United States Army Forces in the Middle East

The small USAFIME was headquartered in Cairo—which simplified liaison with its much larger British counterpart, Middle East Command.

He was replaced in November 1942 by Lt. Gen. Frank M. Andrews of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), and in January 1943 by Maj. Gen. Lewis H. Brereton.

Maxwell was an army general because at the time he was appointed it was expected that the Americans would contribute ground troops to assist in the Allied Western Desert campaign.

As plans for Operation Torch began to take shape it became clear that the Americans would not contribute ground troops to the Western Desert Campaign.

The non-air force administrative functions of USAFIME were taken over by the North African Theater of Operations United States Army (NATOUSA) when the Egypt-Libya campaign ended on 12 February 1943.