And couldn’t it depend on your MOS and the table of organization and equipment? I seem to recall something about how there was only one admiral in the dental corps in the Navy, because there could only be one.
Rise through the ranks during a war. There were alot of Generals made during WWII.
Also one can be given a brevet (temporary) promotion for a specfic assignment.
In the pre WWII army I think the qualities need to rise to high rank were not congruent with those needed for directing combat operations in war. Numerous General Officers simply couldn’t cut it and were returned to the ZI to run essential non-combat operations. In addition, a lot of National Gueard generals were political hacks who had no noticible military skill. This left a lot of openings for advancement of academy graduates.
It would be interesting to get a list of all generals who started the war below the rank of Lt. Colonel. My guess would be none. I think it’s quite possible that a number of them started as Colonels though. I believe at the outset of the war Eisenjower was a Colonel but he was a leading member of Gen. Marshall’s staff. Patton was a Brigadier General commanding an armored brigade as was Bradley who commanded Ft. Benning, GA. The commander of the First Infantry Division, Maj. Gen. Terry Allen was a Brigadier General. And so on.
The rapid promotion of low ranks to general in WWII has been greatly accelerated. By far the greater number of high ranking officers were already at a high level at the outbreak of the war.
Dammit. exaggerated and not accelerated.
Forcibly separated from the service. The individual may not be eligible for retirement.
Observing in passing since nobody seems to have mentioned it yet, but experience in logistics is just a significant requirement for advancement in the upper officer ranks as combat arms experience (in the Army at least). Few people have an appreciation of what a huge percentage of Army activity is in logistics. A lot of young officers think it’s important to build fighting credentials and strive to get the most exciting combat-arms positions in line units. But they find later that they’ve sabotaged their careers by shunning the less glamorous but vital supply, maintenance, and medical jobs. Good generals dream at night not of M-1 tanks, but of fuel trucks and crates of ammo.
They don’t. Kinda puts things in perspective, doesn’t it?
A modern Major General at that.
How about Enoch Powell (ended a Brigadier, US equivalent is Brigadier-General), Lord Lovat (Brigadier again), and Jimmy Stewart (started as enlisted and ended a Brigadier-General)? I’m sure there are many others.
In WWII, you’d likely find most of them in the Air Force. The Army Air Force fighting over Europe suffered more casualties than the entire US Marine Corps during WWII, and a 27 year old bomber pilot would find himself being called “Old Man” by most of the other airmen. IIRC, he’d also likely be a Lt. Colonel and commanding a squadron of bombers in combat. Not sure if the Fighter pilots found job openings appearing above them as often as the bomber guys did.
IIRC, didn’t many of the generals in WWII end up getting demoted to sub-flag ranks after the war? Once you no longer have a big bloody war to fight, you suddenly have vastly decreased needs for manpower, and with fewer men, you need fewer generals hanging around.
There’s a system of dual commissions that I’ve never fully understood. Someone could be a Captain in the Regular Army (permanent rank) and a Colonel in the Army Reserve (temporary or brevet rank). After a war, you could be knocked back down to your rank in the Regular Army. I think you had to graduate from West Point to get a commission in the Regular Army.
As an enlisted man on active duty, I was considered part of the Regular Army.
Bill Mauldin already covered that aspect. The caption, which isn’t included with the image for some reason is simply, Uncle Willie!
Steward enlisted as an Aviation Cadet all of whom started out as Privates in WWII. First you took basic training as a private, then went through a classification process to determine whether you would train as pilot, navigator or bombardier, or be returned to duty as a private. As a Cadet you were supposedly ranked with Warrant Officers (HAH). You drew a private’s pay ($50 a month for most of the war) plus $25 flight pay for a grand total of $75 a month. I think Steward ended the war as a Grounp Commander, Colonel, and his Brigadier came in the reserves long after the war ended. The fact that Steward started as an enlisted man was not unusual but was the routine path for all. He did become a Group Commander which was somewhat unusual and can’t be considered as a demonstration that promotion from priviate to a General commanding an army in WWII was anthing but so rare as to be non-existent.
Based on the history of the top Generals in WWII, the best way to become a General is to be a top-notch staff officer. Marshall, Eisenhower and Bradley had no combat experience but were outstanding as staff officers to Generals, like Pershing in the case of Marshall, and Marshall in the case of Eisenhower and Bradley. Being noticed by top commanders as having done a bang-up job smooths the path. In addition, in the Army if you aren’t selected to go through the Command and General Staff School, you probably aren’t considered as material for high command. Going there doesn’t guarantee it, but without it you’re probably not in the running.
I would add that Admiral Jeremy Borda was a mustang having risen from enlisted to become Chief of Naval Operations and a member of the Joint Chiefs. The Navy’s core of academy officers is a pretty tight knit clan and the disdain of many of them mustangs is quite open. I’m convinced that this played a role in Borda’s suicide after his entitlement to some medals was questioned.