Controversy Over the Role of Airborne Troops in the United States Army (1940–1945)
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18778/0208-6050.119.09Keywords:
airborne troops, parachute troops, United States Army, World War II, the Swing BoardAbstract
One of the new types of weapons that appeared in the structures of the armed forces between World War I and World War II were airborne troops. In the armed forces of the United States, these troops began to be formed in 1940, inspired by models taken from European powers. From 1940 to 1944, the U. S. Army Airborne Troops grew from a single platoon to an independent corps. This article examines the controversies that surrounded the U. S. Army Airborne Forces during their formative years. These controversies concerned their role in the armed forces, their subordination, organization, and operational techniques. Some of the most important episodes in this regard include the controversy surrounding American airborne operations in French North Africa in 1942–43, and the failure of senior officers to learn from them before Operation Husky in Sicily in 1943; controversies concerning the operation on Sicily itself and the subsequent need to verify and improve existing methods, as well as different visions of their use in the subsequent years of the ongoing conflict.
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