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<button aria-controls="toc-World_War_II-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle World War II subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-World_War_II-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Axis_operations" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Axis_operations"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.1</span> <span>Axis operations</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Axis_operations-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Allied_operations" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Allied_operations"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.2</span> <span>Allied operations</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Allied_operations-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Soviet_operations" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-3"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Soviet_operations"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.2.1</span> <span>Soviet operations</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Soviet_operations-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Early_commando_raids" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-3"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Early_commando_raids"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.2.2</span> <span>Early commando raids</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Early_commando_raids-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Operation_Colossus:_Raid_on_the_Tragino_Aqueduct" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-4"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Operation_Colossus:_Raid_on_the_Tragino_Aqueduct"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.2.2.1</span> <span>Operation Colossus: Raid on the Tragino Aqueduct</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Operation_Colossus:_Raid_on_the_Tragino_Aqueduct-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Operation_Squatter:_Raid_on_Axis_airfields_in_Libya" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-4"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Operation_Squatter:_Raid_on_Axis_airfields_in_Libya"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.2.2.2</span> <span>Operation Squatter: Raid on Axis airfields in Libya</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Operation_Squatter:_Raid_on_Axis_airfields_in_Libya-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Operation_Biting:_The_Bruneval_raid" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-4"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Operation_Biting:_The_Bruneval_raid"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.2.2.3</span> <span>Operation Biting: The Bruneval raid</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Operation_Biting:_The_Bruneval_raid-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Mediterranean" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-3"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Mediterranean"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.2.3</span> <span>Mediterranean</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Mediterranean-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Operation_Mercury:_Crete" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-4"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Operation_Mercury:_Crete"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.2.3.1</span> <span>Operation Mercury: Crete</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Operation_Mercury:_Crete-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Operation_Torch:_North_Africa" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-4"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Operation_Torch:_North_Africa"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.2.3.2</span> <span>Operation Torch: North Africa</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Operation_Torch:_North_Africa-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Operation_Husky:_Sicily" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-4"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Operation_Husky:_Sicily"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.2.3.3</span> <span>Operation Husky: Sicily</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Operation_Husky:_Sicily-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Swing_Board_and_the_Knollwood_Maneuver" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-4"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Swing_Board_and_the_Knollwood_Maneuver"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.2.3.4</span> <span>Swing Board and the Knollwood Maneuver</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Swing_Board_and_the_Knollwood_Maneuver-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Italy" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-4"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Italy"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.2.3.5</span> <span>Italy</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Italy-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Western_Europe" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-3"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Western_Europe"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.2.4</span> <span>Western Europe</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Western_Europe-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Operation_Neptune" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-4"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Operation_Neptune"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.2.4.1</span> <span>Operation Neptune</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Operation_Neptune-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Operation_Dragoon:_Southern_France" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-4"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Operation_Dragoon:_Southern_France"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.2.4.2</span> <span>Operation Dragoon: Southern France</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Operation_Dragoon:_Southern_France-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Operation_Market_Garden:_"A_Bridge_Too_Far"" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-4"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Operation_Market_Garden:_"A_Bridge_Too_Far""> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.2.4.3</span> <span>Operation Market Garden: "A Bridge Too Far"</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Operation_Market_Garden:_"A_Bridge_Too_Far"-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Operation_Repulse:_re-supply_of_Bastogne" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-4"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Operation_Repulse:_re-supply_of_Bastogne"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.2.4.4</span> <span>Operation Repulse: re-supply of Bastogne</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Operation_Repulse:_re-supply_of_Bastogne-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Operation_Varsity:_The_Rhine_Crossing" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-4"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Operation_Varsity:_The_Rhine_Crossing"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.2.4.5</span> <span>Operation Varsity: The Rhine Crossing</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Operation_Varsity:_The_Rhine_Crossing-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Pacific_Theater" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-3"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Pacific_Theater"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.2.5</span> <span>Pacific Theater</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Pacific_Theater-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-New_Guinea" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-4"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#New_Guinea"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.2.5.1</span> <span>New Guinea</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-New_Guinea-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Philippines" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-4"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Philippines"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.2.5.2</span> <span>Philippines</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Philippines-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Burma" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-4"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Burma"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">2.2.5.3</span> <span>Burma</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Burma-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Ecuadorian–Peruvian_War" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Ecuadorian–Peruvian_War"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">3</span> <span>Ecuadorian–Peruvian War</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Ecuadorian–Peruvian_War-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-After_World_War_II" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#After_World_War_II"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4</span> <span>After World War II</span> </div> </a> <button aria-controls="toc-After_World_War_II-sublist" class="cdx-button cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--icon-only vector-toc-toggle"> <span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-expand"></span> <span>Toggle After World War II subsection</span> </button> <ul id="toc-After_World_War_II-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> <li id="toc-Indonesian_War_of_Independence" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Indonesian_War_of_Independence"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4.1</span> <span>Indonesian War of Independence</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Indonesian_War_of_Independence-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Korean_War" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Korean_War"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4.2</span> <span>Korean War</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Korean_War-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-First_Indochina_War" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#First_Indochina_War"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4.3</span> <span>First Indochina War</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-First_Indochina_War-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Suez_crisis:_Operations_Machbesh_&_Musketeer" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Suez_crisis:_Operations_Machbesh_&_Musketeer"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4.4</span> <span>Suez crisis: Operations Machbesh & Musketeer</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Suez_crisis:_Operations_Machbesh_&_Musketeer-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Indo-Pakistani_War_of_1965" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Indo-Pakistani_War_of_1965"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4.5</span> <span>Indo-Pakistani War of 1965</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Indo-Pakistani_War_of_1965-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Bangladesh_Liberation_War_of_1971" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Bangladesh_Liberation_War_of_1971"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4.6</span> <span>Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Bangladesh_Liberation_War_of_1971-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Indonesian_Invasion_of_East_Timor" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Indonesian_Invasion_of_East_Timor"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4.7</span> <span>Indonesian Invasion of East Timor</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Indonesian_Invasion_of_East_Timor-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Vietnam_War" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Vietnam_War"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4.8</span> <span>Vietnam War</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Vietnam_War-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Rhodesian_Bush_War" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Rhodesian_Bush_War"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4.9</span> <span>Rhodesian Bush War</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Rhodesian_Bush_War-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Angolan_Bush_War:_Cassinga" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Angolan_Bush_War:_Cassinga"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4.10</span> <span>Angolan Bush War: Cassinga</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Angolan_Bush_War:_Cassinga-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Soviet_and_Russian_VDV" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Soviet_and_Russian_VDV"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4.11</span> <span>Soviet and Russian VDV</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Soviet_and_Russian_VDV-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Soviet_Glider_Infantry" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Soviet_Glider_Infantry"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4.12</span> <span>Soviet Glider Infantry</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Soviet_Glider_Infantry-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Operation_Meghdoot" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Operation_Meghdoot"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4.13</span> <span>Operation Meghdoot</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Operation_Meghdoot-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Recent_history" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-2"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Recent_history"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">4.14</span> <span>Recent history</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Recent_history-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Doctrine" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Doctrine"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">5</span> <span>Doctrine</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Doctrine-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-See_also" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#See_also"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">6</span> <span>See also</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-See_also-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Notes" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Notes"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">7</span> <span>Notes</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Notes-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-References" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#References"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">8</span> <span>References</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-References-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-Further_reading" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#Further_reading"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">9</span> <span>Further reading</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-Further_reading-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> <li id="toc-External_links" class="vector-toc-list-item vector-toc-level-1"> <a class="vector-toc-link" href="#External_links"> <div class="vector-toc-text"> <span class="vector-toc-numb">10</span> <span>External links</span> </div> </a> <ul id="toc-External_links-sublist" class="vector-toc-list"> </ul> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </nav> </div> </div> <div class="mw-content-container"> <main id="content" class="mw-body"> <header class="mw-body-header vector-page-titlebar"> <nav aria-label="Contents" class="vector-toc-landmark"> <div id="vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown vector-page-titlebar-toc vector-button-flush-left" title="Table of Contents" > <input type="checkbox" id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-checkbox" role="button" aria-haspopup="true" data-event-name="ui.dropdown-vector-page-titlebar-toc" class="vector-dropdown-checkbox " aria-label="Toggle the table of contents" > <label id="vector-page-titlebar-toc-label" 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Available in 35 languages" > <label id="p-lang-btn-label" for="p-lang-btn-checkbox" class="vector-dropdown-label cdx-button cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--weight-quiet cdx-button--action-progressive mw-portlet-lang-heading-35" aria-hidden="true" ><span class="vector-icon mw-ui-icon-language-progressive mw-ui-icon-wikimedia-language-progressive"></span> <span class="vector-dropdown-label-text">35 languages</span> </label> <div class="vector-dropdown-content"> <div class="vector-menu-content"> <ul class="vector-menu-content-list"> <li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ar mw-list-item"><a href="https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%82%D9%88%D8%A7%D8%AA_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A5%D9%86%D8%B2%D8%A7%D9%84_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D9%88%D9%8A" title="قوات الإنزال الجوي – Arabic" lang="ar" hreflang="ar" data-title="قوات الإنزال الجوي" data-language-autonym="العربية" data-language-local-name="Arabic" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>العربية</span></a></li><li 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Bokmål" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Norsk bokmål</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-nn mw-list-item"><a href="https://nn.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luftlandeavdeling" title="Luftlandeavdeling – Norwegian Nynorsk" lang="nn" hreflang="nn" data-title="Luftlandeavdeling" data-language-autonym="Norsk nynorsk" data-language-local-name="Norwegian Nynorsk" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Norsk nynorsk</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-pl mw-list-item"><a href="https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wojska_powietrznodesantowe" title="Wojska powietrznodesantowe – Polish" lang="pl" hreflang="pl" data-title="Wojska powietrznodesantowe" data-language-autonym="Polski" data-language-local-name="Polish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Polski</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ro mw-list-item"><a href="https://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/For%C8%9Bele_aeropurtate" title="Forțele aeropurtate – Romanian" lang="ro" hreflang="ro" 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lang="sr" hreflang="sr" data-title="Ваздушно-десантна војска" data-language-autonym="Српски / srpski" data-language-local-name="Serbian" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Српски / srpski</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fi mw-list-item"><a href="https://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maahanlaskujoukot" title="Maahanlaskujoukot – Finnish" lang="fi" hreflang="fi" data-title="Maahanlaskujoukot" data-language-autonym="Suomi" data-language-local-name="Finnish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Suomi</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-sv mw-list-item"><a href="https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luftburna_styrkor" title="Luftburna styrkor – Swedish" lang="sv" hreflang="sv" data-title="Luftburna styrkor" data-language-autonym="Svenska" data-language-local-name="Swedish" class="interlanguage-link-target"><span>Svenska</span></a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-tr mw-list-item"><a href="https://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hava_indirme_birli%C4%9Fi" 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searchaux" style="display:none">Military units set up to be moved by aircraft and "dropped" into battle</div> <figure class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:720th_Special_Tactics_Group_airmen_jump_20071003.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/13/720th_Special_Tactics_Group_airmen_jump_20071003.jpg/300px-720th_Special_Tactics_Group_airmen_jump_20071003.jpg" decoding="async" width="300" height="199" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/13/720th_Special_Tactics_Group_airmen_jump_20071003.jpg/450px-720th_Special_Tactics_Group_airmen_jump_20071003.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/13/720th_Special_Tactics_Group_airmen_jump_20071003.jpg/600px-720th_Special_Tactics_Group_airmen_jump_20071003.jpg 2x" data-file-width="3000" data-file-height="1993" /></a><figcaption><a href="/wiki/United_States_Air_Force" title="United States Air Force">United States Air Force</a> <a href="/wiki/Paratrooper" title="Paratrooper">paratroopers</a> from the <a href="/wiki/720th_Special_Tactics_Group" title="720th Special Tactics Group">720th Special Tactics Group</a> jumping from a <a href="/wiki/C-130J_Hercules" class="mw-redirect" title="C-130J Hercules">C-130J Hercules</a> aircraft during water rescue training off the <a href="/wiki/Florida_panhandle" title="Florida panhandle">Florida panhandle</a></figcaption></figure> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1129693374">.mw-parser-output .hlist dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul{margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt,.mw-parser-output .hlist li{margin:0;display:inline}.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol 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.sidebar-title-with-pretitle{background:transparent!important}html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .sidebar:not(.notheme) .sidebar-title-with-pretitle a{color:var(--color-progressive)!important}}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .sidebar{display:none!important}}</style><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r886047488">.mw-parser-output .nobold{font-weight:normal}</style><table class="sidebar sidebar-collapse nomobile nowraplinks hlist" style="width:"><tbody><tr><td class="sidebar-pretitle">Part of a series on</td></tr><tr><th class="sidebar-title-with-pretitle" style="font-size:150%;"><span style="font-size:120%"><a href="/wiki/War" title="War">War</a></span><br /><span class="nobold"><span style="font-size:85%;">(<a href="/wiki/Outline_of_war" title="Outline of war">outline</a>)</span></span></th></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-image"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:War,_northwest_gallery_-_Gari_Melchers,_artist._LCCN91480633_(cropped).jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fb/War%2C_northwest_gallery_-_Gari_Melchers%2C_artist._LCCN91480633_%28cropped%29.jpg/220px-War%2C_northwest_gallery_-_Gari_Melchers%2C_artist._LCCN91480633_%28cropped%29.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="64" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fb/War%2C_northwest_gallery_-_Gari_Melchers%2C_artist._LCCN91480633_%28cropped%29.jpg/330px-War%2C_northwest_gallery_-_Gari_Melchers%2C_artist._LCCN91480633_%28cropped%29.