Note 25 — Chapter XVII · Battle of the Airstrips
Reading edition
Meanwhile, General Hodge ordered that the 1st Battalion, 382d Infantry, be released from the 96th Division and placed under the operational control of General Swing of the 11th Airborne Division. The battalion was to proceed immediately to the aid of the two companies of the 11th Airborne Division in the Buri airfield area. General Hodge emphasized that the area was “critical” and “must be kept closed.” It would be “dangerous” to let the enemy “get into the service troops along the road and around airfields.”25 One reinforced company of the 1st Battalion was already in the area and the rest of the battalion made ready to follow.26