Operation Thursday: Birth of the Air Commandos

Abstract

A bold, unconventional use of American air power to support British ground troops in Burma, Operation THURSDAY marked a critical development in the history of modern warfare. On March 5-6, 1944, the Allies conducted an air invasion of Burma in an attempt to push back the Japanese in the China-Burma-India Theater and reestablish the land route between India and China. U.S. airmen formed a special operations unit -- the 1st Air Commando Group -- to transport troops to jungle locations and resupply them, often in the line of fire. The remarkable success of this operation lives on, 50 years later, among the elite 1st Air Commando Group -- a force committed to meeting the challenge of unconventional warfare any time, any place, anywhere.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jan 01, 1994
Accession Number
ADA439991

Entities

People

  • Herbert A. Mason Jr.
  • James A. Renfrow Jr
  • Randy G. Bergeron

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Abstracts
  • Air Force
  • Air Power
  • Availability
  • Classification
  • Contracts
  • Information Operations
  • Instructions
  • Line Of Fire
  • Military Organizations
  • Monitoring
  • Security
  • Standards
  • Unconventional Warfare
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Maritime Combat Support and Expeditionary Logistics.
  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.
  • Nuclear Non-Proliferation and International Security