The two volumes present a compendium of facts that have never been presented in this combination before. The presentation is based on original sources, most of them unpublished, such as the War Department textual records, (amongst them the General and Special Orders), as well as strength lists, unit activation lists, station plans, authorized strengths, tables of organization, aircraft allocations, individual unit histories, the US Army Station List of 01.11.1941, and so on.

The front of both books have the contents, an introduction, a page with terms and abbreviations, the key to the tactical symbols used, and an organizational diagram of the command structure of the U.S. armed forces.

The first half of Volume 1 deals with the General Staff, a component of the War Department charged with commanding the U.S. Army. It furthermore shows the detailed organization of the two directly subordinate overseas commands, (the U.S. Army Forces in the Far East and the Hawaiian Department, both including the U.S. Army Air Forces components assigned to them), as well as the nine Corps Areas representing the logistics base for the US Army within the United States.

Larger commands are broken down in components parts.

The second half of the book deals with the units assigned to General Headquarters, U.S. Army, the headquarters which controlled the U.S. Army commands within the Continental USA, Alaska, the Atlantic, and the Caribbean.

Volume 2 presents the Chief, Army Air Forces, comprising the Air Force Combat Command, (with the four Air Forces as well as the Fifth Air Support Command), and the Chief of Air Corps (with all training and logistics establishments.)

Appendices show US Army units at sea on 7 December 1941, US Army installations worldwide, and a listing of U.S.A.A.F. aircraft.

The front of the book has the contents, an introduction, several pages with terms and abbreviations, the key to the tactical symbols used, and an organizational diagram of the command structure of the U.S. armed forces.

The first half of the book deals with the US Navy, including the Department of the Navy, the Asiatic, Pacific, and Atlantic Fleets, as well as the Naval Districts and Commands. Fleets are broken down into their components, both afloat and on land, and detail the ships, commanders, and, where appropriate, aircraft.

The second part of this volume shows the US Marine Corps, (part of the US Navy), detailing on one hand the Fleet Marine, with the Marine Divisions, the Marine Air Wings, and the Defense Battalions, and on the other hand the Shore Establishment, which encompassed the training facilities, those details assigned to the US Navy for guard duty, as well as such other Marine units not directly available to the Navy for deployment.

The last part presents the US Coast Guard, (subordinated to the US Navy for the duration), showing its Headquarters and the sixteen districts with their shore establishments, vessels, and aircraft.

Appendices show convoys escorted by the U.S. Navy at sea on 7 December 1941, the US Navy shore establishments worldwide, the USMC details both ashore and afloat assigned to the US Navy, a listing of aircraft used by the Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard, as well as diagrams of the two US Army divisions scheduled for amphibious operations.