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fb/War%2C_northwest_gallery_-_Gari_Melchers%2C_artist._LCCN91480633_%28cropped%29.jpg/440px-War%2C_northwest_gallery_-_Gari_Melchers%2C_artist._LCCN91480633_%28cropped%29.jpg 2x" data-file-width="3691" data-file-height="1076" /></a></span></td></tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="background:transparent;border-top:1px solid #aaa;;color: var(--color-base)"><a href="/wiki/Military_history" title="Military history">History</a></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Prehistoric_warfare" title="Prehistoric warfare">Prehistoric</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ancient_warfare" title="Ancient warfare">Ancient</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Medieval_warfare" title="Medieval warfare">Post-classical</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Medieval_fortification" title="Medieval fortification">Castles</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Early_modern_warfare" title="Early modern warfare">Early modern</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Military_Revolution" title="Military Revolution">Military revolution</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pike_and_shot" title="Pike and shot">Pike and shot</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Napoleonic_weaponry_and_warfare" title="Napoleonic weaponry and warfare">Napoleonic warfare</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Modern_warfare" title="Modern warfare">Late modern</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Industrial_warfare" title="Industrial warfare">Industrial warfare</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Fourth-generation_warfare" title="Fourth-generation warfare">Fourth-gen warfare</a></li></ul></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="background:transparent;border-top:1px solid #aaa;;color: var(--color-base)"><a href="/wiki/Military" title="Military">Military</a></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Military_organization" title="Military organization">Organization</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Command_and_control" title="Command and control">Command and control</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Defense_ministry" class="mw-redirect" title="Defense ministry">Defense ministry</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Army" title="Army">Army</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Navy" title="Navy">Navy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Air_force" title="Air force">Air force</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Marines" title="Marines">Marines</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Coast_guard" title="Coast guard">Coast guard</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Space_force" title="Space force">Space force</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Military_reserve_force" title="Military reserve force">Reserves</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Military_rank" title="Military rank">Ranks</a></li></ul> <hr /> <ul><li><i>Specialties:</i></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Staff_(military)" title="Staff (military)">Staff</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Combat_engineer" title="Combat engineer">Engineers</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Military_intelligence" title="Military intelligence">Intel</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Reconnaissance" title="Reconnaissance">Recon</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Medical_corps" title="Medical corps">Medical</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Military_police" title="Military police">Police</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Military_diving" title="Military diving">Diving</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Aircraft_pilot" title="Aircraft pilot">Pilot</a></li></ul> <hr /> <ul><li><i>Land units:</i></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Infantry" title="Infantry">Infantry</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Armoured_fighting_vehicle" title="Armoured fighting vehicle">Armor</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Cavalry" title="Cavalry">Cavalry</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Artillery" title="Artillery">Artillery</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Special_forces" title="Special forces">Special forces</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Signal_corps" title="Signal corps">Signal corps</a></li></ul> <hr /> <ul><li><i>Naval units:</i></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Warship" title="Warship">Warships</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Submarine" title="Submarine">Submarines</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Aircraft_carrier" title="Aircraft carrier">Aircraft carriers</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Landing_craft" title="Landing craft">Landing craft</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Auxiliary_ship" title="Auxiliary ship">Auxiliary ships</a></li></ul> <hr /> <ul><li><i>Air units:</i></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Fighter_aircraft" title="Fighter aircraft">Fighters</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Bomber" title="Bomber">Bombers</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Airborne_early_warning_and_control" title="Airborne early warning and control">Command</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Close_air_support" title="Close air support">Close air support</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Electronic-warfare_aircraft" title="Electronic-warfare aircraft">Electronic-warfare</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Reconnaissance_aircraft" title="Reconnaissance aircraft">Reconnaissance</a></li></ul> <hr /> <ul><li><i>Combat systems:</i></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Fire-control_system" title="Fire-control system">Fire-control system</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Fire-control_radar" title="Fire-control radar">Fire-control radar</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Director_(military)" title="Director (military)">Director (military)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Combat_information_center" title="Combat information center">Combat information center</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sonar" title="Sonar">Sonar</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Radar" title="Radar">Radar</a></li></ul> <hr /> <ul><li><i>Historical:</i></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ship_gun_fire-control_system" title="Ship gun fire-control system">Ship gun fire-control</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gun_data_computer" title="Gun data computer">Gun data computer</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Torpedo_Data_Computer" title="Torpedo Data Computer">Torpedo data computer</a></li></ul> <hr /> <ul><li><i>Development:</i></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Basic_training" class="mw-redirect" title="Basic training">Basic training</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Military_exercise" title="Military exercise">Military manoeuvrers</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Combat_training" class="mw-redirect" title="Combat training">Combat training</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="background:transparent;border-top:1px solid #aaa;;color: var(--color-base)"><a href="/wiki/Battlespace" title="Battlespace">Battlespace</a></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Aerospace" title="Aerospace">Aerospace</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Aerial_warfare" title="Aerial warfare">Aerial</a></li> <li><a class="mw-selflink selflink">Airborne</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Space_warfare" title="Space warfare">Space</a></li></ul></li></ul> <hr /> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Land_warfare" title="Land warfare">Land</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Cold-weather_warfare" title="Cold-weather warfare">Cold-region</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Desert_warfare" title="Desert warfare">Desert</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Fortification" title="Fortification">Fortification</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jungle_warfare" title="Jungle warfare">Jungle</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mountain_warfare" title="Mountain warfare">Mountain</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Urban_warfare" title="Urban warfare">Urban</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Subterranean_warfare" title="Subterranean warfare">Subterranean</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Tunnel_warfare" title="Tunnel warfare">Tunnel</a></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul> <hr /> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Naval_warfare" title="Naval warfare">Sea</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Amphibious_warfare" title="Amphibious warfare">Amphibious</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Blue-water_navy" title="Blue-water navy">Blue</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Brown-water_navy" title="Brown-water navy">Brown</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Green-water_navy" title="Green-water navy">Green</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Surface_warfare" title="Surface warfare">Surface</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Underwater_warfare" title="Underwater warfare">Underwater</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Seabed_warfare" title="Seabed warfare">Seabed</a></li></ul></li></ul></li></ul> <hr /> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Cyberwarfare" title="Cyberwarfare">Cyber</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Information_warfare" title="Information warfare">Information</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="background:transparent;border-top:1px solid #aaa;;color: var(--color-base)"><a href="/wiki/Weapon" title="Weapon">Weapons</a></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Anti-aircraft_warfare" title="Anti-aircraft warfare">Air defence</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Armoured_warfare" title="Armoured warfare">Armor</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Artillery" title="Artillery">Artillery</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Barrage_(artillery)" title="Barrage (artillery)">Barrage</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Biological_warfare" title="Biological warfare">Biological</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Military_camouflage" title="Military camouflage">Camouflage</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cavalry" title="Cavalry">Cavalry</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Horses_in_warfare" title="Horses in warfare">Horses</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cavalry_tactics#Cavalry_in_modern_warfare" title="Cavalry tactics">Air cavalry</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Chemical_warfare" title="Chemical warfare">Chemical</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Combined_arms" title="Combined arms">Combined arms</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Conventional_warfare" title="Conventional warfare">Conventional</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cyberweapon" title="Cyberweapon">Cyber</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Area_denial_weapon" title="Area denial weapon">Denial</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Disinformation" title="Disinformation">Disinformation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Drone_warfare" title="Drone warfare">Drone</a> / <a href="/wiki/Military_robot" title="Military robot">Robot</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Electromagnetic_warfare" class="mw-redirect" title="Electromagnetic warfare">Electromagnetic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Infantry" title="Infantry">Infantry</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Loitering_munition" title="Loitering munition">Loitering</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Missile_defense" title="Missile defense">Missile</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Martial_music" title="Martial music">Music</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Nuclear_warfare" title="Nuclear warfare">Nuclear</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Psychological_warfare" title="Psychological warfare">Psychological</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Radiological_warfare" title="Radiological warfare">Radiological</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Submarine_warfare" title="Submarine warfare">Submarine</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Unconventional_warfare" title="Unconventional warfare">Unconventional</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="background:transparent;border-top:1px solid #aaa;;color: var(--color-base)"><a href="/wiki/Military_tactics" title="Military tactics">Tactics</a></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"><a href="/wiki/List_of_military_tactics" title="List of military tactics">List of military tactics</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Air_combat_manoeuvring" title="Air combat manoeuvring">Aerial</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Airlift" title="Airlift">Airlift</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Air_assault" title="Air assault">Air assault</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Airbridge_(logistics)" title="Airbridge (logistics)">Airbridge</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Airdrop" title="Airdrop">Airdrop</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Anti-aircraft_warfare" title="Anti-aircraft warfare">Anti-aircraft</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Anti-submarine_warfare" title="Anti-submarine warfare">Anti-sub</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Anti-tank_warfare" title="Anti-tank warfare">Anti-tank</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Battle" title="Battle">Battle</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cavalry_tactics" title="Cavalry tactics">Cavalry</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Charge_(warfare)" title="Charge (warfare)">Charge</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Close-quarters_battle" title="Close-quarters battle">CQC</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Counterattack" title="Counterattack">Counterattack</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Counterinsurgency" title="Counterinsurgency">Counterinsurgency</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Convoy" title="Convoy">Convoy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Defeat_in_detail" title="Defeat in detail">Defeat in detail</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Defensive_fighting_position" title="Defensive fighting position">Foxhole</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Drone_warfare" title="Drone warfare">Drone</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Envelopment" title="Envelopment">Envelopment</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tactical_formation" title="Tactical formation">Formation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Guerrilla_warfare" title="Guerrilla warfare">Guerrilla</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Naval_tactics" title="Naval tactics">Naval</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Shock_and_awe" title="Shock and awe">Rapid dominance</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Encirclement" title="Encirclement">Encirclement</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Investment_(military)" title="Investment (military)">Investment</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Siege" title="Siege">Siege</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Swarming_(military)" title="Swarming (military)">Swarm</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Screening_(tactical)" title="Screening (tactical)">Screen</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Tactical_objective" title="Tactical objective">Tactical objective</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Saturation_attack" title="Saturation attack">Target saturation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Trench_warfare" title="Trench warfare">Trench</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Withdrawal_(military)" title="Withdrawal (military)">Withdrawal</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="background:transparent;border-top:1px solid #aaa;;color: var(--color-base)"><a href="/wiki/Operational_level_of_war" title="Operational level of war">Operational</a></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Military_operation" title="Military operation">Military operation</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Special_operations" title="Special operations">Special</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Operations_research" title="Operations research">Operations research</a></li> <li><i><a href="/wiki/Blitzkrieg" title="Blitzkrieg">Blitzkrieg</a></i></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Expeditionary_warfare" title="Expeditionary warfare">Expeditionary</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Deep_operation" title="Deep operation">Deep operation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Maneuver_warfare" title="Maneuver warfare">Maneuver</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Operational_manoeuvre_group" title="Operational manoeuvre group">Operational manoeuvre group</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Raid_(military)" title="Raid (military)">Raid</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Covert_operation" title="Covert operation">Covert</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Stay-behind" title="Stay-behind">Stay-behind</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="background:transparent;border-top:1px solid #aaa;;color: var(--color-base)"><a href="/wiki/Military_strategy" title="Military strategy">Strategy</a></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"><a href="/wiki/List_of_military_strategies_and_concepts" title="List of military strategies and concepts">List of military strategies and concepts</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Military_campaign" title="Military campaign">Military campaign</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Anti-access/area_denial" title="Anti-access/area denial">Anti-access</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Attrition_warfare" title="Attrition warfare">Attrition</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Commerce_raiding" title="Commerce raiding">Commerce raiding</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Counter-offensive" class="mw-redirect" title="Counter-offensive">Counter-offensive</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Culminating_point" title="Culminating point">Culminating</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Defence_in_depth" title="Defence in depth">Defence in depth</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Fabian_strategy" title="Fabian strategy">Fabian</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Empty_Fort_Strategy" title="Empty Fort Strategy">Empty fort</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mosaic_Warfare" class="mw-redirect" title="Mosaic Warfare">Mosaic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Military_deception" title="Military deception">Deception</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Strategic_defence" title="Strategic defence">Defensive</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Strategic_depth" title="Strategic depth">Depth</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Strategic_goal_(military)" title="Strategic goal (military)">Goal</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Nuclear_strategy" title="Nuclear strategy">Nuclear</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Naval_strategy" title="Naval strategy">Naval</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Offensive_(military)" title="Offensive (military)">Offensive</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Scorched_earth" title="Scorched earth">Scorched earth</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="background:transparent;border-top:1px solid #aaa;;color: var(--color-base)"><a href="/wiki/Grand_strategy" title="Grand strategy">Grand strategy</a></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Asymmetric_warfare" title="Asymmetric warfare">Asymmetric</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Blockade" title="Blockade">Blockade</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Broken-backed_war_theory" title="Broken-backed war theory">Broken-backed</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Class_conflict" title="Class conflict">Class</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Cold_war_(general_term)" class="mw-redirect" title="Cold war (general term)">Cold war</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Colonial_war" title="Colonial war">Colonial</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Conquest" title="Conquest">Conquest</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Containment" title="Containment">Containment</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Divide_and_rule" class="mw-redirect" title="Divide and rule">Divide and conquer</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Economic_warfare" title="Economic warfare">Economic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Endemic_warfare" class="mw-redirect" title="Endemic warfare">Endemic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Fleet_in_being" title="Fleet in being">Fleet in being</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Irregular_warfare" title="Irregular warfare">Irregular</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wars_of_national_liberation" title="Wars of national liberation">Liberation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Limited_war" title="Limited war">Limited</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Network-centric_warfare" title="Network-centric warfare">Network-centric</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/New_generation_warfare" title="New generation warfare">New generation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Perpetual_war" title="Perpetual war">Perpetual</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Political_warfare" title="Political warfare">Political</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Princely_rebellion" title="Princely rebellion">Princely</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Proxy_war" title="Proxy war">Proxy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Religious_war" title="Religious war">Religious</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Resource_war" title="Resource war">Resource</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Strategic_studies" title="Strategic studies">Strategic</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/War_of_succession" title="War of succession">Succession</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Military_technology" title="Military technology">Technology</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Theater_(warfare)" title="Theater (warfare)">Theater</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Total_war" title="Total war">Total war</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/World_war" title="World war">World war</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="background:transparent;border-top:1px solid #aaa;;color: var(--color-base)"><a href="/wiki/Military_administration" title="Military administration">Administrative</a></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Military_branch" title="Military branch">Branch</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Military_policy" title="Military policy">Policy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Staff_(military)" title="Staff (military)">Staff</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Military_education_and_training" title="Military education and training">Training</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Military_service" title="Military service">Service</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Military_sociology" title="Military sociology">Sociology</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="background:transparent;border-top:1px solid #aaa;;color: var(--color-base)"><a href="/wiki/Military_organization" title="Military organization">Organization</a></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Area_of_responsibility" title="Area of responsibility">Area of responsibility</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Command_hierarchy" title="Command hierarchy">Chain of command</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Command_and_control" title="Command and control">Command and control</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Military_doctrine" title="Military doctrine">Doctrine</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Order_of_battle" title="Order of battle">Order of battle</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Principles_of_war" title="Principles of war">Principles of war</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Economy_of_force" title="Economy of force">Economy of force</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Military_medicine" title="Military medicine">Medicine</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Military_engineering" title="Military engineering">Engineers</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Military_intelligence" title="Military intelligence">Intelligence</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Military_rank" title="Military rank">Ranks</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Military_technology" title="Military technology">Technology and equipment</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="background:transparent;border-top:1px solid #aaa;;color: var(--color-base)"><a href="/wiki/Military_personnel" title="Military personnel">Personnel</a></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Military_recruitment" title="Military recruitment">Recruitment</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Conscription" title="Conscription">Conscription</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mobilization" title="Mobilization">Mobilization</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Recruit_training" class="mw-redirect" title="Recruit training">Training</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Military_specialism" title="Military specialism">Specialism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Soldier" title="Soldier">Soldier</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Morale" title="Morale">Morale</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Military_volunteer" title="Military volunteer">Volunteer</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Women_in_the_military" title="Women in the military">Women</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Children_in_the_military" title="Children in the military">Children</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Transgender_people_and_military_service" title="Transgender people and military service">Transgender</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Sexual_harassment_in_the_military" title="Sexual harassment in the military">Harassment</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Conscientious_objector" title="Conscientious objector">Conscientious objector</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Counter-recruitment" title="Counter-recruitment">Counter-recruitment</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="background:transparent;border-top:1px solid #aaa;;color: var(--color-base)"><a href="/wiki/Military_logistics" title="Military logistics">Logistics</a></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/History_of_military_logistics" title="History of military logistics">History</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/War_economy" title="War economy">War economy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Arms_industry" title="Arms industry">Arms industry</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Materiel" title="Materiel">Materiel</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Military_supply-chain_management" title="Military supply-chain management">Supply-chain management</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Military%E2%80%93industrial_complex" title="Military–industrial complex">Military–industrial