Note 34 — Chapter XVII · Battle of the Airstrips

In anticipation of the landing of Japanese paratroopers, General Krueger had requested General MacArthur to release elements of the 38th Division for employment against the enemy airborne troops. The 38th Division had arrived on Leyte to stage for future operations. General Headquarters assigned the 149th Infantry to the control of the commanding general of the Sixth Army; two battalions of the 149th Infantry were in turn released on 6 December to the control of General Hodge, the commanding general of XXIV Corps, who put them under the operational control of the 11th Airborne Division for employment against parachutists in the Burauen area. The remaining battalion of the 149th Infantry was alerted for the movement in the Burauen area on twenty-four hours’ notice.34