General Lesley J. McNair: Unsung Architect of the U. S. Army

461 Pages·2015·4.43 MB·English

by  Mark Calhoun

General Lesley J. McNair
MODERN WAR STUDIES
Theodore A. Wilson
General Editor
Raymond Callahan
J. Garry Clifford
Jacob W. Kipp
Allan R. Millett
Carol Reardon
Dennis Showalter
David R. Stone
Series Editors
General
Lesley J. McNair
Unsung Architect of
the US Army
M T. C
ARK ALHOUN
© 2015 by the University Press of Kansas
All rights reserved Published by the University Press of Kansas (Lawrence, Kansas 66045), which was
organized by the Kansas Board of Regents and is operated and funded by Emporia State University, Fort
Hays State University, Kansas State University, Pittsburg State University, the University of Kansas, and
Wichita State University Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Calhoun, Mark T.
General Lesley J. McNair : unsung architect of the US Army /
Mark T. Calhoun.
pages cm. — (Modern war studies)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-7006-2069-2 (cloth : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-0-7006-2070-8 (ebook)
1. McNair, Lesley James, 1883–1944. 2. Generals—United States—Biography. 3. United States. Army—
Officers—Biography. 4. Military education—United States—History—20th century. 5. United States. Army
—Officers—Training of—History—20th century. 6. Soldiers—Training of—United States—History—20th
century. 7. World War, 1939–1945--United States. 8. World War, 1914–1918—Biography. 9. World War,
1939–1945—Biography. I. Title.
E745.M42C45 2015
355.0092—dc23
[B]
2015002822
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data is available.
Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
The paper used in this publication is recycled and contains 30 percent postconsumer waste. It is acid free
and meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Permanence of Paper for
Printed Library Materials z39.48–1992.
For Mark Taylor Calhoun Jr.
Contents
List of Illustrations
Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part I: Innovation in Peace and War
1 From Cadet to Commander: Birth of an Innovator
2 World War I
3 McNair: War Planner
Part II: Interwar Education and Training
4 Professor of Military Science and Tactics at Purdue
5 The Army War College Class of 1928–1929
6 Getting Over the Hump
7 Rise to Prominence, 1935–1940
Part III: World War II: The Culmination of a Career
8 Protective Mobilization
9 Training the Army Ground Forces
10 The Army Ground Forces at War
Epilogue
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Illustrations
Frontispiece: Brigadier General Lesley J. McNair, AEF GHQ Staff G-5
Training Division, Chief of Artillery Training and Tactical Procedures,
Chaumont, France, 1919
1 Lesley J. McNair, Cadet, United States Military Academy, circa 1901
2 Captain Lesley J. McNair’s First Command—C Battery, 4th Artillery,
Mexico; Punitive Expedition, 1917
3 Brigadier General Lesley J. McNair, AEF GHQ Staff G-5 Training
Division, Chief of Artillery Training and Tactical Procedures, Chaumont,
France, 1919
4 General Pershing Awards Brigadier General McNair the Distinguished
Service Medal at AEF GHQ, Chaumont, France, March 23, 1919
5 Marshal Petain Awards Brigadier General McNair the Legion D’Honneur at
Metz, Lorraine, France, April 19, 1919
6 Purdue ROTC, May 31, 1926
7 Lieutenant Colonel Lesley J. McNair, PMS&T of Purdue ROTC, with
Farewell to the Corps, The Debris (Purdue Yearbook), 1928
8 Lieutenant Colonel Lesley J. McNair, Field Artillery School Assistant
Commandant, Fort Sill, Oklahoma, 1929
9 Field Artillery School Gunnery Department, 1929
10 Lieutenant Generals Ben Lear, Lesley J. McNair, Walter Krueger, and Delos
Carlton Emmons at the Third Army Maneuvers, Fort Polk, Louisiana, 1939
11 Lieutenant General Lesley J. McNair and Brigadier General E. F. Harding
at the Carolina Maneuvers, 1941
12 Lieutenant General Lesley J. McNair Arriving in California to Observe
Maneuvers, August 23, 1942
13 Lieutenant General Lesley J. McNair Visiting the Tank Destroyer Center,
Camp Hood, Texas, January 1943
14 Lieutenant General Lesley J. McNair, Commander, Army Ground Forces,
March 1942
15 Lieutenant General Lesley J. McNair and the AGF Staff, March 19, 1942
16 Lieutenant General Lesley J. McNair Broadcasting at NBC, April 5, 1942
17 Lieutenant General Lesley J. McNair Visiting the Tank Destroyer Center,
Camp Hood, Texas, May 1944
18 Mr. and Mrs. McNair at the Premiere of Irving Berlin’s This Is the Army,
August 12, 1943
19 Clare McNair Greets Lesley J. McNair at the Airport upon His Return
Home from Tunisia, May 3, 1943
20 Clare and Lesley McNair Departing for Home after Lesley McNair’s
Return from Tunisia, May 3, 1943
21 The Map Lieutenant General McNair Was Holding When Wounded in
Tunisia, April 23, 1943
22 Lesley J. McNair’s United States Military Academy Graduation Ring,
Found on the Battlefield after His Death, July 1944
23 General Lesley J. McNair’s Headstone and Grave Site in France
24 Honorable Henry L. Stimson Awarding to Clare McNair Two Oak Leaf
Clusters for General McNair’s Distinguished Service Medal as General
George C. Marshall Observes, The Pentagon, August 1, 1944
25 McNair Hall—Headquarters Building at Present-Day Fort Sill, Oklahoma,
Home of the Field Artillery Branch