complex</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Military_base" title="Military base">Base</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Main_operating_base" title="Main operating base">MOB</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Forward_operating_base" title="Forward operating base">FOB</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Outpost_(military)" title="Outpost (military)">Outpost</a></li></ul></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="background:transparent;border-top:1px solid #aaa;;color: var(--color-base)"><a href="/wiki/Military_science" title="Military science">Science</a></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Power_projection" title="Power projection">Power projection</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Loss-of-strength_gradient" title="Loss-of-strength gradient">Loss-of-strength gradient</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Lanchester%27s_laws" title="Lanchester's laws">Lanchester's laws</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Force_multiplication" title="Force multiplication">Force multiplication</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Morale" title="Morale">Morale</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="background:transparent;border-top:1px solid #aaa;;color: var(--color-base)"><a href="/wiki/Law_of_war" title="Law of war">Law</a></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Military_occupation" title="Military occupation">Occupation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Armistice" title="Armistice">Armistice</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ceasefire" title="Ceasefire">Ceasefire</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Court-martial" title="Court-martial">Court-martial</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Desertion" title="Desertion">Desertion</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Geneva_Conventions" title="Geneva Conventions">Geneva Conventions</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Geneva_Protocol" title="Geneva Protocol">Geneva Protocol</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Islamic_military_jurisprudence" title="Islamic military jurisprudence">Islamic rules</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Military_justice" title="Military justice">Justice</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Combatant" title="Combatant">Lawful</a> / <a href="/wiki/Unlawful_combatant" title="Unlawful combatant">Unlawful combatant</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Perfidy" title="Perfidy">Perfidy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Regular_army" title="Regular army">Regular</a> / <a href="/wiki/Irregular_military" title="Irregular military">Irregular</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Jewish_laws_on_war" class="mw-redirect" title="Jewish laws on war">Jewish laws on war</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Rules_of_engagement" title="Rules of engagement">Rules of engagement</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Martial_law" title="Martial law">Martial law</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/War_crime" title="War crime">War crime</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/War_treason" title="War treason">War treason</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="background:transparent;border-top:1px solid #aaa;;color: var(--color-base)"><a href="/wiki/Military_theory" title="Military theory">Theory</a></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Air_supremacy" title="Air supremacy">Air supremacy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Appeasement" title="Appeasement">Appeasement</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Command_of_the_sea" title="Command of the sea">Command of the sea</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Deterrence_theory" title="Deterrence theory">Deterrence theory</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Full-spectrum_dominance" title="Full-spectrum dominance">Full-spectrum dominance</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Overmatch" title="Overmatch">Overmatch</a></li> <li><i><a href="/w/index.php?title=Unrestricted_warfare&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Unrestricted warfare (page does not exist)">Unrestricted warfare</a></i></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Just_war_theory" title="Just war theory">Just war theory</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Principles_of_war" title="Principles of war">Principles of war</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Philosophy_of_war" title="Philosophy of war">Philosophy of war</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Security_dilemma" title="Security dilemma">Security dilemma</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Tripwire_force" title="Tripwire force">Tripwire force</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Professional_wargaming" title="Professional wargaming">Wargaming</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Military_simulation" title="Military simulation">Simulation</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Military_exercise" title="Military exercise">Exercises</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Combat_effectiveness" title="Combat effectiveness">Combat effectiveness</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Center_of_gravity_(military)" title="Center of gravity (military)">Center of gravity</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="background:transparent;border-top:1px solid #aaa;;color: var(--color-base)"><a href="/wiki/Military_operations_other_than_war" title="Military operations other than war">Non-warfare</a></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Arms_control" title="Arms control">Arms control</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Counter-insurgency" class="mw-redirect" title="Counter-insurgency">Counter-insurgency</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Deterrence_theory" title="Deterrence theory">Deterrence</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Disaster_response" title="Disaster response">Disaster response</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Grey-zone_(international_relations)" title="Grey-zone (international relations)">Grey-zone</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Gunboat_diplomacy" title="Gunboat diplomacy">Gunboat diplomacy</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Humanitarian_aid" title="Humanitarian aid">Humanitarian aid</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Law_enforcement" title="Law enforcement">Law enforcement</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Low-intensity_conflict" title="Low-intensity conflict">Low-intensity conflict</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Military_engineering" title="Military engineering">Military engineering</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Peacekeeping" title="Peacekeeping">Peacekeeping</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Peacebuilding" title="Peacebuilding">Peacebuilding</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Peace_through_strength" title="Peace through strength">Peace through strength</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Show_of_force" title="Show of force">Show of force</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="background:transparent;border-top:1px solid #aaa;;color: var(--color-base)"><a href="/wiki/Military_tradition" title="Military tradition">Culture</a></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Military_awards_and_decorations" title="Military awards and decorations">Awards and decorations</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Battle_cry" title="Battle cry">Battle cry</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Warrior" title="Warrior">Warrior</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/War_film" title="War film">War film</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Military_science_fiction" title="Military science fiction">Military science fiction</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/War_novel" title="War novel">War novel</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Anti-war_movement" title="Anti-war movement">Anti-war movement</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Foot_drill" title="Foot drill">Foot drill</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/War_song" title="War song">War song</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Military_uniform" title="Military uniform">Uniform</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wargame" title="Wargame">Wargame</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Militarization" title="Militarization">Militarization</a> / <a href="/wiki/Militarism" title="Militarism">Militarism</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Camp_follower" title="Camp follower">Camp follower</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="background:transparent;border-top:1px solid #aaa;;color: var(--color-base)">Books</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Seven_Military_Classics" title="Seven Military Classics">Seven Military Classics</a> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/The_Art_of_War" title="The Art of War">The Art of War</a></li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/De_re_militari" title="De re militari">De re militari</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Strategemata" title="Strategemata">Strategemata</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="background:transparent;border-top:1px solid #aaa;;color: var(--color-base)">Related</div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Women_in_war" title="Women in war">Women in war</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/War_resister" title="War resister">War resister</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/War_studies" title="War studies">War studies</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Horses_in_warfare" title="Horses in warfare">Horses in warfare</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Wartime_sexual_violence" title="Wartime sexual violence">Wartime sexual violence</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Fifth_column" title="Fifth column">Fifth column</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mercenary" title="Mercenary">Mercenary</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Privateer" title="Privateer">Privateer</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Private_military_company" title="Private military company">Private military company</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-content"> <div class="sidebar-list mw-collapsible mw-collapsed"><div class="sidebar-list-title" style="background:transparent;border-top:1px solid #aaa;;color: var(--color-base)"><a href="/wiki/Category:Military_lists" title="Category:Military lists">Lists</a></div><div class="sidebar-list-content mw-collapsible-content"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Lists_of_battles" title="Lists of battles">Battles</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_military_occupations" title="List of military occupations">Military occupations</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_established_military_terms" title="List of established military terms">Military terms</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_military_operations" title="List of military operations">Operations</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_sieges" title="List of sieges">Sieges</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_war_crimes" title="List of war crimes">War crimes</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Outline_of_war#Wars" title="Outline of war">Wars</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Lists_of_weapons" title="Lists of weapons">Weapons</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_military_writers" title="List of military writers">Writers</a></li></ul></div></div></td> </tr><tr><td class="sidebar-navbar"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1129693374"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239400231">.mw-parser-output .navbar{display:inline;font-size:88%;font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .navbar-collapse{float:left;text-align:left}.mw-parser-output .navbar-boxtext{word-spacing:0}.mw-parser-output .navbar ul{display:inline-block;white-space:nowrap;line-height:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-brackets::before{margin-right:-0.125em;content:"[ "}.mw-parser-output .navbar-brackets::after{margin-left:-0.125em;content:" ]"}.mw-parser-output .navbar li{word-spacing:-0.125em}.mw-parser-output .navbar a>span,.mw-parser-output .navbar a>abbr{text-decoration:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-mini abbr{font-variant:small-caps;border-bottom:none;text-decoration:none;cursor:inherit}.mw-parser-output .navbar-ct-full{font-size:114%;margin:0 7em}.mw-parser-output .navbar-ct-mini{font-size:114%;margin:0 4em}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .navbar li a abbr{color:var(--color-base)!important}@media(prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .navbar li a abbr{color:var(--color-base)!important}}@media print{.mw-parser-output .navbar{display:none!important}}</style><div class="navbar plainlinks hlist navbar-mini"><ul><li class="nv-view"><a href="/wiki/Template:War" title="Template:War"><abbr title="View this template">v</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-talk"><a href="/wiki/Template_talk:War" title="Template talk:War"><abbr title="Discuss this template">t</abbr></a></li><li class="nv-edit"><a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Template:War" title="Special:EditPage/Template:War"><abbr title="Edit this template">e</abbr></a></li></ul></div></td></tr></tbody></table> <p><b>Airborne forces</b> are <a href="/wiki/Ground_warfare" class="mw-redirect" title="Ground warfare">ground combat</a> units <a href="/wiki/Airlift" title="Airlift">carried by aircraft</a> and <a href="/wiki/Airdrop" title="Airdrop">airdropped</a> into battle zones, typically by parachute drop. Parachute-qualified <a href="/wiki/Infantry" title="Infantry">infantry</a> and support personnel serving in airborne units are also known as <a href="/wiki/Paratrooper" title="Paratrooper">paratroopers</a>. </p><p>The main advantage of airborne forces is their ability to be deployed into combat zones without a land passage, as long as the <a href="/wiki/Airspace" title="Airspace">airspace</a> is accessible. Formations of airborne forces are limited only by the number and size of their <a href="/wiki/Transport_aircraft" title="Transport aircraft">transport aircraft</a>; a sizeable force can appear "out of the sky" behind enemy lines in merely hours if not minutes, an action known as <i>vertical envelopment</i>. </p><p>Airborne forces typically lack enough supplies for prolonged combat and so they are used for establishing an <a href="/wiki/Airhead" title="Airhead">airhead</a> to bring in larger forces before carrying out other combat objectives. Some <a href="/wiki/Infantry_fighting_vehicle" title="Infantry fighting vehicle">infantry fighting vehicles</a> have also been modified for paradropping with infantry to provide heavier firepower. </p><p><a href="/wiki/Protocol_I" title="Protocol I">Protocol I</a> of the <a href="/wiki/Geneva_Conventions" title="Geneva Conventions">Geneva Conventions</a> protects parachutists in distress, <a href="/wiki/Attacks_on_parachutists#international_law" title="Attacks on parachutists">but not airborne troops</a>. Their necessarily-slow descent causes paratroopers to be vulnerable to <a href="/wiki/Anti-air" class="mw-redirect" title="Anti-air">anti-air</a> fire from ground defenders, but combat jumps are at low altitude (400–500 ft) and normally carried out a short distance away (or directly on if lightly defended) from the target area at night. Airborne operations are also particularly sensitive to weather conditions, which can be dangerous to both the paratroopers and <a href="/wiki/Airlifter" class="mw-redirect" title="Airlifter">airlifters</a>, and so extensive planning is critical to the success of an airborne operation. </p><p>Advances in <a href="/wiki/VTOL" title="VTOL">VTOL</a> technologies (<a href="/wiki/Helicopter" title="Helicopter">helicopter</a> and <a href="/wiki/Tiltrotor" title="Tiltrotor">tiltrotor</a>) since <a href="/wiki/World_War_II" title="World War II">World War II</a> have brought increased flexibility, and air assaults have largely been the preferred method of insertion for recent conflicts, but airborne insertion is still maintained as a rapid response capability to get troops on the ground anywhere in the world within hours for a variety of missions. </p> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r886046785">.mw-parser-output .toclimit-2 .toclevel-1 ul,.mw-parser-output .toclimit-3 .toclevel-2 ul,.mw-parser-output .toclimit-4 .toclevel-3 ul,.mw-parser-output .toclimit-5 .toclevel-4 ul,.mw-parser-output .toclimit-6 .toclevel-5 ul,.mw-parser-output .toclimit-7 .toclevel-6 ul{display:none}</style><div class="toclimit-3"><meta property="mw:PageProp/toc" /></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Early_history">Early history</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Airborne_forces&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Early history"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p><a href="/wiki/Benjamin_Franklin" title="Benjamin Franklin">Benjamin Franklin</a> envisioned the danger of airborne attack in 1784, only a few months after the <a href="/wiki/Montgolfier_brothers" title="Montgolfier brothers">first manned flight</a> in a <a href="/wiki/Hot_air_balloon" title="Hot air balloon">hot air balloon</a>: </p> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1244412712">.mw-parser-output .templatequote{overflow:hidden;margin:1em 0;padding:0 32px}.mw-parser-output .templatequotecite{line-height:1.5em;text-align:left;margin-top:0}@media(min-width:500px){.mw-parser-output .templatequotecite{padding-left:1.6em}}</style><blockquote class="templatequote"><p>Five Thousand Balloons capable of raising two Men each, would not cost more than Five <a href="/wiki/Ships_of_the_Line" class="mw-redirect" title="Ships of the Line">Ships of the Line</a>: And where is the Prince who can afford so to cover his Country with Troops for its Defense, as that Ten Thousand Men descending from the Clouds, might not in many Places do an infinite deal of Mischief, before a Force could be brought together to repel them?<sup id="cite_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-1"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>1<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></p></blockquote> <p>An early modern operation was first envisioned by <a href="/wiki/Winston_Churchill" title="Winston Churchill">Winston Churchill</a> who proposed the creation of an airborne force to assault behind the German lines in 1917 during the <a href="/wiki/World_War_I" title="World War I">First World War</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-2"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>2<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Later in late 1918. <a href="/wiki/Major_(rank)" title="Major (rank)">Major</a> <a href="/wiki/Lewis_H._Brereton" title="Lewis H. Brereton">Lewis H. Brereton</a> and his superior <a href="/wiki/Brigadier_General" class="mw-redirect" title="Brigadier General">Brigadier General</a> <a href="/wiki/Billy_Mitchell" title="Billy Mitchell">Billy Mitchell</a> suggested dropping elements of the <a href="/wiki/1st_Infantry_Division_(United_States)" title="1st Infantry Division (United States)">U.S. 1st Division</a> behind German lines near <a href="/wiki/Metz" title="Metz">Metz</a>. The operation was planned for February 1919 but the war ended before the attack could be seriously planned. Mitchell conceived that US troops could be rapidly trained to utilize parachutes and drop from converted bombers to land behind Metz in synchronisation with a planned infantry offensive. </p><p>Following the war, the <a href="/wiki/United_States_Army_Air_Service" title="United States Army Air Service">United States Army Air Service</a> experimented with the concept of carrying troops on the wings of aircraft, with them pulled off by the opening of their parachutes. The first true paratroop drop was by Italy in November 1927. Within a few years, several battalions were raised and eventually formed into two <a href="/wiki/185th_Infantry_Division_%22Folgore%22" title="185th Infantry Division "Folgore"">185th Infantry Division "Folgore"</a> and <a href="/wiki/184th_Infantry_Division_%22Nembo%22" title="184th Infantry Division "Nembo"">184th Infantry Division "Nembo"</a> divisions.<sup id="cite_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-3"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>3<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Although they later fought with distinction in <a href="/wiki/World_War_II" title="World War II">World War II</a>, they were never used in a parachute drop. Men drawn from the Italian parachute forces were dropped in a special-forces operation in North Africa in 1943 in an attempt to destroy parked aircraft of the <a href="/wiki/United_States_Army_Air_Forces" title="United States Army Air Forces">United States Army Air Forces</a>. </p><p>At about the same time, the <a href="/wiki/Soviet_Union" title="Soviet Union">Soviet Union</a> was also experimenting with the idea, planning to drop entire units complete with <a href="/wiki/Military_vehicle" title="Military vehicle">vehicles</a> and <a href="/wiki/Light_tank" title="Light tank">light tanks</a>. To help train enough experienced jumpers, parachute clubs were organized with the aim of transferring into the armed forces if needed. Planning progressed to the point that Corps-size drops were demonstrated to foreign observers, including the British Military Attaché <a href="/wiki/Archibald_Wavell,_1st_Earl_Wavell" title="Archibald Wavell, 1st Earl Wavell">Archibald Wavell</a>, in the Kiev military district maneuvers of 1935. </p><p>One of the observing parties, <a href="/wiki/Nazi_Germany" title="Nazi Germany">Nazi Germany</a>, was particularly interested. In 1936, Major F. W. Immans was ordered to set up a parachute school at <a href="/wiki/Stendal" title="Stendal">Stendal</a> (Borstel), and was allocated a number of <a href="/wiki/Junkers_Ju_52" title="Junkers Ju 52">Junkers Ju 52</a> aircraft to train on. The military had already purchased large numbers of Junkers Ju 52s which were slightly modified for use as paratroop transports in addition to their other duties. The first training class was known as <i>Ausbildungskommando Immans</i>. They commenced the first course on May 3, 1936. </p><p>Other nations, including <a href="/wiki/Argentina" title="Argentina">Argentina</a>, Peru, <a href="/wiki/Imperial_Japan" class="mw-redirect" title="Imperial Japan">Japan</a>, <a href="/wiki/France" title="France">France</a> and <a href="/wiki/Poland" title="Poland">Poland</a> also organized airborne units around this time. France became the first nation to organize women in an airborne unit, recruiting 200 nurses who during peacetime would parachute into <a href="/wiki/Natural_disaster" title="Natural disaster">natural disaster</a> zones but also as <a href="/wiki/Reservist" title="Reservist">reservists</a> who would be a uniformed medical unit during wartime.