Krueger sought to create an all volunteer elite unit consisting of small teams which could operate deep behind enemy lines. Their primary mission was to gather intelligence for the Sixth Army. The Alamo Scouts were so-named because Alamo Force was the name given to Krueger's command (and Sixth Army in particular) by General Douglas MacArthur, Supreme Allied Commander of the SouthWest Pacific. (MacArthur deliberately created Alamo Force to give himself direct control of US Army units, as a parallel structure to the official Allied Ground Forces command, under Australian General Sir Thomas Blamey.) In addition, Krueger had personal links to San Antonio, Texas, location of the Alamo Mission and a personal interest in the Battle of the Alamo.