In December 1944, U.S. Army troops, supported by the Navy and Air Force, made an amphibious landing on Mindoro Island in the Philippines. With the aid of local guerrillas, U.S. forces easily defeated the relatively small detachment of Imperial Japanese Army forces stationed on the island.
With the capture of Mindoro, U.S. forces were able to establish airfields within fighter range of the Lingayen Gulf where the next major amphibious assault against the island of Luzon was planned.
