Joseph T. McNarney
Encyclopedia
Joseph Taggart McNarney (August 28, 1893 – February 1, 1972) was a United States Army Air Forces
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....

 (and later Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...

) general officer who served as Military Governor of occupied Germany.

Early years

Joseph Taggart McNarney was born on August 28, 1893 at Emporium, Pennsylvania
Emporium, Pennsylvania
Emporium is a borough in Cameron County, Pennsylvania, west-northwest of Williamsport. Early in the twentieth century, it had large powder plants and manufactories of radio tubes, incandescent lamps, paving brick, flour, iron, lumber, sole leather, etc. In 1900, 2,463 people lived in Emporium, and...

. He graduated from the United States Military Academy
United States Military Academy
The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. The academy sits on scenic high ground overlooking the Hudson River, north of New York City...

 in June 1915 (as part of "the class the stars fell on
The class the stars fell on
"The class the stars fell on" is an expression used to describe the United States Military Academy class of 1915. In the U.S. Army, the insignia reserved for generals is one or more stars. Of the 164 graduates that year, 59 attained the rank of general, the most of any class in the history of the...

") and was commissioned a second lieutenant of Infantry. McNarney served with the 21st Infantry at Vancouver Barracks, Washington, and with the 37th Infantry at Yuma, Arizona
Yuma, Arizona
Yuma is a city in and the county seat of Yuma County, Arizona, United States. It is located in the southwestern corner of the state, and the population of the city was 77,515 at the 2000 census, with a 2008 Census Bureau estimated population of 90,041....

. In July 1916 he became a first lieutenant and began flight training at San Diego, California
San Diego, California
San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest city in California. The city is located on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, immediately adjacent to the Mexican border. The birthplace of California, San Diego is known for its mild year-round...

. One year later he was rated a junior military aviator and transferred to the Signal Corps Aviation Section. He became an instructor in meteorology and radio telegraphy and was promoted to captain in May 1917.

World War I

McNarney went to France in 1917 and became an assistant to the 1st Corps Aeronautical School. He joined Headquarters Air Service in January 1918. McNarney helped direct the 2d Corps School and led flights of the 1st Aero Squadron in the Toul sector. He was promoted to major in June 1918. During the Chateau Thierry offensive he was commanding officer of the 1st Corps Observation Group, chief of Air Service of the 3d Corps, and on the staff of the chief of Air Service of the 1st Army. He commanded the Air Corps during the St. Mihiel offensive and the 5th Corps during the Meuse-Argonne Offensive
Meuse-Argonne Offensive
The Meuse-Argonne Offensive, or Maas-Argonne Offensive, also called the Battle of the Argonne Forest, was a part of the final Allied offensive of World War I that stretched along the entire western front.-Overview:...

. In February 1919 he became commanding officer of the 2d Army's Observation Group and was promoted to lieutenant colonel in May 1919. While on duty at American Expeditionary Force Headquarters he Paris, McNarney wrote a manual on air observation.

Between the World Wars

He returned to the United States in October 1919 to take charge of the flying school at Gerstner Field, Louisiana. In September 1920 he reverted back to his grade of captain. He went to Langley Field, Virginia, in November remaining there five years as student and instructor in what became the Air Corps Tactical School
Air Corps Tactical School
The Air Corps Tactical School, also known as ACTS and "the Tactical School", was a military professional development school for officers of the United States Army Air Service and United States Army Air Corps, the first such school in the world. Created in 1920 at Langley Field, Virginia, it...

. McNarney graduated with honors from the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth
Fort Leavenworth
Fort Leavenworth is a United States Army facility located in Leavenworth County, Kansas, immediately north of the city of Leavenworth in the upper northeast portion of the state. It is the oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C. and has been in operation for over 180 years...

, Kansas, and spent the next three years in intelligence functions in the Air Section of the War Department General Staff. In August 1930 he completed the Army War College course and went to March Field, California, as commanding officer of the Primary Flying School, moving with it to Randolph Field, Texas. He also served as commanding officer of the 7th Bomb Group and executive officer of the 1st Bomb Wing at March Field.

McNarney was an instructor at the Army War College in Washington from August 1933 to March 1935, when he went to Langley Field, Virginia, as G-4, helping in the organization of the new General Headquarters Air Force. In July 1938 he was assigned to Hamilton Field
Hamilton Air Force Base
Hamilton Air Force Base was a United States Air Force base located along the western shore of San Pablo Bay, south of Novato, California.-History:...

, California, and in less than a year returned to Washington to serve in the War Plans Division of the War Department General Staff.

McNarney became a member of the Joint Army-Navy Planning Committee in June 1939. The following March he was promoted to colonel after going up the promotion ladder the second time. In May he was appointed to the Canada-United States Permanent Defense Board. He became a brigadier general in April 1941. One month later he was assigned as chief of staff of a special Army observer group in London, serving until December 1941.

World War II

After the attack on Pearl Harbor
Attack on Pearl Harbor
The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...

 he served on the Roberts Commission
Roberts Commission
Two presidentially-appointed commissions have been described as "the Roberts Commission." One related to the circumstances of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, and another related to the protection of cultural resources during and following World War II...

 which investigated the Army and Navy commanders in Hawaii. In January 1942 McNarney was promoted to major general and appointed to the War Department Reorganization Board. He became deputy chief of staff of the Army in March with promotion to lieutenant general in June. While deputy chief of staff, McNarney developed the plan of anti-submarine warfare and instructed General Arnold to organize a new bomber command, the Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command. McNarney ordered the bombers to attack hostile submarines "wherever they may be operating." This offensive measure eventually destroyed the German hold on sea lanes.

