 But history is repeating itself. In early 1941, as we saw Japan getting more hostile, Army General Short and Navy Admiral Kimmel were sent to prepare for Pearl Harbor in what has been characterized in hindsight as a major strategic error of judgment. In spite of rising tensions with Japan, they dismissed a wartime posture of dispersing and hardening and camouflaging. Instead, they both chose to protect their forces by administratively grouping the ships and planes.