Army Chief of Staff General George Marshall established committees to address the logistical problem.

The Navy was excluded from the initial European sealift, as the Pacific War was far from over, and the task of returning the troops was the sole responsibility of the Army and Merchant Marine.

Adequate port and docking facilities were also serious considerations along with the transportation necessary to take the veterans to demobilization camps after they reached America's shores.

In mid-October 1945 the United States Navy donated the newly commissioned carrier USS Lake Champlain—fitted with bunks for 3,300 troops—to the operation.

[3] The WSA and the army also converted 29 troopships into special carriers for tens of thousands of war brides, European women who had married American servicemen.

[6] The Navy hastily converted many of its warships into temporary transports, including aircraft carriers, where three-to five-tiered bunks were installed on the hangar decks to provide accommodation for several thousand men in relative comfort.

[10] By October 1945, Magic Carpet was operating worldwide with the Army, Navy, and WSA pooling their resources to expedite the troop-lift.

29 troop transports carrying more than 200,000 soldiers, sailors, and Marines from the China-Burma-India theater arrived home in April 1946.