The I Troop Carrier Command is a disbanded United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with Continental Air Forces, at Stout Field, Indiana, where it was disbanded in November 1945, and its resources transferred to IX Troop Carrier Command. The command trained units aircrews for the theater airlift mission. It also trained aeromedical evacuation units and airlift units supporting special forces It was assigned directly to Army Air Forces (AAF) headquarters for the majority of the war, and was reassigned to Continental Air Forces in the spring of 1945. The command coordinated its activity with the Army Air Forces Training Command, from which it drew its crews. It conducted operational training, shifting to replacement training later in the war The troop carrier units and crews it produced served in all overseas combat theaters. History Background Perhaps the most dramatic innovation in military tactics during World War II was the landing of airborne forces behind enemy lines. The American public was deeply impressed by the sight, in newsreels and photos, of skies filled with billowing parachutes as men fell earthward to encircle the enemy. The hardened paratrooper, with his peculiar gear, became a special kind of fighting hero, and his jumping cry, "Geronimo," became almost a byword. While specially trained ground soldiers did the fighting after the landings, it was the responsibility of the Army Air Forces (AAF) to make the deliveries of men and supplies. To carry out this responsibility was the mission of AAF troop carrier units, serving under theater or task force commanders in cooperation with ground force elements. The training of these units, which had to be able to perform all phases of airborne operations, was the function of I Troop Carrier Command. Troop carrier headquarters was located throughout the war at Stout Field, Indianapolis, Indiana. In addition to the transport crews, which normally consisted of pilot, co-pilot, navigator, radio operator, and aerial engineer, some 5,000 Waco CG-4 glider pilots were prepared for their special function. Formation The command was formed on 30 April 1942 as the Air Transport Command, with headquarters at Washington, DC. Its first operational unit was the 50th Transport Wing, which was transferred from Air Service Command. The command was assigned directly to Headquarters Army Air Forces, However, its original designation was preferred as a new name for Air Corps Ferrying Command, whose functions had expanded beyond the limits implied by