Northern Combat Area Command

The Northern Combat Area Command or NCAC was a mainly Sino-American formation that held the northern end of the Allied front in Burma during World War II. For much of its existence it was commanded by the acerbic General Joseph "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell, and controlled by his staff. After he was recalled, his deputy, Daniel Sultan, was promoted to Lieutenant General and assumed command.

Forces initially under the Northern Combat Area Command consisted of Chinese units that arrived in India after the long retreat out of Burma in 1942. These units, designated X Force were, cantoned at Ramgarh Cantonment in Bihar (now in Jharkhand State), brought up to three-Division strength (two of these were the Chinese 22nd and 38th Divisions), and re-equipped and re-trained by American instructors at British expense. For the campaigning season of 1944 the Chinese divisions were supported by Merrill's Marauders, a small American ground force and the only American combat soldiers in the theater. During the campaigning season of 1944 X Force cleared the Japanese 18th Division out of northern Burma and American engineering battalions assisted by Indian laborers built the Ledo Road which joined the northern end of the Burma Road and reestablishing land communications to China. In 1945 under the command of Sultan X Force aided in the Drive to retake the rest of Burma.