<sup id="cite_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-4"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>4<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="World_War_II">World War II</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Airborne_forces&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: World War II"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Axis_operations">Axis operations</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Airborne_forces&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Axis operations"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Several groups within the German armed forces attempted to raise their own paratroop formations, resulting in confusion. As a result, <a href="/wiki/Luftwaffe" title="Luftwaffe">Luftwaffe</a> General <a href="/wiki/Kurt_Student" title="Kurt Student">Kurt Student</a> was put in overall command of developing a paratrooper force to be known as the <span title="German-language text"><i lang="de"><a href="/wiki/Fallschirmj%C3%A4ger_(World_War_II)" class="mw-redirect" title="Fallschirmjäger (World War II)">Fallschirmjäger</a></i></span>. </p><p>During the invasions of Norway and Denmark in <a href="/wiki/Operation_Weser%C3%BCbung" title="Operation Weserübung">Operation Weserübung</a>, the Luftwaffe dropped paratroopers on several locations. In Denmark, a small unit dropped on the Masnedøfort on the small island of <a href="/wiki/Masned%C3%B8" title="Masnedø">Masnedø</a> to seize the <a href="/wiki/Storstr%C3%B8m_Bridge" title="Storstrøm Bridge">Storstrøm Bridge</a> linking the islands of <a href="/wiki/Falster" title="Falster">Falster</a> and <a href="/wiki/Zealand" title="Zealand">Zealand</a>. A paratroop detachment also dropped at the airfield of <a href="/wiki/Aalborg_Air_Base" title="Aalborg Air Base">Aalborg</a> which was crucial for the Luftwaffe for operations over Norway. In Norway, a company of paratroopers dropped at Oslo's undefended airstrip. Over the course of the morning and early afternoon of April 9, 1940, the Germans flew in sufficient reinforcements to move into the capital in the afternoon, but by that time the Norwegian government had fled. </p><p>In the <a href="/wiki/Battle_of_France" title="Battle of France">Battle of France</a>, members of the <a href="/wiki/Brandenburgers" title="Brandenburgers">Brandenburg Regiment</a> landed by <a href="/wiki/Fieseler_Fi_156" class="mw-redirect" title="Fieseler Fi 156">Fieseler Fi 156</a> Storch light reconnaissance planes on the bridges immediately to the south of the <a href="/wiki/10th_Panzer_Division_(Wehrmacht)" title="10th Panzer Division (Wehrmacht)">10th Panzer Division</a>'s route of march through the southern <a href="/wiki/Ardennes" title="Ardennes">Ardennes</a>. In Belgium, a small group of German glider-borne troops landed on top of the Belgian fortress of <a href="/wiki/Eben_Emael" class="mw-redirect" title="Eben Emael">Eben Emael</a> on the morning of May 10, 1940, and disabled the majority of its artillery. The fort held on for another day before surrendering. This opened up Belgium to attack by <a href="/wiki/German_Army_Group_B" class="mw-redirect" title="German Army Group B">German Army Group B</a>. </p><p>The Dutch were exposed to the first large scale airborne attack in history. During the <a href="/wiki/Battle_of_the_Netherlands" class="mw-redirect" title="Battle of the Netherlands">invasion of the Netherlands</a>, the Germans threw into battle almost their entire <i>Luftlandekorps</i>, an airborne assault army corps that consisted of one parachute division and one division of airlanding troops plus the necessary transport capacity. The existence of this formation had been carefully kept secret until then. Two simultaneous airborne operations were launched. German paratroopers <a href="/wiki/Battle_for_The_Hague" title="Battle for The Hague">landed at three airfields</a> near <a href="/wiki/The_Hague" title="The Hague">The Hague</a>, hoping to seize the Dutch government. From one of these airfields, they were driven out after the first wave of reinforcements, brought in by <a href="/wiki/Junkers_Ju_52" title="Junkers Ju 52">Ju 52s</a>, was annihilated by anti-aircraft fire and fierce resistance by some remaining Dutch defenders. As a result, numerous crashed and burning aircraft blocked the runway, preventing further reinforcements from landing. This was one of the few occasions where an airfield captured by paratroops has been recaptured. The other two airfields were recaptured as well. Simultaneously, the Germans dropped small packets of paratroopers to seize the crucial bridges that led directly across the Netherlands and into the heart of the country. They opened the way for the 9th Panzer Division. Within a day, the Dutch position became hopeless. Nevertheless, Dutch forces inflicted high losses on German transportation aircraft. Moreover, 1200 German elite troops from the <i>Luftlandekorps</i> taken prisoner around The Hague, were shipped to England just before the capitulation of the Dutch armed forces. </p><p>The <i>Fallschirmjägers'</i> greatest victory and greatest losses occurred during the <a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Crete" title="Battle of Crete">Battle of Crete</a>. Signals intelligence, in the form of <a href="/wiki/Ultra_(cryptography)" title="Ultra (cryptography)">Ultra</a>, enabled the British to wait on each German drop zone, yet despite compromised secrecy, surviving German paratroops and airlanded mountain troops pushed the Commonwealth forces off the island in part by unexpected fire support from <a href="/wiki/7.5_cm_Leichtgesch%C3%BCtz_40" title="7.5 cm Leichtgeschütz 40">their light 75 mm guns</a>, though seaborne reinforcements were destroyed by the Royal Navy. However, the losses were so great that <a href="/wiki/Adolf_Hitler" title="Adolf Hitler">Adolf Hitler</a> forbade their use in such operations in the future. He felt that the main strength of the paratroopers was novelty, and now that the British had clearly figured out how to defend against them, there was no real point to using them any more. </p><p>One notable exception was the use of airborne forces in special operations. On September 12, 1943, <a href="/wiki/Otto_Skorzeny" title="Otto Skorzeny">Otto Skorzeny</a> led a daring <a href="/wiki/Gran_Sasso_raid" title="Gran Sasso raid">glider-based assault on the Gran Sasso Hotel</a>, high in the <a href="/wiki/Apennine_Mountains" title="Apennine Mountains">Apennines</a> mountains, and rescued <a href="/wiki/Benito_Mussolini" title="Benito Mussolini">Benito Mussolini</a> from house arrest with very few shots being fired. On May 25, 1944, paratroopers were dropped as part of a <a href="/wiki/Raid_on_Drvar" class="mw-redirect" title="Raid on Drvar">failed attempt</a> to capture <a href="/wiki/Josip_Broz_Tito" title="Josip Broz Tito">Josip Broz Tito</a>, the head of the <a href="/wiki/Yugoslav_Partisans" title="Yugoslav Partisans">Yugoslav Partisans</a> and later postwar leader of Yugoslavia. </p><p>Before the <a href="/wiki/Pacific_War" title="Pacific War">Pacific War</a> began, the <a href="/wiki/Imperial_Japanese_Army" title="Imperial Japanese Army">Imperial Japanese Army</a> formed <i><a href="/wiki/Teishin_Shudan" title="Teishin Shudan">Teishin Dan</a></i> ("Raiding Brigades") and the <a href="/wiki/Imperial_Japanese_Navy" title="Imperial Japanese Navy">Imperial Japanese Navy</a> trained <a href="/wiki/Japanese_marine_paratroopers_of_World_War_II" title="Japanese marine paratroopers of World War II">marine (<i>Rikusentai</i>) paratroopers</a>. They used paratroops in several battles in the <a href="/wiki/Netherlands_East_Indies_campaign" class="mw-redirect" title="Netherlands East Indies campaign">Dutch East Indies campaign</a> of 1941–1942. </p><p><i>Rikusentai</i> airborne troops were first dropped at the <a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Manado" title="Battle of Manado">Battle of Manado</a>, <a href="/wiki/Sulawesi" title="Sulawesi">Celebes</a> in January 1942,<sup id="cite_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-5"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>5<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-6" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-6"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>6<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and then near <a href="/w/index.php?title=Usua&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Usua (page does not exist)">Usua</a>, during the <a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Timor_(1942%E2%80%9343)" class="mw-redirect" title="Battle of Timor (1942–43)">Timor campaign</a>, in February 1942.<sup id="cite_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-7"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>7<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> <i>Teishin</i> made a jump at the <a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Palembang" title="Battle of Palembang">Battle of Palembang</a>, on <a href="/wiki/Sumatra" title="Sumatra">Sumatra</a> in February 1942.<sup id="cite_ref-8" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-8"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>8<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Japanese airborne units suffered heavy casualties during the Dutch East Indies campaign, and were rarely used as parachute troops afterward. </p><p>On 6 December 1944, a 750-strong detachment from <i>Teishin Shudan</i> ("Raiding Division") and the <i>Takachiho</i> <a href="/wiki/Special_forces" title="Special forces">special forces</a> unit, attacked U.S. airbases in the <a href="/wiki/Burauen" title="Burauen">Burauen</a> area on <a href="/wiki/Leyte" title="Leyte">Leyte</a>, in the <a href="/wiki/Philippines" title="Philippines">Philippines</a>. The force destroyed some planes and inflicted casualties, but was eventually wiped out. </p><p>Japan built a combat strike force of 825 gliders but never committed it to battle. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Allied_operations">Allied operations</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Airborne_forces&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Allied operations"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <figure class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:The_Queen_and_Princess_Elizabeth_talk_to_paratroopers_in_front_of_a_Halifax_aircraft_during_a_tour_of_airborne_forces_preparing_for_D-Day,_19_May_1944._H38612.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9d/The_Queen_and_Princess_Elizabeth_talk_to_paratroopers_in_front_of_a_Halifax_aircraft_during_a_tour_of_airborne_forces_preparing_for_D-Day%2C_19_May_1944._H38612.jpg/220px-thumbnail.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="153" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9d/The_Queen_and_Princess_Elizabeth_talk_to_paratroopers_in_front_of_a_Halifax_aircraft_during_a_tour_of_airborne_forces_preparing_for_D-Day%2C_19_May_1944._H38612.jpg/330px-thumbnail.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9d/The_Queen_and_Princess_Elizabeth_talk_to_paratroopers_in_front_of_a_Halifax_aircraft_during_a_tour_of_airborne_forces_preparing_for_D-Day%2C_19_May_1944._H38612.jpg/440px-thumbnail.jpg 2x" data-file-width="3508" data-file-height="2439" /></a><figcaption><a href="/wiki/Queen_Elizabeth_The_Queen_Mother" title="Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother">Queen Elizabeth</a> and <a href="/wiki/Elizabeth_II" title="Elizabeth II">Princess Elizabeth</a> talking to paratroopers in preparation of <a href="/wiki/Normandy_landings" title="Normandy landings">D-Day</a>, 19 May 1944</figcaption></figure> <p>Ironically, the battle that ended Germany's paratrooper operations had the opposite effect on the Allies. Convinced of the effectiveness of airborne assaults after Crete, the Allies hurried to train and organize their own airborne units. The British established No.1 Parachute Training School at <a href="/wiki/RAF_Ringway" title="RAF Ringway">RAF Ringway</a> near <a href="/wiki/Manchester" title="Manchester">Manchester</a>, which trained all 60,000 European <a href="/wiki/Paratrooper" title="Paratrooper">paratroopers</a> recruited by the <a href="/wiki/Allies_of_World_War_II" title="Allies of World War II">Allies</a> during World War II. </p><p>An Airlanding School was also set up in <a href="/wiki/New_Delhi" title="New Delhi">New Delhi</a>, <a href="/wiki/India" title="India">India</a>, in October/November 1941, at the then-Welllingdon Airport (now the defunct <a href="/wiki/Safdarjung_Airport" title="Safdarjung Airport">Safdarjang Airport</a>) to train paratroopers for the <a href="/wiki/Indian_Army_during_World_War_II" title="Indian Army during World War II">British Indian Army</a> which had been authorised to raise an airborne-capable formation earlier, resulting in the formation of the <a href="/wiki/50th_Parachute_Brigade_(India)" title="50th Parachute Brigade (India)">50th Indian Parachute Brigade</a>. The Indian airborne forces expanded during the war to the point that an airborne corps was planned bringing together the <a href="/wiki/44th_Airborne_Division_(India)" title="44th Airborne Division (India)">2nd Indian Airborne Division</a> and the <a href="/wiki/6th_Airborne_Division_(United_Kingdom)" title="6th Airborne Division (United Kingdom)">British 6th Airborne Division</a>, but the war ended before it could materialize. </p><p>A fundamental decision was whether to create small airborne units to be used in specific <a href="/wiki/Coup_de_main" title="Coup de main">coup-de-main</a> type operations, or to organize entire airborne divisions for larger operations. Many of the early successful airborne operations were small, carried out by a few units, such as seizing a bridge. After seeing success of other units and observing <a href="/wiki/Smokejumper" title="Smokejumper">smokejumper</a> training methods on how training can be done in June 1940, General <a href="/wiki/William_C._Lee" title="William C. Lee">William C. Lee</a> of the U.S. Army established the Army's first airborne division. The 101st would be reorganized into the <a href="/wiki/101st_Airborne_Division_(United_States)" class="mw-redirect" title="101st Airborne Division (United States)">101st Airborne Division</a>. </p><p>The Allies eventually formed two British and five American divisions: the British <a href="/wiki/1st_Airborne_Division_(United_Kingdom)" title="1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom)">1st</a> and 6th Airborne Divisions, and the U.S. <a href="/wiki/11th_Airborne_Division_(United_States)" class="mw-redirect" title="11th Airborne Division (United States)">11th</a>, <a href="/wiki/13th_Airborne_Division_(United_States)" title="13th Airborne Division (United States)">13th</a>, <a href="/wiki/17th_Airborne_Division_(United_States)" title="17th Airborne Division (United States)">17th</a>, <a href="/wiki/82nd_Airborne_Division" title="82nd Airborne Division">82nd</a>, and <a href="/wiki/101st_Airborne_Division" title="101st Airborne Division">101st Airborne Divisions</a>. By 1944, the British divisions were grouped into the <a href="/wiki/I_Airborne_Corps_(United_Kingdom)" title="I Airborne Corps (United Kingdom)">1st Airborne Corps</a> under <a href="/wiki/Lieutenant-general_(United_Kingdom)" title="Lieutenant-general (United Kingdom)">Lieutenant-General</a> <a href="/wiki/Frederick_Browning" title="Frederick Browning">Sir Frederick Browning</a>, while the American divisions in the European Theatre (the 17th, 82nd, and 101st) were organized into the <a href="/wiki/XVIII_Airborne_Corps" title="XVIII Airborne Corps">XVIII Airborne Corps</a> under <a href="/wiki/Major_general_(United_States)" title="Major general (United States)">Major General</a> <a href="/wiki/Matthew_Ridgway" title="Matthew Ridgway">Matthew Ridgway</a>. Both corps fell under the <a href="/wiki/First_Allied_Airborne_Army" title="First Allied Airborne Army">First Allied Airborne Army</a> under U.S. <a href="/wiki/Lieutenant_general_(United_States)" title="Lieutenant general (United States)">Lieutenant General</a> Lewis H. Brereton. </p><p>The first U.S. airborne operation was by the <a href="/wiki/509th_Infantry_Regiment_(United_States)" title="509th Infantry Regiment (United States)">509th Parachute Infantry Battalion</a> in November 1942, as part of <a href="/wiki/Operation_Torch" title="Operation Torch">Operation Torch</a> in North Africa. The U.S. 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions saw the most action in the <a href="/wiki/European_Theatre_of_World_War_II" class="mw-redirect" title="European Theatre of World War II">European Theater</a>, with the former in <a href="/wiki/Allied_invasion_of_Sicily" title="Allied invasion of Sicily">Sicily</a> and Italy in 1943, and both in <a href="/wiki/Operation_Overlord" title="Operation Overlord">Normandy</a> and <a href="/wiki/Operation_Market_Garden" title="Operation Market Garden">the Netherlands</a> in 1944. The <a href="/wiki/517th_Parachute_Regimental_Combat_Team" title="517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team">517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team</a> was the principal force in Operation Dragoon in Southern France. The 17th Airborne Division deployed to England in 1944 but did not see combat until the <a href="/wiki/Battle_of_the_Bulge" title="Battle of the Bulge">Battle of the Bulge</a> in January 1945 where they, along with the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions were deployed as ground troops. </p><p>The U.S. 11th and 13th Airborne Divisions were held in reserve in the United States until 1944 when the 11th Airborne Division was deployed to the Pacific, but mostly used as ground troops or for smaller airborne operations. The 13th Airborne Division was deployed to France in January 1945 but never saw combat as a unit. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Soviet_operations">Soviet operations</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Airborne_forces&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: Soviet operations"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The Soviets mounted only one large-scale airborne operation in World War II, despite their early leadership in the field in the 1930s. Russia also pioneered the development of combat gliders, but used them only for cargo during the war. </p><p>Axis air superiority early in the conflict limited the ability of the Soviets to mount such operations, whilst later in the conflict ongoing shortages of materiel, including silk for parachutes, was also a problem. Nonetheless, the Soviets maintained their doctrinal belief in the effectiveness of airborne forces, as part of their concept of <a href="/wiki/Deep_operations" class="mw-redirect" title="Deep operations">"deep battle"</a>, throughout the war.<sup id="cite_ref-9" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-9"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>9<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The largest drop during the war was corp-sized (the <a href="/wiki/Vyazma_airborne_operation" title="Vyazma airborne operation">Vyazma airborne Operation</a>, the <a href="/wiki/4th_Airborne_Corps" class="mw-redirect" title="4th Airborne Corps">4th Airborne Corps</a>). It was unsuccessful.<sup id="cite_ref-10" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-10"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>10<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Airborne formations were used as elite infantry units however, and played a critical role in several battles. For example, at the <a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Kursk" title="Battle of Kursk">Battle of Kursk</a>, the Guards Airborne defended the eastern shoulder of the southern penetration and was critical to holding back the German penetration. </p><p>The Soviets sent at least one team of observers to the British and American airborne planning for D-Day,<sup id="cite_ref-11" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-11"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>11<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> but did not reciprocate the liaison. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Early_commando_raids">Early commando raids</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Airborne_forces&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: Early commando raids"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading5"><h5 id="Operation_Colossus:_Raid_on_the_Tragino_Aqueduct">Operation Colossus: Raid on the Tragino Aqueduct</h5><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Airborne_forces&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: Operation Colossus: Raid on the Tragino Aqueduct"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Britain's first airborne assault took place on February 10, 1941, when 'X' Troop, No 11 Special Air Service Battalion (which was formed from No 2 Commando and subsequently became 1st Battalion, The Parachute Regiment) dropped into southern Italy from converted <a href="/wiki/Armstrong_Whitworth_Whitley" title="Armstrong Whitworth Whitley">Whitley</a> bombers flying from <a href="/wiki/Malta" title="Malta">Malta</a> and demolished a span of the aqueduct near Tragino in a daring night raid named <a href="/wiki/Operation_Colossus" title="Operation Colossus">Operation Colossus</a>. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading5"><h5 id="Operation_Squatter:_Raid_on_Axis_airfields_in_Libya">Operation Squatter: Raid on Axis airfields in Libya</h5><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Airborne_forces&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: Operation Squatter: Raid on Axis airfields in Libya"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>54 effectives of 'L' Detachment, Special Air Service Brigade (largely drawn from the disbanded <a href="/wiki/Layforce" title="Layforce">Layforce</a>) mounted a night parachute insertion onto two drop zones in Bir Temrad, North Africa on the night of November 16/17 1941 in preparation for a stealthy attack on the <a href="/wiki/Forward_airfield" class="mw-redirect" title="Forward airfield">forward airfields</a> of Gambut and <a href="/wiki/Timimi" title="Timimi">Tmimi</a> in order to destroy the Axis fighter force on the ground before the start of <a href="/wiki/Operation_Crusader" title="Operation Crusader">Operation Crusader</a>, a major offensive by the <a href="/wiki/British_Eighth_Army" class="mw-redirect" title="British Eighth Army">British Eighth Army</a>. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading5"><h5 id="Operation_Biting:_The_Bruneval_raid">Operation Biting: The Bruneval raid</h5><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Airborne_forces&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: Operation Biting: The Bruneval raid"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>A <a href="/wiki/W%C3%BCrzburg_radar" title="Würzburg radar">Würzburg radar</a> site on the coast of France was attacked by a company of 120 British paratroopers from 2 Battalion, Parachute Regiment, commanded by Major <a href="/wiki/John_Frost_(British_Army_officer)" title="John Frost (British Army officer)">John Frost</a>, in <a href="/wiki/Operation_Biting" title="Operation Biting">Operation Biting</a> on February 27, 1942. The key electronic components of the system were dismantled by an English radar mechanic and brought back to Britain for examination so that countermeasures could be devised. The result was a British victory. Of the 120 paratroopers who dropped in the dead of night, there were two killed, six wounded, and six captured. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Mediterranean">Mediterranean</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Airborne_forces&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: Mediterranean"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading5"><h5 id="Operation_Mercury:_Crete">Operation Mercury: Crete</h5><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Airborne_forces&action=edit&section=11" title="Edit section: Operation Mercury: Crete"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236090951">.mw-parser-output .hatnote{font-style:italic}.mw-parser-output div.hatnote{padding-left:1.6em;margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .hatnote i{font-style:normal}.mw-parser-output .hatnote+link+.hatnote{margin-top:-0.5em}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .hatnote{display:none!important}}</style><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Crete" title="Battle of Crete">Battle of Crete</a></div> <p>This was the last large-scale airborne assault by Hitler and the Germans. The German paratroopers had such a high casualty rate that Hitler forbade any further large-scale airborne attacks. The Allies, on the other hand, were very impressed by the potential of paratroopers, and started to build their own airborne divisions. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading5"><h5 id="Operation_Torch:_North_Africa">Operation Torch: North Africa</h5><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Airborne_forces&action=edit&section=12" title="Edit section: Operation Torch: North Africa"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">See also: <a href="/wiki/British_airborne_operations_in_North_Africa" title="British airborne operations in North Africa">British airborne operations in North Africa</a></div> <p>The first United States airborne combat mission occurred during Operation Torch in North Africa on 8 November 1942. 531 men of the 2nd Battalion, 509th Parachute Infantry Regiment flew over 1,600 miles (2,600 km) at night from Britain, over Spain, intending to drop near <a href="/wiki/Oran" title="Oran">Oran</a> and capture two airfields. Navigation errors, communications problems, and bad weather scattered the forces. Seven of the 39 C-47s landed far from Oran from <a href="/wiki/Gibraltar" title="Gibraltar">Gibraltar</a> to <a href="/wiki/Tunisia" title="Tunisia">Tunisia</a>, and only ten actually delivered their troops by parachute drop. The remainder off-loaded after 28 C-47 troop carriers, short on fuel, landed on the Sebkra d'Oran dry lake, and marched overland to their objectives. </p><p>One week later, after repacking their own chutes, 304 men of the battalion conducted a second combat jump on 15 November 1942 to secure the airfield at Youk-les-Bains near the Tunisian border. From this base, the battalion conducted combined operations with various French forces against the German Afrika Korps in Tunisia. A unit of French Algerian infantry, the 3rd Regiment of Zouaves, was present at Youk-les-Bains and awarded the American paratroopers their own regimental crest as a gesture of respect. This badge was awarded to the battalion commander on 15 November 1942 by the 3rd Zouaves' regimental commander, and is worn today by all members of the 509th Infantry. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading5"><h5 id="Operation_Husky:_Sicily">Operation Husky: Sicily</h5><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Airborne_forces&action=edit&section=13" title="Edit section: Operation Husky: Sicily"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Allied_invasion_of_Sicily" title="Allied invasion of Sicily">Allied invasion of Sicily</a></div> <p>As part of Operation Husky, the Allied invasion of the island of Sicily, four airborne operations (two British and two American) were carried out, landing during the nights of July 9 and 10 1943. The American paratroopers were from the 82nd Airborne Division, mainly <a href="/wiki/Colonel_(United_Kingdom)" title="Colonel (United Kingdom)">Colonel</a> <a href="/wiki/James_M._Gavin" title="James M. Gavin">James Gavin</a>'s <a href="/wiki/505th_Infantry_Regiment_(United_States)" title="505th Infantry Regiment (United States)">505th Parachute Regimental Combat Team</a> (consisting of the 3rd Battalion of the <a href="/wiki/504th_Infantry_Regiment_(United_States)" title="504th Infantry Regiment (United States)">504th PIR</a>, Company 'B' of the <a href="/w/index.php?title=307th_Airborne_Engineer_Battalion_(United_States)&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="307th Airborne Engineer Battalion (United States) (page does not exist)">307th Airborne Engineer Battalion</a> and the <a href="/w/index.php?title=456th_Parachute_Field_Artillery_Battalion_(United_States)&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="456th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion (United States) (page does not exist)">456th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion</a>, with other supporting units), making their first combat jump. Strong winds encountered en route blew the dropping aircraft off course and scattered them widely. The result was that around half the paratroopers failed to make it to their rallying points. The British airborne troops from the 1st Airborne Division were <a href="/wiki/Glider_infantry" title="Glider infantry">glider infantry</a> of the <a href="/wiki/1st_Airlanding_Brigade_(United_Kingdom)" title="1st Airlanding Brigade (United Kingdom)">1st Airlanding Brigade</a>, commanded by <a href="/wiki/Brigadier_(United_Kingdom)" title="Brigadier (United Kingdom)">Brigadier</a> <a href="/wiki/Philip_Hugh_Whitby_Hicks" class="mw-redirect" title="Philip Hugh Whitby Hicks">Philip Hicks</a>, and they fared little better. Only 12 out of 137 gliders in <a href="/wiki/Operation_Ladbroke" title="Operation Ladbroke">Operation Ladbroke</a> landed on target, with more than half landing in the sea. Nevertheless, the scattered airborne troops maximised their opportunities, attacking patrols and creating confusion wherever possible. On the night of 11 July, a reinforcement drop of the 82nd, consisting of the 504th Parachute Regimental Combat Team (composed of the 1st and 2nd Battalions, the <a href="/wiki/376th_Parachute_Field_Artillery_Battalion" title="376th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion">376th Parachute Field Artillery</a> and Company 'A' of the 307th Airborne Engineer Battalion), under Colonel <a href="/wiki/Reuben_Henry_Tucker_III" title="Reuben Henry Tucker III">Reuben Tucker</a>, behind American lines at Farello airfield resulted in heavy <a href="/wiki/Friendly_fire" title="Friendly fire">friendly fire</a> casualties when, despite forewarnings, Allied anti-aircraft fire both ashore and aboard <a href="/wiki/United_States_Navy" title="United States Navy">U.S Navy</a> ships shot down 23 of the transports as they flew over the beachhead.