 As the war progressed specialized types of ships were developed for the United States Navy, generally termed combat loaders, and specifically designated APA (transport, attack), and AKA (cargo ship, attack).Army doctrine, after some discussion as to whether the port commander or force commander should be responsible, settled on the commander of the landing force being responsible for combat loading Army forces.Combat loading for Army in the Pacific was organized under the Army Port and Service Command as directed by force commanders.