Rubuta ci gaba don wannan sakin layi - Sojojin Australiya a New Guinea da sojojin Amurka a Guadalcanal sun dakatar da ci gaban Jafananci a cikin Pacific a farkon 1943, bayan haka Allies suka ci gaba da kai hare-hare, suna ci gaba ta hanyar New Guinea da Solomon Islands zuwa Philippines. A cikin 1944, Allies sun fara shirin sake dawo da Borneo. Babban Ofishin Janar na Janar Douglas MacArthur na Yankin Kudu maso Yammacin Pacific shi ne ke da alhakin tsara aikin, amma saboda sadaukar da dakarun Amurka ga sake kwace Philippines, an ba da aikin sake kwace Borneo ga dakarun Australiya. Ayyukan Allied a Borneo sun hada da saukowa a Tarakan, Labuan
, da Balikpapan. Asali, MacArthur ya yi niyyar amfani da Borneo a matsayin dutsen da zai sake dawowa Java, amma daga baya aka soke wannan aikin kuma an tura alhakin Yankin Gabashin Indiya na Netherlands zuwa rundunar Southeast Asia da Burtaniya ke jagoranta. A lokacin shirin kwamandan Sojojin Australiya, Janar Thomas Blamey ya ba da shawarar sauka a Balikpapan, yana mai imanin cewa ba zai yi amfani da wata manufa ba. Bayan da aka yi tunani sosai, Gwamnatin Ostiraliya ta amince ta ba da dakarun don wannan aikin. Shugabannin hadin gwiwar Amurka suma suna da damuwa game da mahimmancin dabarun aikin, amma a cewar masanin tarihi Garth Pratten, MacArthur ya yi amfani da Gwamnatin Ostiraliya da Joint Chiefs don amincewa da kama Balikpapan. Dalilin da aka bayyana na aikin, a cewar masanin tarihi Chris Coulthard-Clark, shi ne "tabbatar da tashar jiragen ruwa da wuraren mai a yankin, da kuma kafa tushen da za a fara" ayyukan gaba. Bugu da ƙari, za a sake kafa ikon gwamnati na Netherlands East Indies.