brigadier General]] [[Brehon B. Somervell]].<ref>{{harvnb|Fine|Remington|1972|p=265}}</ref> An enormous construction program was underway to meet the needs of [[World War II]]. Working with a staff that included [[George Bergstrom]], a former president of the [[American Institute of Architects]],<ref>{{harvnb|Fine|Remington|1972|p=266}}</ref> Casey set about revising the standard designs for barracks. A number of new features were added to improve comfort, safety, and durability. Substitutions were made for scarce materials. It was discovered that the standard 63-man barracks was now too small. Of the 81 companies in the new [[triangular division]], 51 fitted more easily into 74-man barracks. By slightly increasing the barracks size, substantial savings were made by reducing the overall number of buildings that needed to be constructed, the size of the [[cantonment]] areas required, and the length of required roads and utility lines.<ref>{{harvnb|Fine|Remington|1972|pp=347–354}}</ref> Casey was promoted to [[lieutenant colonel (United States)|lieutenant colonel]] on 8 April 1941.<ref name="Casey, p. xiii"/>

On the afternoon of Thursday, 17 July 1941, Somervell summoned Casey and Bergstrom and gave them a new special project: the design of an enormous office complex to house the [[United States Department of War|War Department's]] 40,000-person staff together in one building. Somervell gave them until 09:00 on Monday morning to design the building, which he envisaged as a modern, four-story structure with no elevators, on the site of the old [[Hoover Field|Washington Hoover Airport]].  This would ultimately become [[The Pentagon]], the largest office building in the world.  Over that "very busy weekend", Casey, Bergstrom and their staff roughed out the design for a four-story, five-sided structure with a floor area of {{convert|5100000|sqft|sqm}}—twice that of the [[Empire State Building]].<ref>{{harvnb|Fine|Remington|1972|p=431 }}</ref> The estimated cost was $35 million.<ref>{{harvnb|Fine|Remington|1972|p=432}}</ref> [[President of the United States|President]] [[Franklin D. Roosevelt|Roosevelt]] subsequently moved the site of the building, over Somervell's objections, away from [[Arlington National Cemetery]].<ref>{{harvnb|Fine|Remington|1972|p=434}}</ref>

===Southwest Pacific===
In September 1941, General [[Douglas MacArthur]] requested Casey's services as his chief engineer. Casey arrived in [[Manila]] in October, shortly before the outbreak of war between the United States and [[Japan]]. He acquired construction equipment from the National Power Corporation that was being used on the Caliraya project.<ref>{{harvnb|Casey|1993|pp=141–145}}</ref> Casey supervised demolitions as MacArthur's troops retreated to [[Bataan]], for which he was awarded the [[Distinguished Service Cross (United States)|Distinguished Service Cross]].<ref>{{harvnb|Casey|1993|pp=ix}}</ref> Unlike the rest of MacArthur's headquarters, Casey, who was promoted to [[colonel (United States)|colonel]] on 19 December 1941 and [[brigadier general (United States)|brigadier general]] on 25 January 1942,<ref name="Casey, p. xiii"/> did not relocate to [[Corregidor]] but remained on Bataan with a small staff of five officers.<ref>{{harvnb|Dod|1966|pp=85–87}}</ref> However, he joined MacArthur and sixteen other members of his staff in their [[Douglas MacArthur's escape from the Philippines|escape from Corregidor]] by PT boat in March 1942.<ref>{{harvnb|Dod|1966|p=99}}</ref> For his service in the 1942 campaign in the Philippines, he was awarded the [[Army Distinguished Service Medal]].<ref name="medals">{{cite web |url=https://valor.militarytimes.com/hero/6048 |title=Valor Awards for Hugh John Casey |access-date=10 December 2012 |publisher=Military Times}}</ref>

[[File:Hugh J. Casey.jpg|thumb|320px|left|Major General Hugh J. Casey at his desk in Brisbane|alt=A name plaque reads: "Maj. Gen. Hugh J. Casey". The wall behind him is covered in huge map of New Guinea.]]
In [[Australia]], Casey became Chief Engineer at MacArthur's General Headquarters (GHQ), [[Southwest Pacific Area]] (SWPA). He faced enormous engineering challenges. Most of [[New Guinea]] consisted of mountains and jungle, with very few airstrips, ports or roads. All of these had to be developed to support operations. To provide additional expertise in construction, Casey had [[Leif Sverdrup]] assigned to his staff as chief of the Construction Section, with the rank of colonel. As U.S. Army engineers were few, Casey worked closely with his [[Australian Army]] counterpart at [[General (Australia)|General]] Sir [[Thomas Blamey]]'s Allied Land Forces headquarters, [[Major General (Australia)|Major General]] [[Clive Steele]]. Construction activities in Australia were also undertaken by civilians of the [[Allied Works Council]]. Casey attempted to coordinate the activities of the various agencies. He had to fend off attempts by the [[U.S. Army Air Forces]] to gain control of his aviation engineer battalions. The [[Royal Australian Air Force]] organized its own airbase construction squadrons and only with difficulty was Casey able to control their activities.<ref>{{harvnb|Dod|1966|pp=130–137}}</ref>

