The training would pay off during operations in combat theaters. Scout and Raider personnel, though small in number, would participate in many worldwide amphibious landings. They guided assault landing craft in the Mediterranean and South Pacific; made hydrographic reconnaissance of Italy, France and the Pacific, and landed on Normandy to confirm the usefulness of the beaches. They operated together to provide information to invasion commanders and wartime leaders. The Navy and Army personnel of this unit were an outstanding example of the cooperative nature of modern warfare; small numbers of sailors and soldiers specially trained to accomplish common goals. These NCDUs, UDT and S&Rs organized to handle all phases of warfare to take them from their ships to the beach. One such tool, on hand was the U.S. Model 1917A1 machine gun which was a typical armament for the landing craft they had to pilot in close range of the enemy. Heavier fire support came from supporting ships farther out, including destroyers and cruisers. The NCDU sailors landed on Utah Beech in Normandy to participate in Operation Dragoon, the invasion of southern France in August 1943. Their operations were quite different from the earlier landings. They attempted to use a technique new to the European Theater; pushbutton warfare. Their task and that of many other NCDUs at Normandy was to clear boat channels through the mines and obstacles lining the beaches. These cleared slots were then used to land troops and equipment. Going in first at Omaha Beach they came under the most intense fire. Their heroic efforts were instrumental in the success of the landing, but more than half of them were killed or wounded. The central Pacific area had unique problems unlike any other theater of World War II. U.S. forces learned the hard way that taking strategically vital islands from Japan would be a long and expensive job. The U.S. experience began with Tarawa atoll. The November 1943 invasion was the first in atoll warfare. The Japanese made special efforts to protect the islands, using natural and man-made barriers to fortify the island as much as possible against attackers. They hid in bunkers of concrete, coconut palms and sand difficult to penetrate. Many Marines and soldiers lost their lives fighting nearly three days to take islands less then a square-mile in size. The U.S. commanders, unaccustomed to the new type of war, made mistakes that cost many lives. No reconnaissance had been done on the lagoon or the beach, most information dated from the 1800s. Pre-assault gunfire support was minimal. Commanders relied on tide and beach data based on aerial photographs rather then actual reconnaissance. The operation's commander, Adm. R. K. Turner, learned bitter lessons. The most important, was to make the critical beach assault as smooth as possible with better reconnaissance for planning and use demolition to get landing craft close to the beach. He asked to establish special Navy units to do this mission. This resulted in the formation of the Underwater Demolition Teams. The last combat action of UDTs in the three year long Pacific campaign occurred on the southwest Pacific Island of Borneo. The Japanese held on to this oil rich area stubbornly as the Allies fought closer to Japan and cut it off from vital resources. The Frogmen guided Australian troops to this final combat engagement. Team 11 and 18 joined the NCDUs which had fought throughout the southwest Pacific. They discovered some of the toughest resistance of the Pacific War. The Japanese had sown thousands of mines to keep the Allies from landing, planting logs and steel rails along the beaches. They also blew up oil refineries and pumping stations casting a pall of oily smoke over the landing area. Under heavy defensive fire, Frogmen and demolitioneers blew 800 yard wide gaps in landing areas allowing the Australian troop to land safely. The efforts of the UDT and NCDUs in Borneo earned UDT 11, the Presidential Unit Citation. The Navy awarded only two other demolition units this high honor during the war. the NCDUs who fought at Normandy in 1944 and UDT 12 for heroism at Iwo Jima and Okinawa. The Navy, in doing so, showed its high respect for this new profession and planned to count on it for helping to finish the war. The Korean "police action" was a hard fought war to contain Communism. The Korean War was the first test of the Truman Doctrine in an actual conflict. The Navy's role was characterized by the extreme climates of the region. Intense cold winters, blistering hot summers and radically changing tides made the Korean War an experience for soldier, sailor and airman alike. The UDTs while operating in much smaller numbers than in World War II, played an important role in the action.