<sup id="cite_ref-12" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-12"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>12<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>Despite a catastrophic loss of gliders and troops loads at sea, the British 1st Airlanding Brigade captured the Ponte Grande bridge south of <a href="/wiki/Syracuse_(Italy)" class="mw-redirect" title="Syracuse (Italy)">Syracuse</a>. Before the German counterattack, the beach landings took place unopposed and the 1st Airlanding Brigade was relieved by the <a href="/wiki/5th_Infantry_Division_(United_Kingdom)" title="5th Infantry Division (United Kingdom)">British 5th Infantry Division</a> as it swept inland towards <a href="/wiki/Catania" title="Catania">Catania</a> and <a href="/wiki/Messina" title="Messina">Messina</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-13" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-13"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>13<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>On the evening of July 13, 1943, more than 112 aircraft carrying 1,856 men and 16 gliders with 77 artillerymen and ten <a href="/wiki/6_pounder" class="mw-redirect" title="6 pounder">6 pounder</a> guns, took off from North Africa in <a href="/wiki/Operation_Fustian" title="Operation Fustian">Operation Fustian</a>. The initial target of the <a href="/wiki/1st_Parachute_Brigade_(United_Kingdom)" title="1st Parachute Brigade (United Kingdom)">British 1st Parachute Brigade</a>, under Brigadier <a href="/wiki/Gerald_Lathbury" title="Gerald Lathbury">Gerald Lathbury</a>, was to capture the Primosole bridge and the high ground around it, providing a pathway for the <a href="/wiki/Eighth_Army_(United_Kingdom)" title="Eighth Army (United Kingdom)">Eighth Army</a>, but heavy <a href="/wiki/Anti-aircraft_fire" class="mw-redirect" title="Anti-aircraft fire">anti-aircraft fire</a> shot down many of the <a href="/wiki/C-47_Skytrain" class="mw-redirect" title="C-47 Skytrain">Dakotas</a> before they reached their target. Only 295 officers and men were dropped close enough to carry out the assault. They captured the bridge, but the <a href="/w/index.php?title=4th_Parachute_Regiment_(Germany)&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="4th Parachute Regiment (Germany) (page does not exist)">German 4th Parachute Regiment</a> recaptured it.<sup id="cite_ref-14" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-14"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>14<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> They held the high ground until relieved by the <a href="/wiki/50th_(Northumbrian)_Infantry_Division" title="50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division">50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division</a> of the Eighth Army, which re-took the bridge at dawn on 16 July. </p><p>The Allied commanders were forced to reassess the use of airborne forces after the many misdrops and the deadly friendly fire incident. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading5"><h5 id="Swing_Board_and_the_Knollwood_Maneuver">Swing Board and the Knollwood Maneuver</h5><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Airborne_forces&action=edit&section=14" title="Edit section: Swing Board and the Knollwood Maneuver"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>General <a href="/wiki/Dwight_D._Eisenhower" title="Dwight D. Eisenhower">Dwight D. Eisenhower</a> reviewed the airborne role in Operation Husky and concluded that large-scale formations were too difficult to control in combat to be practical.<sup id="cite_ref-15" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-15"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>15<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Lieutenant General <a href="/wiki/Lesley_J._McNair" title="Lesley J. McNair">Lesley J. McNair</a>, the overall commander of <a href="/wiki/Army_Ground_Forces" title="Army Ground Forces">Army Ground Forces</a>, had similar misgivings: once an airborne supporter, he had been greatly disappointed by the performance of airborne units in North Africa and more recently Sicily. However, other high-ranking officers, including the <a href="/wiki/Chief_of_Staff_of_the_United_States_Army" title="Chief of Staff of the United States Army">Army Chief of Staff</a> <a href="/wiki/George_Marshall" class="mw-redirect" title="George Marshall">George Marshall</a>, believed otherwise. Marshall persuaded Eisenhower to set up a review board and to withhold judgement until the outcome of a large-scale maneuver, planned for December 1943, could be assessed.<sup id="cite_ref-16" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-16"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>16<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>McNair ordered 11th Airborne Division commander Major general <a href="/wiki/Joseph_May_Swing" title="Joseph May Swing">Joseph May Swing</a> to form a committee—the Swing Board—composed of air force, parachute, glider infantry and artillery officers, whose arrangements for the maneuver would effectively decide the fate of divisional-sized airborne forces.<sup id="cite_ref-17" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-17"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>17<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> As the 11th Airborne Division was in reserve in the United States and had not yet been earmarked for combat, the Swing Board selected it as the test formation. The maneuver would additionally provide the 11th Airborne and its individual units with further training, as had occurred several months previously in an earlier large-scale exercise conducted by the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions.<sup id="cite_ref-18" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-18"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>18<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>The 11th Airborne, as the attacking force, was assigned the objective of capturing <a href="/wiki/Moore_County_Airport_(North_Carolina)" title="Moore County Airport (North Carolina)">Knollwood Army Auxiliary Airfield</a> near <a href="/wiki/Fort_Bragg_(North_Carolina)" class="mw-redirect" title="Fort Bragg (North Carolina)">Fort Bragg</a> in <a href="/wiki/North_Carolina" title="North Carolina">North Carolina</a>. The force defending the airfield and its environs was a combat team composed of elements of the 17th Airborne Division and a battalion from the <a href="/wiki/541st_Parachute_Infantry_Regiment_(United_States)" title="541st Parachute Infantry Regiment (United States)">541st Parachute Infantry Regiment</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-19" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-19"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>19<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The entire operation was observed by McNair, who would ultimately have a significant say in deciding the fate of the parachute infantry divisions.<sup id="cite_ref-20" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-20"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>20<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p><p>The Knollwood Maneuver took place on the night of 7 December 1943, with the 11th Airborne Division being airlifted to thirteen separate objectives by 200 C-47 Skytrain transport aircraft and 234 <a href="/wiki/Waco_CG-4A" class="mw-redirect" title="Waco CG-4A">Waco CG-4A</a> gliders.<sup id="cite_ref-Huston136_21-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Huston136-21"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>21<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The transport aircraft were divided into four groups, two of which carried paratroopers while the other two towed gliders. Each group took off from a different airfield in the Carolinas. The four groups deployed a total of 4,800 troops in the first wave. Eighty-five percent were delivered to their targets without navigational error,<sup id="cite_ref-Huston136_21-1" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Huston136-21"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>21<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> and the airborne troops seized the Knollwood Army Auxiliary Airfield and secured the landing area for the rest of the division before daylight.<sup id="cite_ref-Huston136_21-2" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Huston136-21"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>21<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> With its initial objectives taken, the 11th Airborne Division then launched a coordinated ground attack against a reinforced infantry regiment and conducted several aerial resupply and casualty evacuation missions in coordination with United States Army Air Forces transport aircraft.<sup id="cite_ref-Huston136_21-3" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Huston136-21"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>21<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> The exercise was judged by observers to be a great success. McNair, pleased by its results, attributed this success to the great improvements in airborne training that had been implemented in the months following Operation Husky. As a result of the Knollwood Maneuver, division-sized airborne forces were deemed to be feasible and Eisenhower permitted their retention.<sup id="cite_ref-Huston137_22-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-Huston137-22"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>22<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading5"><h5 id="Italy">Italy</h5><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Airborne_forces&action=edit&section=15" title="Edit section: Italy"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Italy agreed to an armistice with the Allies on September 3, 1943, with the stipulation that the Allies would provide military support to Italy in defending <a href="/wiki/Rome" title="Rome">Rome</a> from German occupation. Operation Giant II was a planned drop of one regiment of the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division northwest of Rome, to assist four Italian divisions in seizing the Italian capital. An airborne assault plan to seize crossings of the <a href="/wiki/Volturno" title="Volturno">Volturno river</a> during the <a href="/wiki/Allied_invasion_of_Italy" title="Allied invasion of Italy">Allied invasion of Italy</a>, called Operation Giant, was abandoned in favor of the Rome mission. However, doubts about the willingness and capability of Italian forces to cooperate, and the distance of the mission far beyond support by the Allied military, resulted in the <a href="/wiki/82nd_Airborne_Division_Artillery" title="82nd Airborne Division Artillery">82nd Airborne artillery</a> commander, <a href="/wiki/Brigadier_general_(United_States)" title="Brigadier general (United States)">Brigadier General</a> <a href="/wiki/Maxwell_D._Taylor" title="Maxwell D. Taylor">Maxwell Taylor</a> (future commander of the 101st Airborne Division), being sent on a personal reconnaissance mission to Rome to assess the prospects of success. His report via radio on September 8 caused the operation to be postponed (and canceled the next day) as troop carriers loaded with two battalions of the 504th PIR were warming up for takeoff. </p><p>With Giant II cancelled, Operation Giant I was reactivated to drop two battalions of the 504th PIR at <a href="/wiki/Capua" title="Capua">Capua</a> on September 13. However, significant German counterattacks, beginning on September 12, resulted in a shrinking of the American perimeter and threatened destruction of the Salerno <a href="/wiki/Beachhead" title="Beachhead">beachhead</a>. As a result, Giant I was cancelled and the 504th PIR instead dropped into the beachhead on the night of September 13 using <a href="/wiki/Transponder" title="Transponder">transponding radar beacons</a> as a guide. The next night the 505th PIR was also dropped into the beachhead as reinforcement. In all, 3,500 paratroopers made the most concentrated mass night drop in history, providing the model for the <a href="/wiki/American_airborne_landings_in_Normandy" title="American airborne landings in Normandy">American airborne landings in Normandy</a> in June 1944. An additional drop on the night of September 14–15 of the 509th PIB to destroy a key bridge at <a href="/wiki/Avellino" title="Avellino">Avellino</a>, to disrupt German motorized movements, was badly dispersed and failed to destroy the bridge before the Germans withdrew to the north. </p><p>In April 1945, <a href="/wiki/Operation_Herring" title="Operation Herring">Operation Herring</a>, an Italian <a href="/wiki/Commando" title="Commando">commando</a>-style airborne drop aimed at disrupting German rear area communications and movement over key areas in <a href="/wiki/Northern_Italy" title="Northern Italy">Northern Italy</a>, took place. However the Italian troops were not dropped as a unit, but as a series of small (8–10 man) groups. Another operation, <a href="/w/index.php?title=Operation_Potato&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Operation Potato (page does not exist)">Operation Potato</a>, was mounted by men drawn from the Folgore and Nembo divisions, operating with British equipment and under British command as No. 1 Italian Special Air Service Regiment. The men dropped in small groups from American C-47s and carried out a successful railway sabotage operation in northern Italy. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Western_Europe">Western Europe</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Airborne_forces&action=edit&section=16" title="Edit section: Western Europe"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The Allies had learned better tactics and logistics from their earlier airborne drops, and these lessons were applied for the assaults along the <a href="/wiki/Western_Front_(World_War_II)" title="Western Front (World War II)">Western Front</a>. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading5"><h5 id="Operation_Neptune">Operation Neptune</h5><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Airborne_forces&action=edit&section=17" title="Edit section: Operation Neptune"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <figure class="mw-default-size mw-halign-left" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Eisenhower_d-day.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Eisenhower_d-day.jpg/220px-Eisenhower_d-day.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="171" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Eisenhower_d-day.jpg/330px-Eisenhower_d-day.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Eisenhower_d-day.jpg/440px-Eisenhower_d-day.jpg 2x" data-file-width="3924" data-file-height="3051" /></a><figcaption><a href="/wiki/Dwight_D._Eisenhower" title="Dwight D. Eisenhower">Dwight D. Eisenhower</a> speaks with American paratroopers of the <a href="/wiki/502nd_Infantry_Regiment_(United_States)" title="502nd Infantry Regiment (United States)">502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment</a>, <a href="/wiki/101st_Airborne_Division" title="101st Airborne Division">101st Airborne Division</a> on the evening of June 5, 1944.</figcaption></figure> <p>One of the most famous of airborne operations was Operation Neptune, the assault of Normandy, part of Operation Overlord of the <a href="/wiki/Normandy_landings" title="Normandy landings">Normandy landings</a> on June 6, 1944. The task of the airborne forces was to secure the flanks and approaches of the landing beaches in Normandy. The British <a href="/wiki/Airborne_infantry" class="mw-redirect" title="Airborne infantry">glider transported troops</a> and paratroopers of the 6th Airborne Division, which secured the eastern flank during <a href="/wiki/Operation_Tonga" title="Operation Tonga">Operation Tonga</a>. This operation included the <a href="/wiki/Capture_of_the_Caen_canal_and_Orne_river_bridges" title="Capture of the Caen canal and Orne river bridges">capture of the Caen canal and Orne river bridges</a>, and the attack on the <a href="/wiki/Merville_gun_battery" class="mw-redirect" title="Merville gun battery">Merville gun battery</a>. The American glider and parachute infantry of the 82nd (Operation Detroit) and 101st Airborne Divisions (Operation Chicago), though widely scattered by poor weather and poorly marked landing zones in the American airborne landings in Normandy, secured the western flank of <a href="/wiki/VII_Corps_(United_States)" title="VII Corps (United States)">U.S. VII Corps</a> with heavy casualties. All together, airborne casualties in Normandy on D-Day totaled around 2,300. </p> <figure class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:King_George_VI_Visits_An_Airborne_Division_in_the_North_Midlands_H36725.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3b/King_George_VI_Visits_An_Airborne_Division_in_the_North_Midlands_H36725.jpg/220px-King_George_VI_Visits_An_Airborne_Division_in_the_North_Midlands_H36725.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="218" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3b/King_George_VI_Visits_An_Airborne_Division_in_the_North_Midlands_H36725.jpg/330px-King_George_VI_Visits_An_Airborne_Division_in_the_North_Midlands_H36725.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3b/King_George_VI_Visits_An_Airborne_Division_in_the_North_Midlands_H36725.jpg/440px-King_George_VI_Visits_An_Airborne_Division_in_the_North_Midlands_H36725.jpg 2x" data-file-width="2500" data-file-height="2480" /></a><figcaption>King <a href="/wiki/George_VI" title="George VI">George VI</a> inspects men of the 7th Battalion, <a href="/wiki/King%27s_Own_Scottish_Borderers" title="King's Own Scottish Borderers">King's Own Scottish Borderers</a>, 1st Airborne Division, in the <a href="/wiki/North_Midlands" title="North Midlands">North Midlands</a>, 1944.</figcaption></figure> <p><a href="/wiki/Operation_Dingson" title="Operation Dingson">Operation Dingson</a> (5–18 June 1944) was conducted by about 178 Free French paratroops of the 4th Special Air Service (SAS), commanded by Colonel Pierre-Louis Bourgoin, who jumped into German-occupied France near Vannes, <a href="/wiki/Morbihan" title="Morbihan">Morbihan</a>, southern <a href="/wiki/Brittany" title="Brittany">Brittany</a>, in <a href="/wiki/Plumelec" title="Plumelec">Plumelec</a>, at 1130 on the night of 5 June and Saint-Marcel (8–18 June). At this time, there was approximately 100,000 German troops and artillery preparing to move to the Normandy landing areas. Immediately upon landing, 18 Free French went into action near Plumelec against German troops (Vlassov's army). The Free French established a base at Saint-Marcel and began to arm and equip local resistance fighters, operating with up to 3,000 <a href="/wiki/Maquis_(World_War_II)" title="Maquis (World War II)">Maquis</a>. However, their base was heavily attacked by a German paratroop division on 18 June, and the men were forced to disperse. Captain Pierre Marienne with 17 of his companions (six paratroopers, eight resistance fighters and three farmers) died a few weeks later in Kerihuel, Plumelec, at dawn of 12 July. The Dingson team was joined by the men who had just completed <a href="/wiki/Operation_Cooney" title="Operation Cooney">Operation Cooney</a>. Dingson was conducted alongside <a href="/wiki/Operation_Samwest" title="Operation Samwest">Operation Samwest</a> and <a href="/wiki/Operation_Lost" title="Operation Lost">Operation Lost</a> as part of Overlord. </p><p>In Operation Dingson 35A, on 5 August 1944, 10 Waco CG-4A gliders towed by aircraft of 298 Squadron and 644 Squadron transported Free French SAS men and armed jeeps to Brittany near Vannes (<a href="/wiki/Locoal-Mendon" title="Locoal-Mendon">Locoal-Mendon</a>), each glider carrying three Free French troopers and a jeep. One glider was lost with the death of the British pilot. The SAS teams remained behind enemy lines until the Allies arrived. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading5"><h5 id="Operation_Dragoon:_Southern_France">Operation Dragoon: Southern France</h5><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Airborne_forces&action=edit&section=18" title="Edit section: Operation Dragoon: Southern France"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>On August 15, 1944, airborne units of the <a href="/wiki/Sixth_United_States_Army_Group" title="Sixth United States Army Group">6th Army Group</a> provisional airborne division, commanded by U.S. Major General <a href="/wiki/Robert_T._Frederick" title="Robert T. Frederick">Robert T. Frederick</a>, opened <a href="/wiki/Operation_Dragoon" title="Operation Dragoon">Operation Dragoon</a>, the invasion of Southern France, with a dawn assault. Called the "<a href="/wiki/1st_Airborne_Task_Force" class="mw-redirect" title="1st Airborne Task Force">1st Airborne Task Force</a>", the force was composed of the 1st Special Services Forces, <a href="/wiki/2nd_Parachute_Brigade_(United_Kingdom)" title="2nd Parachute Brigade (United Kingdom)">British 2nd Independent Parachute Brigade</a>, the 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team, the 509th and <a href="/wiki/551st_Parachute_Infantry_Battalion" class="mw-redirect" title="551st Parachute Infantry Battalion">551st Parachute Infantry Battalions</a>, the glider-borne <a href="/wiki/550th_Airborne_Infantry_Battalion" class="mw-redirect" title="550th Airborne Infantry Battalion">550th Airborne Infantry Battalion</a>, and supporting units. Nearly 400 aircraft delivered 5,600 paratroopers and 150 guns to three drops zones surrounding <a href="/wiki/Le_Muy" title="Le Muy">Le Muy</a>, between <a href="/wiki/Fr%C3%A9jus" title="Fréjus">Fréjus</a> and <a href="/wiki/Cannes" title="Cannes">Cannes</a>, in phase 1, <a href="/w/index.php?title=Operation_Albatross&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Operation Albatross (page does not exist)">Operation Albatross</a>. Once they had captured their initial targets, they were reinforced by 2,600 soldiers and critical equipment carried in 408 gliders daylight missions code-named <a href="/wiki/Operation_Bluebird" title="Operation Bluebird">Operation Bluebird</a>, phase 2, simultaneous with the beach landings, and <a href="/wiki/Operation_Dove" class="mw-redirect" title="Operation Dove">Operation Dove</a>, phase 3. A second daylight parachute drop, <a href="/w/index.php?title=Operation_Canary&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Operation Canary (page does not exist)">Operation Canary</a>, dropped 736 men of the 551st PIB with nearly 100% effectiveness late on the afternoon of August 15. The airborne objective was to capture the area, destroy all enemy positions and hold the ground until the <a href="/wiki/Seventh_United_States_Army" title="Seventh United States Army">U.S. Seventh Army</a> came ashore. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading5"><h5 id="Operation_Market_Garden:_"A_Bridge_Too_Far""><span id="Operation_Market_Garden:_.22A_Bridge_Too_Far.22"></span>Operation Market Garden: "A Bridge Too Far"</h5><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Airborne_forces&action=edit&section=19" title="Edit section: Operation Market Garden: "A Bridge Too Far""><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <figure class="mw-default-size mw-halign-right" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Waves_of_paratroops_land_in_Holland.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9a/Waves_of_paratroops_land_in_Holland.jpg/220px-Waves_of_paratroops_land_in_Holland.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="173" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9a/Waves_of_paratroops_land_in_Holland.jpg/330px-Waves_of_paratroops_land_in_Holland.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9a/Waves_of_paratroops_land_in_Holland.jpg/440px-Waves_of_paratroops_land_in_Holland.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1398" data-file-height="1097" /></a><figcaption>Waves of paratroops land in the Netherlands during <a href="/wiki/Operation_Market_Garden" title="Operation Market Garden">Operation Market Garden</a> in September 1944.</figcaption></figure> <p>Operation Market Garden of September 1944, involved 35,000 airborne troops dropped up to 100 miles (160 km) behind German lines in an attempt to capture a series of bridges over the <a href="/wiki/Meuse_River" class="mw-redirect" title="Meuse River">Maas</a>, <a href="/wiki/Waal_(river)" title="Waal (river)">Waal</a> and <a href="/wiki/Rhine" title="Rhine">Rhine</a> Rivers, in an attempt to outflank German fortifications and penetrate into Germany. The operation was hastily planned and many key planning tasks were inadequately completed. Three complete airborne divisions executed Operation Market, the airborne phase. These were the British 1st Airborne Division, the U.S. 