A small detachment of insular troops from Puerto Rico was sent to Cuba in late March as a guard for Batista Field. In 1943, the 65th Infantry was sent to Panama to protect the Pacific and the Atlantic sides of the isthmus and the Panama Canal, critical to oceangoing ships. An increase in the Puerto Rican induction program was immediately authorized. Continental troops such as the 762nd Antiaircraft Artillery Gun Battalion, 766th AAA Gun Battalion and the 891st AAA Gun Battalions were replaced by Puerto Ricans in Panama. They also replaced troops in the bases on British Islands, to the extent permitted by the availability of trained Puerto Rican units. The 295th Infantry Regiment followed the 65th Infantry in 1944, departing from San Juan, Puerto Rico to the Panama Canal Zone.