Eastern Defense Command

On Saturday, I mentioned the Eastern Defense Command prohibiting photography along the North Carolina coast as a war measure.  This was an organization I had never heard of before.

From Wikipedia.

The Eastern Defense Command (EDC) was established as the Northeast Defense Command on 17 March 1941, one of four U.S. Army continental defense commands to plan, prepare and execute defense against enemy attack (if needed) along the Atlantic coast before the U.S. entered the war.

Its main job was to coordinate Army forces and installations.  It replaced the New England Defense Section.

With the U.S. entry into the war on December 8, 1941, the Northeast Defense Command was placed in the Eastern Theater of operations.  Its first commander was Lt. Gen. Hugh A. Drum, commander of the First Army with headquarters at Fort Jay on Governor's Island, New York City.  Its operational area included every state along the eastern coast.

As prospects of enemy attack all but diminished, the EDC merged into the Central Defense Command on 15 January 1944.

Other Defense Commands during the war:

Western Defense Command
Central Defense Command
Southern defense Command
Alaska Defense Command
Caribbean Defense Command

--GreGen