A detachment of two officers and 60 troops from the 3rd Ordnance Medium Maintenance Company were sent to the Airborne Training Center in mid-July to receive training with the 602nd FAB. They also have the mission of cleaning the small arms, installing wire cutters on the jeeps and putting hoods for the stretchers on the jeeps of the 676th Medical Company. Two officers and twenty-five men are selected to participate in and support the Airborne Operation Dragoon for the first seven days, until the rear echelon can arrive by sea. The twenty-five-man group is divided into three teams of seven, each equipped with a jeep and a trailer loaded with 350 kilograms of spare parts and tools. Upon landing, each team must join one of the three Task Force Combat Teams. Of the four men who are not on the teams, two are to establish areas to set up landing ammunition and two more are to accompany Major Christian B. Hass (Ordnance Officer) and 1st Lt. Max E. Clark, detachment commander, in order to establish a supply zone and make contact with other units in the area. In the first week of August, the air group's men are sent to Marcigliana for three days of glider training, to learn how to load their jeeps and trailers on board and secure them properly.
The enthusiasm of the men came once again when they learn that they are now glider troops, and that they would have their "flight pay" like all other Airborne troops. During the training, the men find a mascot, a monkey, called "Jeepo".