Casey's initial need was for engineer units to accomplish the daunting construction program, but soon stocks of engineer supplies and equipment began to run low. This was exacerbated by incoming units arriving without their equipment, or with it stowed on numerous ships, which often arrived at various ports in a theater where ports were hundred or thousands of miles apart. Critical shortages developed of [[tractor]]s, [[grader]]s, [[concrete mixer]]s and [[welding]] equipment. In the absence of a proper stock control system, an overall coordinating agency, and adequate numbers of engineer depot units, the allocation and distribution of the meager supplies on hand were difficult tasks. The worst problem was spare parts. Equipment was operated around the clock under harsh conditions and soon wore out or broke. A large proportion of equipment became unserviceable for lack of spare parts. Requisitions sent to the United States took months to arrive, so recourse was made to the limited sources of supply in Australia.
<ref>{{harvnb|Dod|1966|pp=260–}}</ref>

In September 1942, MacArthur decided to outflank Japanese troops on the [[Kokoda Trail]] by sending an American [[regimental combat team]] over the [[Owen Stanley Range]]. Two alternate means of crossing the mountains seemed possible. One, the [[Kapa Kapa Trail]] was known to climb to elevations above {{convert|9000|ft|m}} and present formidable obstacles. Casey and Sverdrup took charge of investigating the Abau Trail. They reached Abau on 18 September. Casey explored the harbor, taking depth soundings from a native canoe. Sverdrup set out for Jaure with a party of one American, two Australians from the [[Australian New Guinea Administrative Unit]], ten native police from the [[Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary|Royal Papuan Constabulary]] and 26 native carriers. After eight days on the trail, scaling heights of {{convert|5000|ft|m}}, Sverdrup concluded that it would not be practical for troops to traverse the route and turned back. Meanwhile, Casey had concluded that the harbor was too shallow even for [[lighter (barge)|lighters]]. However, the trip was not a total loss, for Sverdrup had sighted a plateau north of the Owen Stanley Range suitable for airstrips, allowing troops to be flown across the Owen Stanley Range.<ref>{{harvnb|Dod|1966|pp=178–180}}</ref> Casey was awarded the [[Silver Star]].<ref name="medals"/>

In New Guinea, logistics and construction activities were coordinated by task force engineer staffs. These were often hastily assembled and had not always been able to meet the demands imposed by base development in such a challenging theater of operations. The scale of operations in the Philippines was much greater, so for this purpose the Army Service Command (ASCOM) was formed in Brisbane on 23 July 1944. Casey was appointed to command ASCOM. In his absence, Sverdrup became MacArthur's chief engineer. Although part of [[USASOS]], ASCOM operated under the control of [[Sixth United States Army|Sixth Army]], moving as far forward as combat operations allowed, developed new bases, and operated them until [[USASOS]] was ready to take over, at which point the units under ASCOM simply reverted to USASOS, allowing a seamless transfer of command.<ref>{{harvnb|Dod|1966|p=571}}</ref> For the [[Battle of Leyte]] Casey's ASCOM had 43,000 men, of whom 21,000 were engineers.<ref>{{harvnb|Dod|1966|p=575}}</ref>

Casey and some members of his staff came ashore on A-Day; the advance echelon of his ASCOM headquarters arrived two days later. Work began immediately on the airfield at [[Tacloban City|Tacloban]], and commenced on airfields in central Leyte soon after they were captured.<ref>{{harvnb|Dod|1966|pp=579–581}}</ref> Heavy seasonal rains thwarted attempts to develop the airbases in central Leyte and it was decided to abandon their development and construct a new airbase on the coast at a site occupied by Sixth Army headquarters. The need to get aircraft based on Leyte to stop the Japanese from reinforcing the island was so pressing that Lieutenant General [[Walter Krueger]] agreed to move his headquarters.<ref>{{harvnb|Dod|1966|pp=583–584}}</ref>

Casey had intended to come ashore on the first day of the [[Invasion of Lingayen Gulf|landing at Lingayen Gulf]] in January 1945 but was delayed a day because the destroyer he was traveling on had to escort a crippled transport. Despite enormous difficulties ASCOM was able to finish numerous projects on time and some ahead of schedule. On 13 February 1945, ASCOM was transferred to USASOS and redesignated the Luzon Base Section (LUBSEC). Casey then resumed his old post, now renamed Chief Engineer, US Army Forces Pacific.<ref>{{harvnb|Dod|1966|pp=598–601}}</ref> For his services as commander of ASCOM, he was awarded the [[Legion of Merit]]. He was subsequently awarded a bronze [[oak leaf cluster]] to his Distinguished Service Medal for his services as Chief Engineer, US Army Forces Pacific.<ref name="medals"/>

Casey hoped to become [[Chief of Engineers]] when Lieutenant General [[Raymond A. Wheeler]] retired in 1948, but President [[Harry S. Truman]] passed him over in favor of the Missouri River Division Engineer, Major General [[Lewis A. Pick]]. Instead, Casey remained in Japan as MacArthur's Chief Engineer until Casey's retirement on 31 December 1949.<ref>{{harvnb|Casey|1993|pp=270–271}}</ref> He edited ''Engineers of the Southwest Pacific'', a seven-volume series about their wartime service.<ref name="Casey, p. x"/> He received a number of foreign awards for his service, including the [[Distinguished Service Star]] from the Philippines, the [[Commander of the Order of the British Empire]] from Australia, the Commander of the [[Order of Orange-Nassau]] from the Netherlands, and the Officer of [[Légion d'honneur]] from France.<ref>{{harvnb|Casey|1993|pp=xi–xv}}</ref>