but went unfulfilled for a variety of reasons. The India Air Task Force, the western combat force of the Tenth Air Force, was activated 3 October with nine squadrons, none of which was fully operational. Haynes was promoted to brigadier general and placed in command. The 51st FG had been re-equipped with P-40s but had trained pilots sufficient for only one squadron, which Haynes sent to Dinjan. The long-anticipated air attack by the Japanese took place late in the afternoon of 25 October. 100 bombers and fighters, bombing from 10,000 feet (3,000 m) and strafing from 100 feet (30 m), achieved complete surprise. The only defense provided came from three P-40s aloft on patrol, and six others which took off and gave pursuit. Dinjan and Chabua were heavily bombed, with nine transports and twenty fighters destroyed or badly damaged by low-level strafing. The next day Sookerating was strafed by 30 fighters, again without warning, but damage was confined to a single storage building containing food and medical supplies. A third raid struck Chabua on 28 October but missed the field entirely. Although the India Air Task Force had flown reconnaissance missions over the captured airfield at Myitkyina all summer, the Japanese had equipped their fighters with external fuel tanks and mounted the raids from Lashio or bases in southern Burma. Haynes responded by moving the other squadron of the 51st FG to Sookerating, while the China Air Task Force was ordered to launch a series of attacks by B-25s against Lashio. While Chennault complied, he did not believe that the Japanese strikes originated there and the rift between him and Tenth Air Force grew wider. Whatever the case, the Japanese raids were not repeated in 1942. In June 1943, following small, sporadic raids during the dry season, the entire fighter strength of the India Air task Force, amounting to less than 100 P-40s, was organized as the Assam American Air Base Command (later the 5320th Air Defense Wing, Provisional), specifically to protect the Assam airfields. Alexander, 1942–43 The airlift was evaluated by the USAAF in October 1942 and the attitudes of Tenth Air Force's commanders regarding the feasibility of the operation were characterized as "defeatist". Living conditions for both airlift flight crews and support personnel, particularly at Dinjan, were described as "by far the worst in the entire theater, with primitive quarters, poor sanitation, bad food and mess facilities, pervasive