MacArthur jokingly referred to “my three K’s”—his troika of senior naval, air, and ground commanders, who all happened to have surnames beginning with that letter. Kinkaid led the Seventh Fleet, colloquially known as “MacArthur’s navy.” Lieutenant General George C. Kenney of the USAAF had served as Southwest Pacific air commander since July 1942. The Sixth Army, the principal ground force for the
