wrote

V: The Thing was, despite all the hype about paratroops, while the
POTENTIAL was there, given Crete (for the other side) D-day and
'Market Garden,' on the basis of cost vs effectivess most 'airborne'
troops ended up perform normal infantry roles, which raised the
question: Should we train ALL infantry to jump from airplanes?

Jim: Usually, you think of paratroopers as an advance wing of the attack,
or to put men over the top of resistance, or unless there was no way to get
troops in, otherwise.

V: If you broke it down into numbers of airplanes and the amount of
training, its seems we could have gotten the same bang for our buck by
simply stuffing volunteers into a little mass-produced airplane,
wishing them well and crossing your fingers.

Jim: Interesting concept, at the very least. I think there are times that
such a use could have been made, but the stealth of such a landing would be
pretty minimal, I would suppose.
--
Jim in NC