Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    Canopies Of Blue:: The U.S. Airborne Experience In The Pacific In WWII As A Case Study In Operational Art And Multi-Role Flexibility
    Canopies Of Blue:: The U.S. Airborne Experience In The Pacific In WWII As A Case Study In Operational Art And Multi-Role Flexibility
    Canopies Of Blue:: The U.S. Airborne Experience In The Pacific In WWII As A Case Study In Operational Art And Multi-Role Flexibility
    Ebook86 pages1 hour

    Canopies Of Blue:: The U.S. Airborne Experience In The Pacific In WWII As A Case Study In Operational Art And Multi-Role Flexibility

    By Major Channing M. Greene Jr.

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    As America’s collective memory of the Second World War fades, popular history books and the entertainment industry have filled the knowledge gap with accounts from the European Theater. A resurgence in works focusing on the war in the Pacific has surfaced in recent years, but the topic still requires a fresh perspective. In particular, the American airborne experience in the Pacific presents a field ripe for exploration.

    This historical monograph argues that a careful review of the operations involving the 11th Airborne Division, the 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment, and the 1st Marine Parachute Battalion reveals a measure of foresight on the part of those who designed campaign plans in the Pacific. General Joseph Swing’s implementation of the Paraglider concept in the 11th Airborne enabled his unit to perform a variety of tasks including amphibious operations, parachute drops, and POW camp raids. The Allies’ only independent parachute regiment in the Pacific, the 503rd, successfully employed the combined arms concept in its capture of Nadzab and set the conditions for the Allied reduction of Japanese defenses around Rabaul. The United States Marine Corps’ short-lived experiment with airborne forces revealed the usefulness of units in multi-role functions, but ultimately betrayed an inability to execute actual parachute drops because of logistical limitations in the ocean environment.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherVerdun Press
    Release dateNov 6, 2015
    ISBN9781786252418
    Canopies Of Blue:: The U.S. Airborne Experience In The Pacific In WWII As A Case Study In Operational Art And Multi-Role Flexibility

    Related to Canopies Of Blue:

    Related ebooks

    Asian History For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      America’s “Few”

      Jan 20, 2022

      America’s “Few”
      8 min read

    • Article

      Island Fortress

      May 23, 2023

      Island Fortress
      5 min read

    • Article

      Target Acquired

      Aug 4, 2020

      Target Acquired
      3 min read

    • Article

      Carriers at War

      Apr 5, 2022

      Carriers at War
      1 min read

    • Article

      Operation Bodenplatte

      Feb 26, 2020

      Operation Bodenplatte
      2 min read

    • Article

      Defender Of The Homeland

      Jun 7, 2022

      Defender Of The Homeland
      2 min read

    • Article

      The Best Dive Bomber

      Dec 22, 2020

      The Best Dive Bomber
      4 min read

    • Article

      Killing Königsberg

      Jan 24, 2023

      Killing Königsberg
      13 min read

    • Article

      The Eruption Of Mount Hood

      Feb 20, 2024

      The Eruption Of Mount Hood
      11 min read

    • Article

      Old Soldiers

      Jul 3, 2018

      Old Soldiers
      7 min read

    • Article

      Fast And Furious

      Apr 5, 2022

      Fast And Furious
      13 min read

    • Article

      The Legend Of Maj. Paul "Pappy" Gunn

      Jun 16, 2020

      "Pappy" Gunn had served in the U.S. Navy for twenty years before retiring to start airlines in Hawaii and the Philippines. When Pearl Harbor was attacked, he returned to the service — and received a Distinguished Flying Cross for flying in medical su

      1 min read

    • Article

      Breaking Rommel’s Siege

      Nov 29, 2018

      Breaking Rommel’s Siege
      11 min read

    • Article

      ‘Now Is When You Pray’

      Jun 4, 2019

      ‘Now Is When You Pray’
      12 min read

    • Article

      A Month Like No Other

      Jun 7, 2022

      A Month Like No Other
      9 min read

    • Article

      Fairey Swordfish

      Apr 11, 2024

      Fairey Swordfish
      3 min read

    • Article

      Ruff Stuff

      Oct 11, 2022

      Ruff Stuff
      9 min read

    • Article

      Clash On The Devil’s Bridge

      Jun 18, 2020

      Clash On The Devil’s Bridge
      7 min read

    • Article

      Auxiliaries

      Nov 25, 2022

      Auxiliaries
      13 min read

    • Article

      Nieuport 17

      Jan 20, 2022

      Nieuport 17
      3 min read

    • Article

      Dueling In The Fast Lane

      Jun 16, 2020

      Dueling In The Fast Lane
      5 min read

    • Article

      Hawker Hurricane

      Feb 1, 2022

      Hawker Hurricane
      2 min read

    • Article

      How to Take Two Islands

      Jul 25, 2023

      How to Take Two Islands
      2 min read

    • Article

      Ordeal By Degradation

      Aug 31, 2021

      Ordeal By Degradation
      3 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for Canopies Of Blue:

    0 ratings

    0 ratings0 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

      Book preview

      Canopies Of Blue: - Major Channing M. Greene Jr.