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions, as well as the <a href="/wiki/Polish_1st_Independent_Parachute_Brigade" class="mw-redirect" title="Polish 1st Independent Parachute Brigade">Polish 1st Independent Parachute Brigade</a>. All units were landed or dropped at various points along Highway 69 ("Hell's Highway") in order to create a "carpet" over which the <a href="/wiki/XXX_Corps_(United_Kingdom)" title="XXX Corps (United Kingdom)">British XXX Corps</a> could rapidly advance in Operation Garden, the land phase. It was a daylight assault, with little initial opposition, and most units achieved high accuracy on drop and landing zones. In the end, after strong German counterattacks, the overall plan failed: the British 1st Airborne Division was all but destroyed at Arnhem, and the final Rhine bridge remained in German hands. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading5"><h5 id="Operation_Repulse:_re-supply_of_Bastogne">Operation Repulse: re-supply of Bastogne</h5><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Airborne_forces&action=edit&section=20" title="Edit section: Operation Repulse: re-supply of Bastogne"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Operation Repulse, which took place in Bastogne on December 23, 24, 26, and 27, 1944, as part of the Battle of the Bulge, glider pilots, although flying directly through enemy fire, were able to land, delivering the badly needed ammunition, gasoline and medical supplies that enabled defenders against the German offensive to persevere and secure the ultimate victory. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading5"><h5 id="Operation_Varsity:_The_Rhine_Crossing">Operation Varsity: The Rhine Crossing</h5><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Airborne_forces&action=edit&section=21" title="Edit section: Operation Varsity: The Rhine Crossing"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p><a href="/wiki/Operation_Varsity" title="Operation Varsity">Operation Varsity</a> was a daylight assault conducted by two airborne divisions, the British 6th Airborne Division and the U.S. 17th Airborne Division, both of which were part of the U.S. XVIII Airborne Corps. Conducted as a part of <a href="/wiki/Operation_Plunder" title="Operation Plunder">Operation Plunder</a>, the operation took place on 24 March 1945 in aid of an attempt by the Anglo-Canadian <a href="/wiki/21st_Army_Group" title="21st Army Group">21st Army Group</a> to cross the <a href="/wiki/Rhine_River" class="mw-redirect" title="Rhine River">Rhine River</a>. Having learnt from the heavy casualties inflicted upon the airborne formations in Operation Market Garden, the two airborne divisions were dropped several thousand yards forward of friendly positions, and only some thirteen hours after Operation Plunder had begun and Allied ground forces had already crossed the Rhine. There was heavy resistance in some of the areas that the airborne troops landed in, with casualties actually statistically heavier than those incurred during Operation Market Garden. The British <a href="/wiki/Military_historian" class="mw-redirect" title="Military historian">military historian</a> <a href="/wiki/Max_Hastings" title="Max Hastings">Max Hastings</a> has labelled the operation both costly and unnecessary, writing that "Operation Varsity was a folly for which more than a thousand men paid for with their lives ..."<sup id="cite_ref-23" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-23"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>23<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Pacific_Theater">Pacific Theater</h4><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Airborne_forces&action=edit&section=22" title="Edit section: Pacific Theater"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The following airborne operations against the Japanese are famous. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading5"><h5 id="New_Guinea">New Guinea</h5><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Airborne_forces&action=edit&section=23" title="Edit section: New Guinea"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <figure class="mw-default-size mw-halign-right" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Awm_128387_nadzab.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e0/Awm_128387_nadzab.jpg/220px-Awm_128387_nadzab.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="126" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e0/Awm_128387_nadzab.jpg/330px-Awm_128387_nadzab.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e0/Awm_128387_nadzab.jpg/440px-Awm_128387_nadzab.jpg 2x" data-file-width="780" data-file-height="445" /></a><figcaption>September 5, 1943. <a href="/wiki/C-47_Skytrain" class="mw-redirect" title="C-47 Skytrain">C-47</a> transport planes, silhouetted against clouds of smoke created to provide cover, drop a <a href="/wiki/Battalion" title="Battalion">battalion</a> of the <a href="/wiki/503rd_Infantry_Regiment_(United_States)" title="503rd Infantry Regiment (United States)">U.S. 503d Parachute Regiment</a> and elements of the Australian Army's 2/4th Field Regiment at <a href="/wiki/Nadzab" title="Nadzab">Nadzab</a>, <a href="/wiki/New_Guinea" title="New Guinea">New Guinea</a>, during the <a href="/wiki/Salamaua-Lae_campaign" class="mw-redirect" title="Salamaua-Lae campaign">Battle of Lae</a>. A battalion dropped minutes earlier is landing in the foreground.</figcaption></figure> <p>In September 1943, in <a href="/wiki/Territory_of_New_Guinea" title="Territory of New Guinea">New Guinea</a>, the U.S. Army's <a href="/wiki/503rd_Infantry_Regiment_(United_States)" title="503rd Infantry Regiment (United States)">503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment</a> and elements of the Australian Army's 2/4th Field Regiment made a highly successful, unopposed <a href="/wiki/Landing_at_Nadzab" title="Landing at Nadzab">landing at Nadzab</a>, during the <a href="/wiki/Salamaua-Lae_campaign" class="mw-redirect" title="Salamaua-Lae campaign">Salamaua-Lae campaign</a>. This was the first Allied airborne assault in the Pacific Theater. </p><p>In July 1944, the 503rd jumped again, onto <a href="/wiki/Noemfoor_Island" class="mw-redirect" title="Noemfoor Island">Noemfoor Island</a>, off <a href="/wiki/Dutch_New_Guinea" title="Dutch New Guinea">Dutch New Guinea</a>, in the <a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Noemfoor" title="Battle of Noemfoor">Battle of Noemfoor</a>. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading5"><h5 id="Philippines">Philippines</h5><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Airborne_forces&action=edit&section=24" title="Edit section: Philippines"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The honors for recapturing the Rock went to the 503rd Parachute Regimental Combat Team of Lieutenant Colonel <a href="/wiki/George_M._Jones" title="George M. Jones">George M. Jones</a> and elements of Major General <a href="/wiki/Roscoe_B._Woodruff" title="Roscoe B. Woodruff">Roscoe B. Woodruff's</a> <a href="/wiki/24th_Infantry_Division_(United_States)" title="24th Infantry Division (United States)">24th Infantry Division</a>, the same units which undertook the <a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Mindoro" title="Battle of Mindoro">capture of Mindoro island</a>. The U.S. 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment's most famous operation was a <a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Corregidor_(1945)" title="Battle of Corregidor (1945)">landing on Corregidor</a> ("The Rock") in February 1945, during the <a href="/wiki/Philippines_campaign_(1944%E2%80%9345)" class="mw-redirect" title="Philippines campaign (1944–45)">Philippines campaign of 1944–45</a>. </p><p>The U.S. Army's 11th Airborne Division saw a great deal of action in the Philippines as a ground unit. The <a href="/wiki/511th_Parachute_Infantry_Regiment_(United_States)" class="mw-redirect" title="511th Parachute Infantry Regiment (United States)">511th Parachute Infantry Regiment</a> made the division's first jump near <a href="/wiki/Tagaytay_Ridge" title="Tagaytay Ridge">Tagaytay Ridge</a> on 3 February 1945, meeting no resistance at the drop zone. Elements of the division also jumped to liberate 2,000 Allied civilians interned at <a href="/wiki/Raid_at_Los_Ba%C3%B1os" class="mw-redirect" title="Raid at Los Baños">Los Baños</a>, 23 February 1945. The final operation of the division was conducted on 23 June 1945, in conjunction with an advance by U.S. ground forces in northern Luzon. A task force from the 11th was formed and jumped on <a href="/wiki/List_of_airports_in_the_Philippines#Military_airfields" title="List of airports in the Philippines">Camalaniugan Airfield</a>, south of <a href="/wiki/Aparri,_Cagayan" class="mw-redirect" title="Aparri, Cagayan">Aparri</a>. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading5"><h5 id="Burma">Burma</h5><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Airborne_forces&action=edit&section=25" title="Edit section: Burma"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>A large British force, known as the <a href="/wiki/Chindits" title="Chindits">Chindits</a>, operated behind Japanese lines during 1944. In <a href="/wiki/Operation_Thursday" class="mw-redirect" title="Operation Thursday">Operation Thursday</a>, most of the units were flown into landing grounds which had been seized by glider infantry transported by the American First Air Commando Group, commencing on March 5. Aircraft continued to land reinforcements at captured or hastily constructed landing strips until monsoon rains made them unusable. Small detachments were subsequently landed by parachute. The operation eventually wound down in July, with the exhausted Chindits making their way overland to link up with advancing American and Chinese forces. </p><p>For <a href="/wiki/Burma_Campaign#Operation_Dracula" class="mw-redirect" title="Burma Campaign">Operation Dracula</a>, an ad hoc parachute battalion group made up of personnel from the 153 and 154 (Gurkha) Parachute Battalions of the <a href="/wiki/Indian_Army" title="Indian Army">Indian Army</a> secured Japanese coastal defences, which enabled the seaborne assault by the <a href="/wiki/26th_Infantry_Division_(India)" class="mw-redirect" title="26th Infantry Division (India)">26th Indian Infantry Division</a> to attain its objectives with a minimum of casualties and time. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Ecuadorian–Peruvian_War"><span id="Ecuadorian.E2.80.93Peruvian_War"></span>Ecuadorian–Peruvian War</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Airborne_forces&action=edit&section=26" title="Edit section: Ecuadorian–Peruvian War"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>During the <a href="/wiki/Ecuadorian%E2%80%93Peruvian_War" title="Ecuadorian–Peruvian War">Ecuadorian–Peruvian War</a>, the Peruvian army established its own paratrooper unit and used it to great effect by seizing the Ecuadorian port city of <a href="/wiki/Puerto_Bol%C3%ADvar" title="Puerto Bolívar">Puerto Bolívar</a>, on July 27, 1941, marking the first time in the Americas that airborne troops were used in combat.<sup id="cite_ref-24" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-24"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>24<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="After_World_War_II">After World War II</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Airborne_forces&action=edit&section=27" title="Edit section: After World War II"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Indonesian_War_of_Independence">Indonesian War of Independence</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Airborne_forces&action=edit&section=28" title="Edit section: Indonesian War of Independence"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The Dutch <a href="/wiki/Korps_Speciale_Troepen" title="Korps Speciale Troepen">Korps Speciale Troepen</a> made two combat jumps during the Indonesian War of Independence. The first jump was as part of <a href="/wiki/Operation_Kraai" title="Operation Kraai">Operation Kraai</a>: the capture of Yogyakarta, and the capture of <a href="/wiki/Sukarno" title="Sukarno">Sukarno</a> and <a href="/wiki/Mohammad_Hatta" title="Mohammad Hatta">Mohammad Hatta</a> on 19 and 20 December 1948. The second combat jump happened during Operation Ekster: the capture of <a href="/wiki/Jambi" title="Jambi">Jambi</a> and the oilfields surrounding is, on Sumatra from 29 December 1948 to 23 January 1949.<sup id="cite_ref-25" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-25"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>25<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> From the Indonesian side, the first airborne operation was an airborne-infiltration operation by 14 paratroopers on 17 October 1947, in Kotawaringin, Kalimantan. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Korean_War">Korean War</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Airborne_forces&action=edit&section=29" title="Edit section: Korean War"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The <a href="/wiki/187th_Infantry_Regiment_(United_States)" title="187th Infantry Regiment (United States)">187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team</a> ("Rakkasans") made two combat jumps in Korea during the <a href="/wiki/Korean_War" title="Korean War">Korean War</a>. The first combat jump was made on October 20, 1950, at <a href="/wiki/Sunchon,_North_Korea" class="mw-redirect" title="Sunchon, North Korea">Sunchon</a> and <a href="/wiki/Sukchon" class="mw-redirect" title="Sukchon">Sukchon</a>, North Korea. The missions of the 187th were to cut the road north going to China, preventing North Korean leaders from escaping from <a href="/wiki/Pyongyang" title="Pyongyang">Pyongyang</a>; and to rescue American <a href="/wiki/Prisoners_of_war" class="mw-redirect" title="Prisoners of war">prisoners of war</a>. </p><p>The second combat jump was made on Wednesday, March 21, 1951, at <a href="/wiki/Munsan-ni" class="mw-redirect" title="Munsan-ni">Munsan-ni</a>, South Korea codenamed <a href="/wiki/Operation_Tomahawk" title="Operation Tomahawk">Operation Tomahawk</a>. The mission was to get behind Chinese forces and block their movement north. The <a href="/wiki/Indian_Army" title="Indian Army">Indian Army</a> <a href="/wiki/60th_Parachute_Field_Ambulance" class="mw-redirect" title="60th Parachute Field Ambulance">60th Parachute Field Ambulance</a> provided the medical cover for the operations, dropping an ADS and a surgical team totalling 7 officers and 5 other ranks, treating over 400 battle casualties apart from the civilian casualties that formed the core of their objective as the unit was on a humanitarian mission. The unit was to become the longest-serving military unit in any UN operation till date, serving from October 1950 till May 1953, a total of three and a half years, returning home to a heroes' welcome. </p><p>The 187th served in six campaigns in Korea. Shortly after the war the 187th ARCT was considered for use in an Airborne drop to relieve the surrounded French garrison at Dien Bien Phu in Vietnam but the United States, at that time, decided not to send its troops into the combat zone. </p><p>The unit was assigned to the reactivated 101st Airborne Division and subsequently inactivated as a combat team in 1956 as part of the division's reorganization into the Pentomic structure, which featured battle groups in place of regiments and battalions. The 1st and 3rd Battalions, 187th Infantry, bearing the lineages of the former Co A and Co C, 187AIR, are now with the 101st Airborne Division as <a href="/wiki/Air_assault" title="Air assault">air assault</a> units. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="First_Indochina_War">First Indochina War</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Airborne_forces&action=edit&section=30" title="Edit section: First Indochina War"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The French used paratroopers extensively during their 1946-54 war against the Viet Minh. <a href="/wiki/Troupes_de_marine" title="Troupes de marine">Troupes de marine</a>, <a href="/wiki/French_Foreign_Legion" title="French Foreign Legion">Foreign Legion</a> and local Vietnamese units took part in numerous operations such as <a href="/wiki/Operation_Lea" class="mw-redirect" title="Operation Lea">Operation Lea</a> (1947), One of the first large-scale airborne operations in the conflict, French paratroopers landed at Bắc Kạn in an attempt to capture General Võ Nguyên Giáp and disrupt Viet Minh command, While tactically successful in scattering the Viet Minh and capturing equipment, Giáp escaped, and the operation failed to deliver a decisive blow, The <a href="/wiki/Battle_of_N%C3%A0_S%E1%BA%A3n" title="Battle of Nà Sản">Battle of Nà Sản</a> (1952), where they were able to secure a key defensive victory using the <a href="/wiki/Hedgehog_Defense" class="mw-redirect" title="Hedgehog Defense">Hedgehog Defense</a> tactic or (le hérisson) for the first time in Indochina, <a href="/wiki/Operation_Hirondelle" title="Operation Hirondelle">Operation Hirondelle</a> (1953) was a focused raid to destroy Viet Minh supply depots near Lạng Sơn, Paratroopers successfully disrupted Viet Minh logistics by destroying hidden supply caches, Despite achieving several tactical successes through their elite training and mobility, the paratroopers’ efforts were frequently countered by the Viet Minh’s adaptability and logistical constraints, Which were to culminate in the disastrous siege of <a href="/wiki/Dien_Bien_Phu" class="mw-redirect" title="Dien Bien Phu">Dien Bien Phu</a>. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Suez_crisis:_Operations_Machbesh_&_Musketeer"><span id="Suez_crisis:_Operations_Machbesh_.26_Musketeer"></span>Suez crisis: Operations Machbesh & Musketeer</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Airborne_forces&action=edit&section=31" title="Edit section: Suez crisis: Operations Machbesh & Musketeer"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Launching the <a href="/wiki/1956_Suez_War" class="mw-redirect" title="1956 Suez War">1956 Suez War</a>, on October 29, 1956, Israeli paratroopers led by <a href="/wiki/Ariel_Sharon" title="Ariel Sharon">Ariel Sharon</a> dropped onto the important <a href="/wiki/Mitla_Pass" title="Mitla Pass">Mitla Pass</a> to cut off and engage Egyptian forces. <i>Operation Machbesh</i> (Press) was the <a href="/wiki/Israel_Defense_Forces" title="Israel Defense Forces">IDF</a>'s first and largest combat parachute drop. </p><p>A few days later, <a href="/wiki/Operation_Musketeer_(1956)" title="Operation Musketeer (1956)">Operation Musketeer</a> needed the element of total surprise to succeed, and all 660 men had to be on the ground at El Gamil airfield and ready for action within four and a half minutes. At 04.15 hours on November 5, 1956, British 3rd Battalion, <a href="/wiki/Parachute_Regiment_(United_Kingdom)" title="Parachute Regiment (United Kingdom)">Parachute Regiment</a> jumped in and although opposition was heavy, casualties were few. Meanwhile, French paratroopers of the <a href="/wiki/2nd_Marine_Infantry_Parachute_Regiment" title="2nd Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment">2nd Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment</a> under the command of Colonel Chateau-Jobert jumped on the water treatment factory South of Port Said. </p><p>The landings from the sea the next day saw the first large-scale heliborne assault, as 45 Commando, <a href="/wiki/Royal_Marines" title="Royal Marines">Royal Marines</a> were landed by helicopters in <a href="/wiki/Port_Said" title="Port Said">Port Said</a> from ships offshore. Both the British and the French accomplished total military victory against the disorganized Egyptian military and local armed civilians but political events forced total retreat of these forces after 48 hours of fighting. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Indo-Pakistani_War_of_1965">Indo-Pakistani War of 1965</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Airborne_forces&action=edit&section=32" title="Edit section: Indo-Pakistani War of 1965"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>Paratroopers were used in combat in South Asia after the Second World War during the <a href="/wiki/Indo-Pakistan_War_of_1947" class="mw-redirect" title="Indo-Pakistan War of 1947">Indo-Pakistan War of 1947</a>, <a href="/wiki/Annexation_of_Goa" title="Annexation of Goa">Indian Annexation of Goa in 1961</a> and <a href="/wiki/Indo-Pakistani_War_of_1965" class="mw-redirect" title="Indo-Pakistani War of 1965">Indo-Pakistani War of 1965</a>. The war in 1965 had the largest use of paratrooper forces, and unlike in previous conflicts, they were used in their intended capacity fully (They were not used in the airborne capacity in 1961, and it is unconfirmed in 1947). A covert operation was launched by the <a href="/wiki/Pakistani_Army" class="mw-redirect" title="Pakistani Army">Pakistani Army</a> with the intention of infiltrating Indian airbases and sabotaging them. The SSG (<a href="/wiki/Special_Service_Group" title="Special Service Group">Special Service Group</a>) commandos, were parachuted into Indian territory. Of the 180 para-commandos dropped, 138, including all officers but one, were captured and safely taken to prisoner of war (POW) camps. Twenty-two were killed, or rather lynched by joint combing teams of villagers armed with sticks, police and even bands of muleteers released by the Army, from the animal transport battalion of the nearby Corps headquarters. </p><p>Only 20 para-commandos were unaccounted for and most escaped back to Pakistan under the fog. Most of these were from the Pathankot group, dropped less than 10 km from the border in an area that had plenty of ravines, riverine tracks to navigate back along. </p><p>The War also saw the establishment of the first Indian Airborne Special Forces Unit - The Meghdoot Force - which was tasked with operations behind Pakistani Lines. This force is the predecessor to the modern India Para commando (SF) units, and had a major influence on modern Indian Special forces units. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Bangladesh_Liberation_War_of_1971">Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Airborne_forces&action=edit&section=33" title="Edit section: Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>During the <a href="/wiki/Bangladesh_Liberation_War" title="Bangladesh Liberation War">Bangladesh Liberation War</a> of 1971, the <a href="/wiki/Parachute_Regiment_(India)" title="Parachute Regiment (India)">Parachute Regiment</a> of the Indian Army fought in numerous contacts in both the Eastern and Western Theatres. On 11 December, India airdropped the 2nd battalion (2 Para) in what is now famous as the <a href="/wiki/Tangail_airdrop" class="mw-redirect" title="Tangail airdrop">Tangail airdrop</a>. The paratroop unit was instrumental in denying the retreat and regrouping of the Pakistani Army and contributed substantially to the early collapse of <a href="/wiki/Dhaka" title="Dhaka">Dhaka</a> via covert operations. The regiment earned the battle honours of Poongli Bridge, <a href="/wiki/Chachro" class="mw-redirect" title="Chachro">Chachro</a> and Defence of <a href="/wiki/1947_Poonch_rebellion" title="1947 Poonch rebellion">Poonch</a>—during these operations. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Indonesian_Invasion_of_East_Timor">Indonesian Invasion of East Timor</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Airborne_forces&action=edit&section=34" title="Edit section: Indonesian Invasion of East Timor"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Indonesian_Invasion_of_East_Timor" class="mw-redirect" title="Indonesian Invasion of East Timor">Indonesian Invasion of East Timor</a></div> <p>The <a href="/wiki/Indonesian_Army" title="Indonesian Army">Indonesian Army</a> used airborne troops in their <a href="/wiki/Indonesian_invasion_of_East_Timor" title="Indonesian invasion of East Timor">1975 invasion of East Timor</a>. Following a naval bombardment of <a href="/wiki/Dili" title="Dili">Dili</a>, on December 7, 1975, <a href="/wiki/Indonesian_Marine_Corps" title="Indonesian Marine Corps">Indonesian seaborne troops</a> landed in the city while paratroops simultaneously descended on the city.<sup id="cite_ref-26" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-26"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>26<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> 641 Indonesian paratroopers jumped into Dili, where they engaged in six-hours combat with East Timorese gunmen. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Vietnam_War">Vietnam War</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Airborne_forces&action=edit&section=35" title="Edit section: Vietnam War"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>In 1963, in the <a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Ap_Bac" title="Battle of Ap Bac">Battle of Ap Bac</a>, <a href="/wiki/ARVN" class="mw-redirect" title="ARVN">ARVN</a> forces delivered airborne troops by helicopter and air drop. The use of helicopter-borne airmobile troops by the United States Army in the <a href="/wiki/Vietnam_War" title="Vietnam War">Vietnam War</a> was widespread, and became an iconic image featuring in newsreels and movies about the conflict. </p><p>In February 1967 <a href="/wiki/Operation_Junction_City" title="Operation Junction City">Operation Junction City</a> was launched, it would be the largest operation the Allied forces would assemble. During this operation, 845 members of the 2nd Battalion, 503rd Airmen (Airborne), the 319th Artillery (Airborne), and elements of H&H company of the <a href="/wiki/173rd_Airborne_Brigade" title="173rd Airborne Brigade">173rd Airborne Brigade</a> made the only combat jump in Vietnam. