Throughout 1944, plans were made for I Corps to be used in the Philippines and Ambon, but ultimately these were not acted upon as the role of Australian forces in the Pacific diminished and as US forces gained the ascendency. By October 1944, Lieutenant General Leslie Morshead had assumed command of the corps. Finally, it was decided that the force would be committed to the operation to re-take Borneo in mid-1945, in order to secure important air and naval bases to allow further operations elsewhere in Borneo and then later Java.