General William E. DePuy: Preparing the Army for Modern War

7. Armed Forces Staff College and a Second Battalion Command

 Armed Forces Staff College and a Second Battalion Command It was a very relaxed kind of course . . . I didn’t get much out of that course; I don’t think anybody did. —DePuy on his Armed Forces Staff College experience in 1953 As I looked at the training of the battalion, which was as good as any of the battalions over there, I found that at the squad level it was a shambles, just like my battalion had been in World War II. —DePuy as he assumed command in 1954 Beginning 5 February 1953, Bill DePuy attended the five-month Armed Forces Staff College (AFSC) course in Norfolk, Virginia, before returning to Europe for his third of four tours there.1 Among his classmates and on the faculty were a number of officers who later served as three- or four-star generals. Over the following twentyfive years, their career paths crossed and recrossed. Frederick C. Weyand would serve as Chief of Staff of the Army (1974–1975) when DePuy commanded the Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC).Weyand commanded the 25th Infantry Division in Hawaii and took it to Vietnam when DePuy commanded the neighboring 1st Infantry Division. Jack Norton, who had commanded a battalion in World War II, went on to lead the 1st Cavalry Division in Vietnam as well as the Combat Developments Command (1970–1973), which was absorbed by TRADOC. George Forsythe served in both the Pacific and the European theaters in World War II, commanded the 1st Cavalry Division in Vietnam, and as a lieutenant general was General William C. West-  General William e. DePuy moreland’s Special Assistant, Modern Volunteer Army (SAMVA) from 1970 to 1972, when DePuy was also a three-star general in the Pentagon and Assistant Vice Chief of Staff (AVICE). Forsythe shepherded the process as conscription ended and the army learned again to rely entirely upon volunteers. Harry Kinnard, airborne veteran of World War II, commanded the 11th Air Assault Division, Test, (1963–1965), the 1st Cavalry Division in combat (1965–1966), and the Combat Developments Command (1967–1969). Walter T. “Dutch” Kerwin ended his career as the Vice Chief of Staff of the Army (1974–1978) after commanding Forces Command (1973–1974) when DePuy was the TRADOC Commander. He and DePuy would also serve together on the Army Staff as three-star generals under General Westmoreland. Ferdinand Chesarek commanded an artillery battalion in Europe in World War II, was the Army’s first AVICE, and went on to command the Army Materiel Command (1969–1970), a four-star billet. The careers of these successful men intersected often over the years. They shared the World War II experience, mostly as battalion commanders, commanded in Vietnam at the division level, and would shape the post-Vietnam Army as senior leaders. And something inconsequential to the world at large was going on, something that mattered personally to DePuy and his contemporaries who were not West Point graduates. That is, the distinction between West Point officers and “others” was becoming less important as men commissioned in ROTC and Officer Candidate Schools (OCS) demonstrated that they were good at war. In 1939–1945 it was noteworthy that George C. Marshall, a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute, was the U.S. Army’s Chief of Staff. By 1974 it was not particularly noteworthy that ROTC graduate Frederick C. Weyand was the Army’s Chief of Staff. West Point had produced enough leaders for the smaller army of the 1920s and 1930s, but the expanded U.S. Army of World War II allowed men like DePuy to show that they had what it took to lead in combat and even to run the Army. DePuy and contemporaries Weyand, Forsythe, William B. Rosson, and Melvin Zais got four stars without the benefit of being West Pointers.2 DePuy had not attended professional schools before the abbreviated course he took at Leavenworth in 1945–1946. The communications course at Fort Benning and the Russian language course in Monterey were skill courses. He was unimpressed by the Armed Armed Forces Staff College and a Second Battalion Command  Forces Staff College course. In fact, he found army professional schools mediocre or poor. Since he would one day, as TRADOC Commander, be the schoolmaster of the army, his attitude regarding military schools is worth noting. While attending the AFSC, DePuy lived in Washington, commuted to Norfolk, and, he said, “played...