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Rhodesian_Bush_War">Rhodesian Bush War</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Airborne_forces&action=edit&section=36" title="Edit section: Rhodesian Bush War"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Fireforce" class="mw-redirect" title="Fireforce">Fireforce</a></div> <p>The men of the <a href="/wiki/Rhodesian_Light_Infantry" title="Rhodesian Light Infantry">Rhodesian Light Infantry</a> made more parachute jumps than any other military unit in history. While an Allied paratrooper of the Second World War would be considered a "veteran" after one operational jump, an RLI paratrooper could make three operational jumps in a single day, each in a different location, and each preceding a successful contact with the enemy. Between 1976 and 1980, over 14,000 jumps were recorded by the Rhodesian Security Forces as a whole. </p><p>The world record for operational jumps by an individual soldier is held by Corporal Des Archer of 1 Commando, RLI, who made 73 operational jumps between 1977 and the end of the war. </p><p><a href="/wiki/Fireforce" class="mw-redirect" title="Fireforce">Fireforce</a> is a variant of the tactic of vertical envelopment of a target by helicopter-borne and small groups of parachute infantry developed by the <a href="/wiki/Rhodesian_Bush_War#Rhodesian_Security_Forces" title="Rhodesian Bush War">Rhodesian Security Force</a>. </p><p>Fireforce counter-insurgency missions were designed to trap and eliminate insurgents before they could flee. The Rhodesian Security Force could react quickly to insurgent ambushes, farm attacks, Observation Post sightings, and could also be called in as reinforcements by trackers or patrols which made contact with the enemy. It was first deployed in January 1974 and saw its first action a month later on 24 February 1974. By the end of Rhodesian operations with internal peace agreements, Fireforce was a well-developed counterinsurgency tactic. </p><p>Fireforce was an operational assault or response usually composed of a first wave of 32 soldiers carried to the scene by three <a href="/wiki/Alouette_III" class="mw-redirect" title="Alouette III">Alouette III</a> helicopters and one <a href="/wiki/C-47" class="mw-redirect" title="C-47">Dakota</a> transport aircraft, with another Alouette III helicopter as a command/gunship aircraft and a light attack aircraft in support. One of the advantages of the Fireforce was its flexibility as all that was needed was a reasonable airstrip. It was such a successful tactic that some Rhodesian Light Infantry soldiers reputedly made as many as three parachute combat jumps in one day. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Angolan_Bush_War:_Cassinga">Angolan Bush War: Cassinga</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Airborne_forces&action=edit&section=37" title="Edit section: Angolan Bush War: Cassinga"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Battle_of_Cassinga" title="Battle of Cassinga">Battle of Cassinga</a></div> <p>During the War in Angola, paratroopers of the <a href="/wiki/South_African_Army" title="South African Army">South African Army</a> attacked a <a href="/wiki/SWAPO" title="SWAPO">South West Africa People's Organization</a> (SWAPO) military base<sup class="noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact" style="white-space:nowrap;">[<i><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed"><span title="This claim needs references to reliable sources. (August 2021)">citation needed</span></a></i>]</sup> at the former town of <a href="/wiki/Cassinga" title="Cassinga">Cassinga</a>, <a href="/wiki/Angola" title="Angola">Angola</a> on 4 May 1978. Conducted as one of the three major actions of <a href="/wiki/Operation_Reindeer" title="Operation Reindeer">Operation Reindeer</a> during the <a href="/wiki/South_African_Border_War" title="South African Border War">South African Border War</a>, it was the South African Army's first major airborne assault. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Soviet_and_Russian_VDV">Soviet and Russian VDV</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Airborne_forces&action=edit&section=38" title="Edit section: Soviet and Russian VDV"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <figure class="mw-default-size mw-halign-right" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:BMD-1_in_Afghanistan.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/82/BMD-1_in_Afghanistan.jpg/220px-BMD-1_in_Afghanistan.jpg" decoding="async" width="220" height="127" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/82/BMD-1_in_Afghanistan.jpg/330px-BMD-1_in_Afghanistan.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/82/BMD-1_in_Afghanistan.jpg/440px-BMD-1_in_Afghanistan.jpg 2x" data-file-width="2780" data-file-height="1600" /></a><figcaption>A BMD-1 in <a href="/wiki/Kabul" title="Kabul">Kabul</a>, <a href="/wiki/Afghanistan" title="Afghanistan">Afghanistan</a>, 1986</figcaption></figure> <p>The Soviet Union maintained the world's largest airborne force during the <a href="/wiki/Cold_War" title="Cold War">Cold War</a>, consisting of seven airborne divisions and a training division. The <a href="/wiki/Russian_Airborne_Troops" class="mw-redirect" title="Russian Airborne Troops">VDV</a> was subordinated directly to the Ministry of Defense of USSR, and was a 'prestige service' in the armed forces of the USSR and Russia to reflect its strategic purpose. Recruits received much more rigorous training and better equipment than ordinary Soviet units. Unlike most airborne forces, which are a light infantry force, VDV has evolved into a <i>fully mechanized</i> parachute-deployed force thanks to its use of <a href="/wiki/BMD-1" title="BMD-1">BMD</a>-series light <a href="/wiki/Infantry_fighting_vehicle" title="Infantry fighting vehicle">IFVs</a>, <a href="/wiki/BTR-D" title="BTR-D">BTR-D</a> armoured carriers, <a href="/wiki/2S9_Nona" title="2S9 Nona">2S9 Nona</a> self-propelled 120 mm gun-howitzer-mortars and <a href="/wiki/2S25_Sprut-SD" title="2S25 Sprut-SD">2S25 Sprut-SD</a> 125 mm <a href="/wiki/Tank_destroyer" title="Tank destroyer">tank destroyers</a>. </p><p>The VDV have participated in virtually all Soviet and Russian conflicts since the Second World War, including the <a href="/wiki/Soviet%E2%80%93Afghan_War" title="Soviet–Afghan War">Soviet–Afghan War</a>. As an elite force, the VDV developed two distinctive items of clothing: the <i><a href="/wiki/Telnyashka" title="Telnyashka">telnyashka</a></i>, or striped shirt, and the famous blue beret. Airborne assault (десантно-штурмовые войска or DShV) units wore similar striped shirts (as did the naval infantry) but used helicopters, rather than the Military Transport Aviation's <a href="/wiki/An-12" class="mw-redirect" title="An-12">An-12s</a>, <a href="/wiki/An-22" class="mw-redirect" title="An-22">An-22s</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Il-76" class="mw-redirect" title="Il-76">Il-76s</a>, which carried the airborne troops and their equipment. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Soviet_Glider_Infantry">Soviet Glider Infantry</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Airborne_forces&action=edit&section=39" title="Edit section: Soviet Glider Infantry"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <p>The Soviets maintained three glider infantry regiments until 1965. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Operation_Meghdoot">Operation Meghdoot</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Airborne_forces&action=edit&section=40" title="Edit section: Operation Meghdoot"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1236090951"><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Main article: <a href="/wiki/Operation_Meghdoot" title="Operation Meghdoot">Operation Meghdoot</a></div> <p><b>Operation Meghdoot</b> (<abbr style="font-size:85%" title="literal translation">lit.</abbr> "Operation Cloud Messenger"), launched in the early hours of 13 April 1984, was the codename given to the <a href="/wiki/Preemptive_strike" class="mw-redirect" title="Preemptive strike">preemptive strike</a> launched by the <a href="/wiki/Indian_Armed_Forces" title="Indian Armed Forces">Indian Armed Forces'</a> to gain control of the <a href="/wiki/Siachen_Glacier" title="Siachen Glacier">Siachen Glacier</a> in Kashmir, precipitating the <a href="/wiki/Siachen_conflict" title="Siachen conflict">Siachen conflict</a>. </p><p>Executed in the highest battlefield in the world,<sup id="cite_ref-27" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-27"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>27<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup> Meghdoot was the first ever military offensive of its kind. The operation was a success, resulting in Indian forces gaining control of the Siachen Glacier in its entirety. </p> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Recent_history">Recent history</h3><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Airborne_forces&action=edit&section=41" title="Edit section: Recent history"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <figure class="mw-halign-right" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:US_Parachutists_during_Operation_Just_Cause.jpg" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a6/US_Parachutists_during_Operation_Just_Cause.jpg/150px-US_Parachutists_during_Operation_Just_Cause.jpg" decoding="async" width="150" height="225" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a6/US_Parachutists_during_Operation_Just_Cause.jpg/225px-US_Parachutists_during_Operation_Just_Cause.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a6/US_Parachutists_during_Operation_Just_Cause.jpg/300px-US_Parachutists_during_Operation_Just_Cause.jpg 2x" data-file-width="1900" data-file-height="2850" /></a><figcaption>Elements of 1st Bn, 508th Infantry parachuting onto a drop zone, outside of Panama City in support of Operation Just Cause.</figcaption></figure> <p>With the advantages of helicopter use, airborne forces have dwindled in numbers in recent years. </p> <ul><li>On July 20, 1974, several landings took place at north of <a href="/wiki/Nicosia" title="Nicosia">Nicosia</a>, during <a href="/wiki/Operation_Atilla" class="mw-redirect" title="Operation Atilla">Operation Atilla</a>.</li> <li>The Battle of Kolwezi was an airborne operation by French and Belgian airborne forces that took place in May 1978 in Zaire during the Shaba II invasion of Zaire by the Front for the National Liberation of the Congo (FLNC). It aimed at rescuing European and Zairean hostages held by FLNC rebels after they conquered the city of Kolwezi. The operation succeeded with the liberation of the hostages and light military casualties.</li> <li>During the 1983 <a href="/wiki/Invasion_of_Grenada" class="mw-redirect" title="Invasion of Grenada">Invasion of Grenada</a>, the <a href="/wiki/75th_Ranger_Regiment" title="75th Ranger Regiment">75th Ranger Regiment</a> made a combat jump on <a href="/wiki/Point_Salines_International_Airport" class="mw-redirect" title="Point Salines International Airport">Point Salines International Airport</a>.</li> <li>In 1989 during the <a href="/wiki/United_States_invasion_of_Panama" title="United States invasion of Panama">U.S invasion of Panama</a> the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division made its first combat jump in over 40 years. The 1st Brigade of the 82nd secured <a href="/wiki/Tocumen_International_Airport" title="Tocumen International Airport">Omar Torrijos International Airport</a> in <a href="/wiki/Tocumen" title="Tocumen">Tocumen, Panama</a>. The jump followed the 1st Ranger Battalion(+) of the 75th Ranger Regiment's combat jump onto the airfield. <a href="/wiki/M551_Sheridan_tank" class="mw-redirect" title="M551 Sheridan tank">M551 Sheridan tanks</a> were also dropped by air, the only time this capability was used in combat. At the same time as the combat jump onto <a href="/wiki/Tocumen_International_Airport" title="Tocumen International Airport">Omar Torrijos International Airport</a>, the 2nd and 3rd(-) Ranger Battalions, along with the 75th Ranger Regiment regimental headquarters, conducted a combat jump onto <a href="/wiki/Rio_Hato_Airport" class="mw-redirect" title="Rio Hato Airport">Rio Hato Airport</a>.</li> <li>On September 16, 1994, elements of the U.S. 82nd Airborne Division planned to jump into <a href="/wiki/Toussaint_Louverture_International_Airport" title="Toussaint Louverture International Airport">Port-au-Prince Airport</a> in Haiti as part of <a href="/wiki/Operation_Uphold_Democracy" title="Operation Uphold Democracy">Operation Restore Democracy</a>, an effort to overthrow the military dictatorship of <a href="/wiki/Raoul_C%C3%A9dras" title="Raoul Cédras">Raoul Cédras</a>, and to restore the democratically elected president, <a href="/wiki/Jean-Bertrand_Aristide" title="Jean-Bertrand Aristide">Jean-Bertrand Aristide</a>. As they were already in the air to be deployed over the target, Cédras finally stepped down from his rule in part due to the diplomatic efforts led by former President <a href="/wiki/Jimmy_Carter" title="Jimmy Carter">Jimmy Carter</a>, averting the entire mission.</li> <li>On October 19, 2001, as part of <a href="/wiki/Operation_Enduring_Freedom" title="Operation Enduring Freedom">Operation Enduring Freedom</a>, the <a href="/wiki/3rd_Ranger_Battalion" title="3rd Ranger Battalion">3rd Ranger Battalion</a> and a small command and control element from the regimental headquarters of the 75th Ranger Regiment jumped into <a href="/wiki/Kandahar" title="Kandahar">Kandahar</a> to secure an airfield.<sup id="cite_ref-28" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-28"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>28<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li> <li>On March 23, 2003, 3/75 Ranger Regiment conducted a combat jump into northern <a href="/wiki/Iraq" title="Iraq">Iraq</a> to seize a desert airfield.<sup id="cite_ref-29" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-29"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>29<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-30" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-30"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>30<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-31" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-31"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>31<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li> <li>On March 26, 2003, the U.S. 173rd Airborne Brigade conducted <a href="/wiki/Operation_Northern_Delay" title="Operation Northern Delay">a combat jump</a> into northern Iraq, during the <a href="/wiki/2003_invasion_of_Iraq" title="2003 invasion of Iraq">2003 invasion of Iraq</a>, to seize an airfield and support special forces (<a href="/wiki/Task_Force_Viking" title="Task Force Viking">Task Force Viking</a>). The paratroopers departed from <a href="/wiki/Aviano_Air_Base" title="Aviano Air Base">Aviano Air Base</a>, Italy on fifteen C-17s.<sup id="cite_ref-32" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-32"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>32<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup><sup id="cite_ref-33" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-33"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>33<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li> <li>In 2009, <a href="/wiki/Pakistan_Army" title="Pakistan Army">Pakistan Army</a>'s paratroopers conducted combat jump operations during <a href="/wiki/Operation_Black_Thunderstorm" title="Operation Black Thunderstorm">Operation Black Thunderstorm</a> and <a href="/wiki/Operation_Rah-e-Nijat" title="Operation Rah-e-Nijat">Operation Rah-e-Nijat</a> against the <a href="/wiki/Pakistani_Taliban" title="Pakistani Taliban">Pakistani Taliban</a> in northwest Pakistan, to seize control of strategic mountain areas in order to support special forces and infantry troops.</li> <li>In January 2013, 250 French paratroopers from the <a href="/wiki/11th_Parachute_Brigade" class="mw-redirect" title="11th Parachute Brigade">11th Parachute Brigade</a> jumped into northern <a href="/wiki/Mali" title="Mali">Mali</a> to support an offensive to capture the city of <a href="/wiki/Timbuktu" title="Timbuktu">Timbuktu</a>.<sup id="cite_ref-34" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-34"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>34<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Doctrine">Doctrine</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Airborne_forces&action=edit&section=42" title="Edit section: Doctrine"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1251242444">.mw-parser-output .ambox{border:1px solid #a2a9b1;border-left:10px solid #36c;background-color:#fbfbfb;box-sizing:border-box}.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+style+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+style+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+link+.ambox{margin-top:-1px}html body.mediawiki .mw-parser-output .ambox.mbox-small-left{margin:4px 1em 4px 0;overflow:hidden;width:238px;border-collapse:collapse;font-size:88%;line-height:1.25em}.mw-parser-output .ambox-speedy{border-left:10px solid #b32424;background-color:#fee7e6}.mw-parser-output .ambox-delete{border-left:10px solid #b32424}.mw-parser-output .ambox-content{border-left:10px solid #f28500}.mw-parser-output .ambox-style{border-left:10px solid #fc3}.mw-parser-output .ambox-move{border-left:10px solid #9932cc}.mw-parser-output .ambox-protection{border-left:10px solid #a2a9b1}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-text{border:none;padding:0.25em 0.5em;width:100%}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-image{border:none;padding:2px 0 2px 0.5em;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-imageright{border:none;padding:2px 0.5em 2px 0;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-empty-cell{border:none;padding:0;width:1px}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-image-div{width:52px}@media(min-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .ambox{margin:0 10%}}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .ambox{display:none!important}}</style><table class="box-Globalize plainlinks metadata ambox ambox-content ambox-globalize" role="presentation"><tbody><tr><td class="mbox-image"><div class="mbox-image-div"><span typeof="mw:File"><span><img alt="Globe icon." src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bd/Ambox_globe_content.svg/48px-Ambox_globe_content.svg.png" decoding="async" width="48" height="40" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bd/Ambox_globe_content.svg/73px-Ambox_globe_content.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/bd/Ambox_globe_content.svg/97px-Ambox_globe_content.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="350" data-file-height="290" /></span></span></div></td><td class="mbox-text"><div class="mbox-text-span">The examples and perspective in this section <b>may not represent a <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:WikiProject_Countering_systemic_bias" title="Wikipedia:WikiProject Countering systemic bias">worldwide view</a> of the subject</b>.<span class="hide-when-compact"> You may <a class="external text" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Airborne_forces&action=edit">improve this section</a>, discuss the issue on the <a href="/wiki/Talk:Airborne_forces" title="Talk:Airborne forces">talk page</a>, or create a new section, as appropriate.</span> <span class="date-container"><i>(<span class="date">April 2023</span>)</i></span><span class="hide-when-compact"><i> (<small><a href="/wiki/Help:Maintenance_template_removal" title="Help:Maintenance template removal">Learn how and when to remove this message</a></small>)</i></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1251242444"><table class="box-Expand_section plainlinks metadata ambox mbox-small-left ambox-content" role="presentation"><tbody><tr><td class="mbox-image"><span typeof="mw:File"><a href="/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg" class="mw-file-description"><img alt="[icon]" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg/20px-Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg.png" decoding="async" width="20" height="14" class="mw-file-element" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg/30px-Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/1c/Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg/40px-Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="44" data-file-height="31" /></a></span></td><td class="mbox-text"><div class="mbox-text-span">This section <b>needs expansion</b>. You can help by <a class="external text" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Airborne_forces&action=edit&section=">adding to it</a>. <span class="date-container"><i>(<span class="date">April 2023</span>)</i></span></div></td></tr></tbody></table> <ul><li>NATO Tactical Air Doctrine ATP-33 B<sup id="cite_ref-hegedus21_35-0" class="reference"><a href="#cite_note-hegedus21-35"><span class="cite-bracket">[</span>35<span class="cite-bracket">]</span></a></sup></li></ul> <figure class="mw-default-size" typeof="mw:File/Thumb"><a href="/wiki/File:Wings_badge.JPG" class="mw-file-description"><img src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/Wings_badge.JPG" decoding="async" width="150" height="58" class="mw-file-element" data-file-width="150" data-file-height="58" /></a><figcaption>British <a href="/wiki/Parachutist_Badge_(United_Kingdom)" title="Parachutist Badge (United Kingdom)">Parawings</a>. Wings are a symbol commonly worn by airborne forces.</figcaption></figure> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Airborne_forces&action=edit&section=43" title="Edit section: See also"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Airborne_gun" title="Airborne gun">Airborne gun</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/High-altitude_military_parachuting" title="High-altitude military parachuting">High-altitude military parachuting</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_airborne_artillery_units" title="List of airborne artillery units">List of airborne artillery units</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/List_of_paratrooper_forces" title="List of paratrooper forces">List of paratrooper forces</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Pathfinder_(military)" title="Pathfinder (military)">Pathfinder (military)</a></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Notes">Notes</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Airborne_forces&action=edit&section=44" title="Edit section: Notes"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239543626">.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}</style><div class="reflist reflist-columns references-column-width" style="column-width: 30em;"> <ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-1"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}</style><cite class="citation news cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Franklin/01-41-02-0310">"Founders Online: From Benjamin Franklin to Ingenhousz, 16 January 1784"</a><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2018-06-28</span></span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=Founders+Online%3A+From+Benjamin+Franklin+to+Ingenhousz%2C+16+January+1784&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Ffounders.archives.gov%2Fdocuments%2FFranklin%2F01-41-02-0310&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AAirborne+forces" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-2"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Reproduced in Blunt, Victor, <i>The User of Air Power</i>. Military Service Publishing Company; Harrisburg, 1943: pp.v–ix.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-3"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFHoltHolt2006" class="citation book cs1">Holt, Tonie; Holt, Valmai (2006). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=X1esXGdTiScC"><i>Major & Mrs Holt's pocket battlefield guide to Ypres & Passchendaele : 1st Ypres; 2nd Ypres (Gas Attack); 3rd Ypres (Passchendaele) 4th Ypres (The Lys)</i></a>. Barnsley: Pen & Sword Military. p. 35. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/9781844153770" title="Special:BookSources/9781844153770"><bdi>9781844153770</bdi></a>. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20171212195128/https://books.google.com/books?id=X1esXGdTiScC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0">Archived</a> from the original on 12 December 2017<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">12 December</span> 2017</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Major+%26+Mrs+Holt%27s+pocket+battlefield+guide+to+Ypres+%26+Passchendaele+%3A+1st+Ypres%3B+2nd+Ypres+%28Gas+Attack%29%3B+3rd+Ypres+%28Passchendaele%29+4th+Ypres+%28The+Lys%29&rft.place=Barnsley&rft.pages=35&rft.pub=Pen+%26+Sword+Military&rft.date=2006&rft.isbn=9781844153770&rft.aulast=Holt&rft.aufirst=Tonie&rft.au=Holt%2C+Valmai&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3DX1esXGdTiScC&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AAirborne+forces" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-4"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-4">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=wigDAAAAMBAJ&dq=popular+science+1930&pg=PA58">"Parachute Jumping Nurses."</a> <i>Popular Science</i> p. 58.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-5"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-5">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFDonaldson1999–2000" class="citation web cs1">Donaldson, Graham (1999–2000). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://warfare.gq/dutcheastindies/japan_paratroop.html">"The Japanese paratroopers in the Dutch East Indies, 1941–1942"</a>. <i>Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942</i>. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150708104829/http://www.dutcheastindies.webs.com/japan_paratroop.html">Archived</a> from the original on 2015-07-08.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=Forgotten+Campaign%3A+The+Dutch+East+Indies+Campaign+1941%E2%80%931942&rft.atitle=The+Japanese+paratroopers+in+the+Dutch+East+Indies%2C+1941%E2%80%931942&rft.date=1999%2F2000&rft.aulast=Donaldson&rft.aufirst=Graham&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwarfare.gq%2Fdutcheastindies%2Fjapan_paratroop.html&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AAirborne+forces" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-6"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFL1999–2000" class="citation web cs1">L, Klemen (1999–2000). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://warfare.gq/dutcheastindies/menado.html">"The Fall of Menado, January 1942"</a>. <i>Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942</i>. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20121202023937/http://www.dutcheastindies.webs.com/menado.html">Archived</a> from the original on 2012-12-02.