General Douglas MacArthur's island-hopping strategy involved sending US troops island-by-island across the Pacific to dislodge Japanese forces stationed on those islands. The US lacked the means to send troops directly to Japan primarily because the Japanese controlled numerous islands across the Pacific to serve as fueling stations for ships and air stations for planes. Through island-hopping, MacArthur gradually took out those Japanese forces and converted the islands into fueling and flight stations for the United States thereby allowing the US to move closer and closer to the Japanese mainland.
