The Joint Airborne Troop Board was a multi-service US military board tasked with creating doctrine, tactics, techniques, and procedures for joint airborne operations and aerial logistical support operations. It was one of several boards that existed during the early years of the

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and superv ...

. The board existed from 1951 to 1956.

Background

In March and April 1948, the

Key West Agreement The Key West Agreement is the colloquial name for the policy paper Functions of the Armed Forces and the Joint Chiefs of Staff drafted by James V. Forrestal, the first United States Secretary of Defense. Its most prominent feature was an outline ...

outlining the division of air assets between the

Army An army, ground force or land force is an armed force that fights primarily on land. In the broadest sense, it is the land-based military branch, service branch or armed service of a nation or country. It may also include aviation assets by ...

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

, and

Air Force An air force in the broadest sense is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army aviati ...

, was drafted by the

Secretary of Defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divided ...

James V. Forrestal and approved by President

Harry S Truman Harry S. Truman (May 8, 1884December 26, 1972) was the 33rd president of the United States, serving from 1945 to 1953. As the 34th Vice president of the United States, vice president in 1945, he assumed the presidency upon the death of Frank ...

. By April 1950, the Army airborne community was expressing an interest in transport helicopters. A panel chaired by Major General William M. Miley reported that troop parachutes were unsatisfactory in part because of the problems encountered in assembling scattered troops after an airdrop. The panel recommended the adoption of

convertiplane A convertiplane is defined by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI or World Air Sports Federation) as an aircraft which uses rotor power for vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) and converts to fixed-wing lift in normal flight. In the ...

s and heavy lift helicopters. On 26 April 1951, the

Joint Chiefs of Staff The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is the body of the most senior uniformed leaders within the United States Department of Defense, which advises the president of the United States, the secretary of defense, the Homeland Security Council and ...

approved the first two chapters of ''Joint Action Armed Forces''. On 19 September 1951, the United States Departments of the

, and

jointly published the ''Joint Action Armed Forces'' Manual (Army: FM 110–5, Navy: FAAF, Air Force: AFM 1-1). That manual tasked the United States Army with operating a joint airborne troop board.

Army members

*Major General William M. Miley, U.S. Army *Major General Albert Pierson, U.S. Army *

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

Robert Sink Robert Frederick Sink (3 April 1905 – 13 December 1965) was a senior United States Army officer who fought during World War II and the Korean War, though he was most famous for his command of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, part of t ...

, U.S. Army

Activities

The board was located at

Fort Bragg, North Carolina Fort Bragg (formerly Fort Liberty from 2023–2025) is a United States Army, U.S. Army Military base, military installation located in North Carolina. It ranks among the largest military bases in the world by population, with more than 52,000 m ...

. It first sat in 1951, its establishment with Major General Miley as director pre-dating the formal publication of FM 110–5; the board was a successor to the Army Airborne Center. It last sat in 1956. George Marvin Johnson, Jr. (later a major general in the U.S. Air Force) opined that the efforts of the Joint Airborne Troop Board led to the replacement of the

C-47 The Douglas C-47 Skytrain or Dakota ( RAF designation) is a military transport aircraft developed from the civilian Douglas DC-3 airliner. It was used extensively by the Allies during World War II. During the war the C-47 was used for troo ...

transport by the

C-130 The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is an American four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built by Lockheed Corporation, Lockheed (now Lockheed Martin). Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 w ...

transport. Major General John DeForest Barker, U.S. Air Force, opined that the failure of the Joint Airborne Troop Board and the other joint boards was not remarkable because they had been tasked to resolve at a lower organizational level problems which could not be resolved at as higher level.

References

{{reflist

External links

CCT at The Eye of the StormResume of Service Career of John Louis Klingenhagen, Major General
United States Department of Defense doctrine Military units and formations established in 1951 1956 disestablishments in the United States 1951 establishments in the United States