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=Forgotten+Campaign%3A+The+Dutch+East+Indies+Campaign+1941%E2%80%931942&rft.atitle=The+Fall+of+Menado%2C+January+1942&rft.date=1999%2F2000&rft.aulast=L&rft.aufirst=Klemen&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwarfare.gq%2Fdutcheastindies%2Fmenado.html&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AAirborne+forces" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-7"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-7">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFL1999–2000" class="citation web cs1">L, Klemen (1999–2000). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://warfare.gq/dutcheastindies/timor_dutch.html">"The Japanese Invasion of Dutch West Timor Island, February 1942"</a>. <i>Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942</i>. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130925120236/http://www.dutcheastindies.webs.com/timor_dutch.html">Archived</a> from the original on 2013-09-25.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=Forgotten+Campaign%3A+The+Dutch+East+Indies+Campaign+1941%E2%80%931942&rft.atitle=The+Japanese+Invasion+of+Dutch+West+Timor+Island%2C+February+1942&rft.date=1999%2F2000&rft.aulast=L&rft.aufirst=Klemen&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwarfare.gq%2Fdutcheastindies%2Ftimor_dutch.html&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AAirborne+forces" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-8"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-8">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFL1999–2000" class="citation web cs1">L, Klemen (1999–2000). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://warfare.gq/dutcheastindies/palembang.html">"The battle for Palembang, February 1942"</a>. <i>Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942</i>. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150709152300/http://www.dutcheastindies.webs.com/palembang.html">Archived</a> from the original on 2015-07-09.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=Forgotten+Campaign%3A+The+Dutch+East+Indies+Campaign+1941%E2%80%931942&rft.atitle=The+battle+for+Palembang%2C+February+1942&rft.date=1999%2F2000&rft.aulast=L&rft.aufirst=Klemen&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwarfare.gq%2Fdutcheastindies%2Fpalembang.html&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AAirborne+forces" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-9"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-9">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Glantz, David M. <i>Soviet military operational art: in pursuit of deep battle</i>, Frank Cass, London, 1991 <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-7146-4077-8" title="Special:BookSources/0-7146-4077-8">0-7146-4077-8</a>.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-10"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-10">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">The Soviet Military Encyclopedic Dictionary (1983), p. 174.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-11"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-11">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Described in <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFGale1948" class="citation book cs1">Gale, Richard (1948). <i>With the 6th Airborne Division in Normandy</i>. London (UK): Sampson Low. <a href="/wiki/OCLC_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="OCLC (identifier)">OCLC</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://search.worldcat.org/oclc/4447265">4447265</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=With+the+6th+Airborne+Division+in+Normandy&rft.place=London+%28UK%29&rft.pub=Sampson+Low&rft.date=1948&rft_id=info%3Aoclcnum%2F4447265&rft.aulast=Gale&rft.aufirst=Richard&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AAirborne+forces" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-12"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-12">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Warren, John C., <i>USAF Historical Study No. 74: Airborne Missions in the Mediterranean, 1942–1945</i> (1953) Air Force Historical research Agency (AFHRA), p. 40.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-13"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-13">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Warren, p. 47.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-14"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-14">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Warren, p. 53.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-15"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-15">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Flanagan, p. 98.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-16"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-16">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Flanagan, p. 99.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-17"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-17">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Devlin, p. 246.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-18"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-18">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Huston, p. 98.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-19"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-19">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Flanagan, p. 100.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-20"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-20">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Devlin, p. 247.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Huston136-21"><span class="mw-cite-backlink">^ <a href="#cite_ref-Huston136_21-0"><sup><i><b>a</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Huston136_21-1"><sup><i><b>b</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Huston136_21-2"><sup><i><b>c</b></i></sup></a> <a href="#cite_ref-Huston136_21-3"><sup><i><b>d</b></i></sup></a></span> <span class="reference-text">Huston, p. 136.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-Huston137-22"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-Huston137_22-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Huston, p. 137.</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-23"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-23">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Hastings, Max, 'Armageddon: The Battle For Germany 1944–1945', p.431</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-24"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-24">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">The paratroopers were dropped from Italian <a href="/wiki/Caproni_Ca.111" title="Caproni Ca.111">Caproni Ca.111</a> bomber-transports. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://translate.google.com/translate?js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=1&eotf=1&u=http://www.arribasiemprearriba.com/Articulos/ParacaidismoEnElPeru.htm&sl=es&tl=en">Skydiving in Peru</a> by General Alberto Thorndike Elmore</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-25"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-25">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20160414080209/http://www.boekje-pienter.nl/images/no2dutchtroop-marsethistoria.pdf">"Mars <i>et</i> Historia"</a> <span class="cs1-format">(PDF)</span>. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.boekje-pienter.nl/images/no2dutchtroop-marsethistoria.pdf">the original</a> <span class="cs1-format">(PDF)</span> on 2016-04-14<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2016-05-25</span></span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Mars+et+Historia&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.boekje-pienter.nl%2Fimages%2Fno2dutchtroop-marsethistoria.pdf&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AAirborne+forces" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-26"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-26">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text">Schwarz (2003), p. 204</span> </li> <li id="cite_note-27"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-27">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/highest-battlefield">"Highest battlefield"</a>. <i>Guinness World Records</i><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">2022-05-16</span></span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=Guinness+World+Records&rft.atitle=Highest+battlefield&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.guinnessworldrecords.com%2Fworld-records%2Fhighest-battlefield&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AAirborne+forces" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-28"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-28">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20100907215747/http://documents.nytimes.com/a-different-kind-of-war">"<span class="cs1-kern-left"></span>'A Different Kind of War'<span class="cs1-kern-right"></span>"</a>. <i>www.nytimes.com</i>. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/projects/documents/a-different-kind-of-war">the original</a> on September 7, 2010.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=www.nytimes.com&rft.atitle=%27A+Different+Kind+of+War%27&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2Finteractive%2Fprojects%2Fdocuments%2Fa-different-kind-of-war&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AAirborne+forces" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-29"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-29">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20120514064846/http://www.soc.mil/75th%20Ranger%20Regiment/History.html">"75th Ranger Regiment History"</a>. <i><a href="/wiki/United_States_Army_Special_Operations_Command" title="United States Army Special Operations Command">United States Army Special Operations Command</a></i>. <a href="/wiki/United_States_Army" title="United States Army">United States Army</a>. Archived from <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.soc.mil/75th%20Ranger%20Regiment/History.html">the original</a> on 14 May 2012<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">4 June</span> 2012</span>. <q>On 28 March 2003, 3rd Battalion employed the first airborne assault in Iraq to seize Objective Serpent in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.</q></cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=United+States+Army+Special+Operations+Command&rft.atitle=75th+Ranger+Regiment+History&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.soc.mil%2F75th%2520Ranger%2520Regiment%2FHistory.html&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AAirborne+forces" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-30"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-30">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFFredricksen2011" class="citation book cs1">Fredricksen, John C. (2011). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://books.google.com/books?id=LEqb2gnGq-cC&q=Objective+Serpent+2003&pg=PA247"><i>Fighting Elites: A History of U.S. Special Forces</i></a>. ABC-CLIO. p. 247. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-1-59884-810-6" title="Special:BookSources/978-1-59884-810-6"><bdi>978-1-59884-810-6</bdi></a><span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">4 June</span> 2012</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Fighting+Elites%3A+A+History+of+U.S.+Special+Forces&rft.pages=247&rft.pub=ABC-CLIO&rft.date=2011&rft.isbn=978-1-59884-810-6&rft.aulast=Fredricksen&rft.aufirst=John+C.&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fbooks.google.com%2Fbooks%3Fid%3DLEqb2gnGq-cC%26q%3DObjective%2BSerpent%2B2003%26pg%3DPA247&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AAirborne+forces" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-31"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-31">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFJones2005" class="citation journal cs1">Jones, Robert W. Jr. (2005). "The jump at Objective Serpent: 3/75th Rangers in Iraq". <i>Veritas: Journal of Army Special Operations History</i> (Winter). United States Army Special Operations Command: <span class="nowrap">52–</span>54.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=Veritas%3A+Journal+of+Army+Special+Operations+History&rft.atitle=The+jump+at+Objective+Serpent%3A+3%2F75th+Rangers+in+Iraq&rft.issue=Winter&rft.pages=%3Cspan+class%3D%22nowrap%22%3E52-%3C%2Fspan%3E54&rft.date=2005&rft.aulast=Jones&rft.aufirst=Robert+W.+Jr.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AAirborne+forces" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-32"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-32">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFSchmittRohde2003" class="citation news cs1">Schmitt, Eric; Rohde, David (March 27, 2003). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/27/world/nation-war-northern-iraq-with-smaller-operation-than-first-planned-us-opens.html?pagewanted=1">"A NATION AT WAR: NORTHERN IRAQ; With Smaller Operation Than First Planned, U.S. Opens Northern Front"</a>. <i>The New York Times</i>. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170914220006/http://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/27/world/nation-war-northern-iraq-with-smaller-operation-than-first-planned-us-opens.html?pagewanted=1">Archived</a> from the original on September 14, 2017.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=The+New+York+Times&rft.atitle=A+NATION+AT+WAR%3A+NORTHERN+IRAQ%3B+With+Smaller+Operation+Than+First+Planned%2C+U.S.+Opens+Northern+Front&rft.date=2003-03-27&rft.aulast=Schmitt&rft.aufirst=Eric&rft.au=Rohde%2C+David&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2F2003%2F03%2F27%2Fworld%2Fnation-war-northern-iraq-with-smaller-operation-than-first-planned-us-opens.html%3Fpagewanted%3D1&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AAirborne+forces" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-33"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-33">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.173rdairborne.com/menuiraq.htm">"Sky Soldiers of the 173d Airborne Brigade in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom March 2003-February 2004"</a>. <i>www.173rdairborne.com</i>. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20170822180635/http://www.173rdairborne.com/menuiraq.htm">Archived</a> from the original on 22 August 2017<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">28 April</span> 2018</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=www.173rdairborne.com&rft.atitle=Sky+Soldiers+of+the+173d+Airborne+Brigade+in+Iraq+during+Operation+Iraqi+Freedom+March+2003-February+2004&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.173rdairborne.com%2Fmenuiraq.htm&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AAirborne+forces" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-34"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-34">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.france24.com/en/20130129-french-led-operation-looks-north-after-timbuktu-liberated">"French-led operation looks north after Timbuktu"</a>. <i>france24.com/en</i>. FRANCE 24. 29 January 2013. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130129214748/http://www.france24.com/en/20130129-french-led-operation-looks-north-after-timbuktu-liberated">Archived</a> from the original on 29 January 2013<span class="reference-accessdate">. Retrieved <span class="nowrap">30 January</span> 2013</span>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=france24.com%2Fen&rft.atitle=French-led+operation+looks+north+after+Timbuktu&rft.date=2013-01-29&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.france24.com%2Fen%2F20130129-french-led-operation-looks-north-after-timbuktu-liberated&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AAirborne+forces" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> <li id="cite_note-hegedus21-35"><span class="mw-cite-backlink"><b><a href="#cite_ref-hegedus21_35-0">^</a></b></span> <span class="reference-text"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFHegedûs2021" class="citation journal cs1">Hegedûs, Ernõ (February 2021). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://real.mtak.hu/133975/1/003-011_Hegedus-Erno_2021-2.pdf">"The development of airborne warfare tactics (1935 – 2020)"</a> <span class="cs1-format">(PDF)</span>. <i>Hadtudomány</i>. <b>31</b> (2): <span class="nowrap">3–</span>11. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.17047%2FHADTUD.2021.31.2.3">10.17047/HADTUD.2021.31.2.3</a>. <a href="/wiki/S2CID_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="S2CID (identifier)">S2CID</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:244418002">244418002</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=article&rft.jtitle=Hadtudom%C3%A1ny&rft.atitle=The+development+of+airborne+warfare+tactics+%281935+%E2%80%93+2020%29&rft.volume=31&rft.issue=2&rft.pages=%3Cspan+class%3D%22nowrap%22%3E3-%3C%2Fspan%3E11&rft.date=2021-02&rft_id=info%3Adoi%2F10.17047%2FHADTUD.2021.31.2.3&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.semanticscholar.org%2FCorpusID%3A244418002%23id-name%3DS2CID&rft.aulast=Heged%C3%BBs&rft.aufirst=Ern%C3%B5&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Freal.mtak.hu%2F133975%2F1%2F003-011_Hegedus-Erno_2021-2.pdf&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AAirborne+forces" class="Z3988"></span></span> </li> </ol></div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="References">References</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Airborne_forces&action=edit&section=45" title="Edit section: References"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li>Hastings, Max, <i>Armageddon – The Battle For Germany 1944–45</i>, Macmillan, 2004</li> <li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFL1999–2000" class="citation web cs1">L, Klemen (1999–2000). <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://warfare.gq/dutcheastindies/index.html">"Forgotten Campaign: The Dutch East Indies Campaign 1941–1942"</a>. <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20110726053035/http://www.dutcheastindies.webs.com/index.html">Archived</a> from the original on 2011-07-26.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Forgotten+Campaign%3A+The+Dutch+East+Indies+Campaign+1941%E2%80%931942&rft.date=1999%2F2000&rft.aulast=L&rft.aufirst=Klemen&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwarfare.gq%2Fdutcheastindies%2Findex.html&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AAirborne+forces" class="Z3988"></span></li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="Further_reading">Further reading</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Airborne_forces&action=edit&section=46" title="Edit section: Further reading"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li>Ambrose, Stephen E., <i>Pegasus Bridge</i>. Pocket Books, 2003</li> <li>Ambrose, Stephen E., <i>Band of Brothers</i>. Pocket Books, 2001</li> <li>Arthur, Max, <i>Forgotten Voices Of The Second World War</i>. Edbury Press, 2005</li> <li>Balkoski, Joseph, <i>Utah Beach: The Amphibious Landing and Airborne Operations on D-Day, June 6, 1944</i>. Stackpole Books US, 2006</li> <li>Bando, Mark A., <i>101st Airborne: The Screaming Eagles at Normandy</i>. Motorbooks International, 2001</li> <li>Blair, Clay, <i>Ridgway's Paratroopers – The American Airborne In World War II</i>. The Dial Press, 1985</li> <li>Buckingham, William F., <i>Arnhem 1944</i>. Tempus Publishing Limited, 2004</li> <li>Buckingham, William F., <i>D-Day – The First 72 Hours</i>. Tempus Publishing Limited, 2004</li> <li>Calvocoressi, Peter, <i>The Penguin History of the Second World War</i>, Penguin Books Ltd, 1999</li> <li>Department Of The Army, <i>Pamphlet No. 20-232, Historical Study – Airborne Operations – A German Appraisal</i>, 1951, Department Of The Army</li> <li>Devlin, Gerard M., <i>Paratrooper – The Saga Of Parachute And Glider Combat Troops During World War II</i>, Robson Books, 1979</li> <li>DeVore, Marc, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://usacac.army.mil/sites/default/files/documents/cace/CSI/CSIPubs/WhenFailureThrives.pdf"><i>When Failure Thrives: Institutions and the Evolution of Postwar Airborne Forces</i></a>. The Army Press, 2015</li> <li>Dover, Victor, <i>The Sky Generals</i>, Cassell Ltd, 1981</li> <li>Flanagan, E.M. Jr., <i>Airborne – A Combat History Of American Airborne Forces</i>, The Random House Publishing Group, 2002</li> <li>Flint, Keith, <i>Airborne Armour: Tetrarch, Locust, Hamilcar and the 6th Airborne Armoured Reconnaissance Regiment, 1938–50</i>, Helion & Company, 2004</li> <li>French, David, <i>Raising Churchill's Army – The British Army And The War Against Germany 1919–1945</i>, Oxford University Press, 2000</li> <li>Frost, John, <i>A Drop Too Many</i>, Leo Cooper Ltd, 1994</li> <li>Gregory, Barry, <i>British Airborne Troops</i>, Macdonald & Co (Publishers) Ltd, 1974</li> <li>Harclerode, Peter, <i>Arnhem – A Tragedy Of Errors</i>, Caxton Editions, 2000</li> <li>Harclerode, Peter, <i>Para! – Fifty Years Of The Parachute Regiment</i>, Orion Books Ltd, 1996</li> <li>Harclerode, Peter, <i>Wings Of War – Airborne Warfare 1918–1945</i>, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2005</li> <li>Hastings, Max, <i>Overlord</i>, Pan Books, 1999</li> <li>Hibbert, Christopher, <i>Arnhem</i>, B.T. Batsford Ltd, 1998</li> <li>Horrocks, Brian, <i>A Full Life</i>, Collins, 1960</li> <li>Huston, James A., <i>Out Of The Blue – U.S Army Airborne Operations In World War II</i>, Purdue University Press, 1998</li> <li>Jewell, Brian, <i>"Over The Rhine" – The Last Days Of War In Europe</i>, Spellmount Ltd, 1985</li> <li>Keegan, John, <i>The Second World War</i>, Pimlico, 1997</li> <li>Kershaw, Robert J., <i>It Never Snows In September – The German View Of MARKET-GARDEN And The Battle Of Arnhem, September 1944</i>, Ian Allan Publishing Ltd, 2004</li> <li>Koskimaki, George E., <i>D-Day With The Screaming Eagles</i>, Presidio Press, 2002</li> <li>Koskimaki, George E., <i>Hell's Highway – A Chronicle Of The 101st Airborne In The Holland Campaign, September–November 1944</i>, Presidio Press, 2002</li> <li>Lunteren, Frank van, <i>Birth of a Regiment: The 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment in Sicily and Salerno</i>, Permuted Press LLC, 2022</li> <li>Jones, Robert, <i>The History of the 101st Airborne Division</i>, Turner Publishing Company, 2005</li> <li>Middlebrook, Martin, <i>Arnhem 1944 – The Airborne Battle</i>, Penguin Books, 1995</li> <li>Ministry Of Information, <i>By Air To Battle – The Official Account Of The British Airborne Divisions</i>, Her Majesty's Stationery Office, 1945</li> <li>Nordyke, Phil, <i>All American, All the Way: The Combat History Of The 82nd Airborne Division In World War II</i>, Motorbooks International, 2005</li> <li>Nordyke, Phil, <i>Four Stars of Valour: The Combat History of the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment in World War II</i>, Motorbooks, 2006</li> <li>Norton, G.G., <i>The Red Devils – The Story Of The British Airborne Forces</i>, Pan Books Ltd, 1973</li> <li>Otway, T.B.H, <i>Airborne Forces</i>, Adlib Books, 1990</li> <li>Rawson, Andrew, <i>The Rhine Crossing – 9th US Army & 17th US Airborne</i>, Pen & Sword Military, 2006</li> <li>Ryan, Cornelius, <i>A Bridge Too Far</i>, Coronet Books, 1984</li> <li>Saunders, Hilary St. George, <i>The Red Beret – The Story Of The Parachute Regiment 1940–1945</i>, Michael Joseph Ltd, 1954</li> <li>Saunders, Tim, <i>Operation Plunder – The British & Canadian Rhine Crossing</i>, Pen & Sword Military, 2006</li> <li>Tanase, Mircea, <i>The airborne troops during the World War II</i>, Military Publishing House Romania, 2006</li> <li>Tugwell, Maurice, <i>Airborne To Battle – A History Of Airborne Warfare 1918–1971</i>, William Kimber & Co Ltd, 1971</li> <li>Urquhart, R.E., <i>Arnhem</i>, Pan Books, 1960</li> <li>Weeks, John, <i>Assault From The Sky – The History Of Airborne Warfare</i>, David & Charles Publisher plc, 1988</li> <li>Whiting, Charles, <i>American Eagles – The 101st Airborne's Assault On Fortress Europe 1944/45</i>, Eskdale Publishing, 2001</li> <li>Whiting, Charles, <i>"Bounce The Rhine" – The Greatest Airborne Operation In History</i>, Grafton Books, 1987</li> <li>Whiting, Charles <i>Slaughter Over Sicily</i>, Leo Cooper, 1992</li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading2"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2><span class="mw-editsection"><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">[</span><a href="/w/index.php?title=Airborne_forces&action=edit&section=47" title="Edit section: External links"><span>edit</span></a><span class="mw-editsection-bracket">]</span></span></div> <ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20131004213222/http://www.nga-airborne-assoc.org/">Nga-airborne-assoc.org: NGA Airborne Association website </a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.armyparatrooper.org">ArmyParatrooper.org website</a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.airbornesappers.org.uk">AirborneSappers.org: Airborne Engineers Association website</a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.today/20130208083021/http://www.historynet.com/magazines/world_war_2/3029386.html?page=4&c=y">Historynet.com: <i>World War II History Magazine</i> — "Airborne Operations During World War II" (2004)</a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://archive.today/20130125071003/http://www.historynet.com/historical_conflicts/3029416.html?page=5&c=y">Historynet.com: <i>World War II History Magazine</i> — "Operation Varsity: Allied Airborne Assault Over the Rhine River" (1998)</a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20080113091200/http://www.historynet.com/wars_conflicts/world_war_2/3036676.html">Historynet.com: <i>Military History Quarterly</i> — "101st Airborne Division Participate in Operation Overlord" (2004)</a></li> <li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.theparas.co.uk">Theparas.co.uk: The Paras website</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150302023722/http://www.theparas.co.uk/">Archived</a> 2015-03-02 at the <a href="/wiki/Wayback_Machine" title="Wayback Machine">Wayback Machine</a></li> <li><a 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