European Theater of Operations, United States Army

European Theater of Operations, United States Army
American generals: seated left to right are William H. Simpson, George S. Patton, Jr., Carl Spaatz, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Omar Bradley, Courtney H. Hodges, and Leonard T. Gerow; standing are Ralph F. Stearley, Hoyt S. Vandenberg, Walter Bedell Smith, Otto P. Weyland, and Richard E. Nugent
Active	4 July 1942 — 1 July 1945 (2 years, 11 months, 3 weeks and 6 days)
Disbanded	1 July 1945
Country	United States
Branch	United States Army
Type	Theater of Operations
Role	Headquarters
Part of	U.S. War Department Allied Expeditionary Force
Campaigns	World War II Northern France
Commanders
Notable commanders	Maj. Gen. James E. Chaney Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower
Insignia
shoulder sleeve insignia

The European Theater of Operations, United States Army (ETOUSA) was a theater of Operations responsible for directing United States Army operations throughout the European theatre of World War II, from 1942 to 1945. It commanded Army Ground Forces (AGF), United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), and Army Service Forces (ASF) operations north of Italy and the Mediterranean coast. It was bordered to the south by the North African Theater of Operations, United States Army (NATOUSA), which later became the Mediterranean Theater of Operations, United States Army (MTOUSA).

The term theater of operations was defined in the US Army field manuals as the land and sea areas to be invaded or defended, including areas necessary for administrative activities incident to the military operations. In accordance with the experience of World War I, it was usually conceived of as a large land mass over which continuous operations would take place and was divided into two chief areas-the combat zone, or the area of active fighting, and the Communications Zone, or area required for administration of the theater. As the armies advanced, both these zones and the areas into which they were divided would shift forward to new geographic areas of control.^[1]