American Army Forces, China, Burma, and India (AAF CBI) was established in Chungking, China, by General Order 1, HQ AAF CBI, March 4, 1942, pursuant to Secretary of War''s appointment of Lt. Gen. Joseph W. Stilwell as commanding general of all U.S. Army forces in China, Burma, and India, conveyed in War Department Chief of Staff memorandum to Adjutant General, WPD 4389-64, February 2, 1942. A second AAF CBI headquarters was established in New Delhi, India, by letter of Commanding General AAF CBI, June 25, 1942, pursuant to War Department message 354 (CM-OUT 5537), June 22, 1942, that in effect instructed Gen. Stilwell to organize a theater of operations staff. Thenceforth, the area of operations over which Gen. Stilwell had command of U.S. Army forces was referred to as the China-Burma-India Theater. By Letter of Instructions, HQ AAF CBI in Chungking, July 6, 1942, Chungking headquarters was designated HQ AAF CBI, and New Delhi headquarters was designated Branch Office, HQ AAF CBI. HQ AAF CBI began to call itself Headquarters, U.S. Army Forces, China, Burma, and India (HQ USAF CBI), early September 1942, in order to avoid confusion with the Army Air Forces'' acronym "AAF." Pursuant to War Department message 2033 (CM-OUT 7349 through 7350), January 22, 1943, the redesignation was made official by General Order 4, HQ USAF CBI, January 21, 1943, which redesignated HQ AAF CBI in Chungking as Forward Echelon, HQ USAF CBI, and Branch Office HQ USAF CBI in New Delhi as Rear Echelon, HQ USAF CBI. Status of HQ USAF CBI as a theater headquarters was confirmed by Secretary of War letter to Commanding General, USAF CBI, AG 320.2 (1-26-43) OB-I-GN-M, January 29, 1943.
Pursuant to a reallocation of headquarters responsibilities, Rear Echelon, HQ USAF CBI was redesignated HQ USAF CBI by General Order 5, Forward Echelon, HQ USAF CBI, March 31, 1944, and made responsible for administration and general policy formation. By same general order, Forward Echelon, HQ USAF CBI was made responsible for coordinating with Chinese Government; compiling and transmitting information from China; promulgating and enforcing orders affecting U.S. Army forces operating in China; and assisting HQ USAF CBI in the development of policies, plans, and procedures concerning U.S. Army forces and installations in China.
The main purpose of operations in the Theater was to support the Republic of China in its resistance to Japan. In 1943 Chinese supplies and equipment were perilously low. The Japanese conquest of Burma had cut China off from supplies except those that could be brought in by the 500-mile airlift from northern Assam over the Himalayan hump to the Yunnan plateau. At the Quebec Conference in August 1943 it was decided to increase the capacity of the airlift and to provide an overland route and oil pipelines from India in order to supply China more effectively. This meant clearing the Japanese from Burma in a ground campaign with troops that had to be supplied almost entirely by air, often by parachute or free drop rather than by air landings. In addition to participation in these operations, U.S. Army activities included training Chinese air and ground forces, providing air support to the Chinse Army, bombing Japanese bases and concentrations, and providing equipment and services to British and Indian forces operating in Burma and India.
HQ USAF CBI was abolished, with functions transferred to newly established China and India-Burma Theaters, by Joint Chiefs of Staff message WARX 51593 (CM-OUT 51593), October 24, 1944. By the same message, General Stilwell was removed from command, having been recalled three days previously by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
