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World War II Introduction - Combat Control Teams
BASTOGNE TO THE RHINE - On December 27th, 1944, the US lost 26 percent of the troops in a 50-ship glider
tow to Bastogne - the highest proportion for any troop carrier mission of  the war. To help iron out communication and coordination problems, USAAF trained combat control teams and pathfinder groups to mark drop and landing zones ahead of oncoming troop carrier "serials" and have pathfinder equipment and trained personnel in place on the ground when the troop carrier forces arrived. They operated on special VHF radio frequencies to assure discrete ground-to- air communications. In addition, intership communications were established between troop carrier forces and protecting fighters over the target areas. Later, troop-carrier squadrons introduced gliderborne Combat Control Teams. The glider pilot and four enlisted technicians utilized a jeep and a trailer-mounted radio to pass critical information to the follow-on Troop Carrier aircraft.
On March 24, 1945, two gliderborne Combat Control Teams infiltrated into Germany - crossing the Rhine - with the 18th Airborne Corps during Operation Varsity. Following their infiltration, the teams were able to move rapidly to forward airfields where they supported resupply operations and provided airfield control.
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Air Commando Association Combat Control (Wikipedia Site) Sgt. Mac's Bar |
