However, the so-called "Committee of Three" had no specific mandate or authority, and this weakness became apparent as the war moved toward its conclusions and the details of occupation planning began to occupy the various departments.
SWNCC's plans for the occupation of Europe and Japan were aimed at anticipating and addressing the issues that might confront U.S. forces tasked with occupying and running former enemy states.
After the war, when Borton returned to the academy, he observed that his 1943 memo recommending the retention of Hirohito was largely unchanged as it passed through the planning process and subsequent implementation by Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers Douglas MacArthur.
[2] The SWNCC began its activities by reviewing and compiling existing work on occupation strategy, and in many cases summoning the responsible experts to participate in the committee.
SWNCC consisted of a secretariat which held regular meetings and a number of working groups tasked to address specific problems and present their findings to the committee.