Tomcat/Axis: new thread for each web service call?

[Digital Puer]

I am using Tomcat and Axis to write a web service that will
invoke Runtime.exec() to launch an application at the server
side. The web service is run with "Application" scope.

Question: when a web service method is called, is it run
in a new thread? If so, are the threads managed from a
known-sized thread pool by Tomcat or Axis?

My problem is that when my web service method MyExec() calls
Runtime.exec() and subsequently Process.waitFor(), it must
block for the result. I want to know if MyExec() will be
launched in its own thread by Tomcat or if I need to launch
a new Thread myself. I obviously would like Tomcat to continue
responding to web service calls while MyExec() runs and blocks.

Thank you for any help.