How sabotage fears made Hawaii's aircraft vulnerable

Were Hawaii's fighters concentrated because of lessons from British airfield losses, or because commanders feared sabotage?

Sabotage fears drove the concentration, although available soldiers and police could instead have guarded dispersed aircraft.

Aircraft were concentrated to make them easier to guard against sabotage, which also made them easier to attack from the air. The choice reflected paranoia rather than a lesson drawn from British experience in North Africa. Oahu had soldiers, military police, and civilian police who could have protected aircraft spread across its airfields. The defensive tradeoff was avoidable because manpower could guard dispersed aircraft without presenting the raiders with densely packed targets.