      This edition is published by PICKLE PARTNERS PUBLISHING—www.picklepartnerspublishing.com

      To join our mailing list for new titles or for issues with our books – picklepublishing@gmail.com

      Or on Facebook

      Text originally published in 2008 under the same title.

      © Pickle Partners Publishing 2015, all rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted by any means, electrical, mechanical or otherwise without the written permission of the copyright holder.

      Publisher’s Note

      Although in most cases we have retained the Author’s original spelling and grammar to authentically reproduce the work of the Author and the original intent of such material, some additional notes and clarifications have been added for the modern reader’s benefit.

      We have also made every effort to include all maps and illustrations of the original edition the limitations of formatting do not allow of including larger maps, we will upload as many of these maps as possible.

      CANOPIES OF BLUE: THE AMERICAN AIRBORNE EXPERIENCE IN THE PACIFIC IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR AS A CASE STUDY IN OPERATIONAL ART AND MULTI-ROLE FLEXIBILITY

      By

      MAJ Channing M. Greene, Jr., US Army

      TABLE OF CONTENTS

      Contents

      TABLE OF CONTENTS 4

      Abstract 5

      Introduction 7

      Little Drop Zone, Big Ocean: The Marine Airborne Experiment 12

      Corcorans vs. Leggings: Adaptive Leadership in Building the Paraglider Team 24

      First in the Fight: The 503rd Parachute Infantry at Nadzab 30

      Paraglidermen in Action: The 11th Airborne in Combined Operations 39

      Airborne Operations in a Global Environment: Some Conclusions 47

      Bibliography 51

      REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER 54

      Abstract

      As America’s collective memory of the Second World War fades, popular history books and the entertainment industry have filled the knowledge gap with accounts from the European Theater. A resurgence in works focusing on the war in the Pacific has surfaced in recent years, but the topic still requires a fresh perspective. In particular, the American airborne experience in the Pacific presents a field ripe for exploration.

      This historical monograph argues that a careful review of the operations involving the 11th Airborne Division, the 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment, and the 1st Marine Parachute Battalion reveals a measure of foresight on the part of those who designed campaign plans in the Pacific. General Joseph Swing’s implementation of the Paraglider concept in the 11th Airborne enabled his unit to perform a variety of tasks including amphibious operations, parachute drops, and POW camp raids. The Allies’ only independent parachute regiment in the Pacific, the 503rd, successfully employed the combined arms concept in its capture of Nadzab and set the conditions for the Allied reduction of Japanese defenses around Rabaul. The United States Marine Corps’ short-lived experiment with airborne forces revealed the usefulness of units in multi-role functions, but ultimately betrayed an inability to execute actual parachute drops because of logistical limitations in the ocean environment.

      Herein lies a promising heritage. While most Americans maintain a short historical memory, today’s military strategists can draw on past successes rather than bemoan an alleged lack of operational skill. Despite the fact that many in today’s military planning community consider American attempts to operationalize national strategy a dismal failure, the airborne experience in the Pacific Theater in World War II provides a positive example for a successful operational tradition. Furthermore, case studies of this nature may hold implications for future force structure in the U.S. Army’s Airborne and Air Assault Division / Brigade Combat Team (BCT) units, and how U.S. military planners incorporate airborne units into operational objectives and regional plans.

      As a nod to the Paraglider past in the Pacific, a consolidated air transportable division, including parachute and heli-borne units, could meet the need for a strategic and operationally flexible force package. As they have in the past, situations will arise that require the deployment of units marked by a certain cultural prestige and a visible, forceful presence. From a regional perspective, parachute troops remain a highly useful and practical capability for nations with littoral interests. While it may take years for China to develop a sophisticated and globally-projected force, it holds the potential now to deploy robust, brigade-sized troops to various points in the Pacific Basin. In a positive sense, this could mean a greater degree of peace-keeping involvement on the part of the Chinese in troubled areas like the Solomons or the Marshalls. However, recent events in Tibet indicate that rosy outcomes are unlikely to follow from Chinese interventions any time soon. Major shifts in the Chinese political environment must precede any positive developments in either law enforcement or military operations. In either case, rising powers will continue to watch and emulate U.S. military actions and its forthcoming expeditionary force structure.

      Introduction

      The 60th Anniversary of the end of World War II came and went in 2005 and left many Americans with varied visions of the role of the Unites States in that conflict. As is usually the case, those pictures and stories that are most familiar arise from the American military experience in Europe—Pearl Harbor, Iwo Jima, and the scene of the final surrender in Tokyo Bay notwithstanding. The exotic and distant nature of the war in the Pacific still shrouds a story that needs emphasis and revisiting, especially when most popular historical accounts continue to focus on Europe’s Western Front.

      The particularly American fascination with the airborne soldiers of World War II follows the general trend of emphasizing the European theater. In addition to misunderstanding the origins of the

      Enjoying the preview?
      Page 1 of 1