FROM NORTH AFRICA TO CORREGIDOR: The Evolution of American Airborne Warfare

McManus, Hymel, and Fastoso trace the full arc of American airborne operations from the chaotic first combat drop in North Africa (1942) through Sicily's near-disaster to the remarkably sophisticated assault on Corregidor in 1945. The episode is strongest on what the Army actually learned between jumps — evolving drop techniques, coordination with ground forces, and the doctrinal shifts that turned a shambolic capability into a decisive one. McManus brings genuine academic depth to the operational detail, and the through-line from failure to competence is the kind of institutional-learning story that rarely gets told this well in podcast form.