McNarney was high among the suggested men who might serve as supreme commander of the Pacific War
Pacific War
The Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, then called the Far East...

, but the position was not created, and McNarney not appointed. In October 1942 when United States Army Air Forces
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....

 (USAAF) Chief of Staff Henry H. Arnold
Henry H. Arnold
Henry Harley "Hap" Arnold was an American general officer holding the grades of General of the Army and later General of the Air Force. Arnold was an aviation pioneer, Chief of the Air Corps , Commanding General of the U.S...

 proposed to Army Chief of Staff George Marshall
George Marshall
George Catlett Marshall was an American military leader, Chief of Staff of the Army, Secretary of State, and the third Secretary of Defense...

 that an Army man be named supreme commander for the whole Allied effort in the Pacific, suggesting Douglas MacArthur
Douglas MacArthur
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur was an American general and field marshal of the Philippine Army. He was a Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and played a prominent role in the Pacific theater during World War II. He received the Medal of Honor for his service in the...

, McNarney or Lesley McNair for the position, Marshall without comment passed the request to his staff for analysis. There, Albert Wedemeyer
Albert Coady Wedemeyer
General Albert Coady Wedemeyer was a United States Army commander who served primarily in Asia during World War II. His most notable command was the China theater in the South-East Asia Theater. During the Cold War, Wedemeyer was a chief supporter of the Berlin Airlift.-Early Life and military...

 and St. Clair Streett
St. Clair Streett
St. Clair Streett , known as "Bill", was a United States Air Force major general and writer who first organized and led the Strategic Air Command . Streett served as aide to air power advocate General Billy Mitchell, and was viewed by General of the Air Force Henry H...

 examined the problem. Wedemeyer, an Army officer, thought the supreme commander should be an airman; either Arnold or McNarney. Streett, too, was in favor of one supreme commander but he recognized the political challenges—he projected that the president
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....

 would have to make the appointment, not a committee of military men. For supreme commander in the Pacific, Streett suggested McNarney or Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, depending on whether an air or a naval strategy was considered most important. About MacArthur, Streett wrote that "[a]t the risk of being considered naive and just plain country-boy dumb," he thought that MacArthur would have to be removed from the Pacific in order for there to be any sound cooperation in the theater. Streett suggested MacArthur be appointed ambassador to "Russia" or some similar position of high stature but low military influence. Of this analysis work, nothing was enacted; Marshall did not bring the problem and its suggested solutions to either the Navy or the president.

McNarney went to Europe as Deputy Supreme Allied Commander in the Mediterranean Theater and commanding general of the U.S. Army Forces, Mediterranean Theater, in October 1944. He was promoted to full general in March 1945 and in September became acting supreme allied commander of the Mediterranean Theater. He became commanding general of the U.S. Forces in the European Theater and commander in chief, U.S. Forces of Occupation in Germany in November.

After World War II

General McNarney returned to the United States as senior member of the United Nations Military Staff Committee in New York City in March 1947. He became commanding general of Air Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base in Greene and Montgomery counties in the state of Ohio. It includes both Wright and Patterson Fields, which were originally Wilbur Wright Field and Fairfield Aviation General Supply Depot. Patterson Field is located approximately...

 in Ohio in October. He left Air Materiel Command to become chief of the Department of Defense's Management Committee in September 1949. McNarney retired on January 31, 1952 and held executive positions with General Dynamics
General Dynamics
General Dynamics Corporation is a U.S. defense conglomerate formed by mergers and divestitures, and as of 2008 it is the fifth largest defense contractor in the world. Its headquarters are in West Falls Church , unincorporated Fairfax County, Virginia, in the Falls Church area.The company has...

, and later served on the Draper Committee
Draper Committee
The Presidents Committee to Study the United States Military Assistance Program was a bipartisan committee, created in November 1958 by U.S. President Eisenhower to undertake a completely independent, objective, and non-partisan analysis of the military assistance aspects of the U.S...

. He died February 1, 1972 in La Jolla, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

.

Awards and decorations

General McNarney's awards include the Legion of Merit
Legion of Merit
The Legion of Merit is a military decoration of the United States armed forces that is awarded for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievements...

; Distinguished Service Medal with Three oak leaf clusters; Navy Distinguished Service Medal; British Honorary Knight Commander, Order of the Bath
Order of the Bath
The Most Honourable Order of the Bath is a British order of chivalry founded by George I on 18 May 1725. The name derives from the elaborate mediæval ceremony for creating a knight, which involved bathing as one of its elements. The knights so created were known as Knights of the Bath...

; Yugoslavian White Eagle II Degree; Chilean Order of Merit with Rosette; Brazilian Military Legion of Merit with Rosette and War Medal; Italian Decorations (three crowns); Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus
Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus
The Order of Saints Maurice and Lazarus is an order of chivalry awarded by the House of Savoy, the heads of which were formerly Kings of Italy...

; French Legion of Honor, Grand Officer; French Croix de Guerre
Croix de guerre
The Croix de guerre is a military decoration of France. It was first created in 1915 and consists of a square-cross medal on two crossed swords, hanging from a ribbon with various degree pins. The decoration was awarded during World War I, again in World War II, and in other conflicts...

 with Palm; Belgian Grand Cordon of the Order of Leopold with Palm; Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Crown of Belgium; Commander's Cross of the Polish Virtuti Militari
Virtuti Militari
The Order Wojenny Virtuti Militari is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war...

 and Commander's Cross with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta.
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