General James Alward Van Fleet (March 19, 1892 – September 23, 1992) was a United States Army officer who saw service during World War I, World War II and the Korean War. Van Fleet was a native of New Jersey, who was raised in Florida and graduated from the United States Military Academy. He served as a regimental, divisional and corps commander during World War II and as the commanding general of United States Army and other United Nations forces during the Korean War.
Early life and education
James Van Fleet was born in the Coytesville section of Fort Lee, New Jersey. His family then moved to Florida while he was an infant, and he grew up there. Van Fleet received his high school education at the Summerlin Institute in Bartow, Florida.
After graduating from Summerlin in 1911, Van Fleet received an appointment to the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York. While he was a cadet at West Point, he was a member of the Army football team and was a standout fullback on the undefeated Army team of 1914. Van Fleet graduated in the famous West Point Class of 1915, which included so many future generals that it has been called "the class the stars fell on" (stars being the insignia of generals). Van Fleet's classmates included Dwight D. Eisenhower and Omar Bradley, among many others.
Career
Early career
After graduation, Van Fleet was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the Infantry Branch of the United States Army. He was assigned to a company of the 3rd Infantry Regiment at Plattsburgh, New York, where he served from September 12 to October 1, 1915. He then served at Madison Barracks, in Sacketts Harbor, New York, until May 11, 1916. The 3rd Infantry was then transferred to Eagle Pass, Texas, for service on the Mexican border until October 8, 1917, over six months after the American entry into World War I. During his time in Texas, Van Fleet was promoted twice, to first lieutenant on July 1, 1916, and to captain on May 15, 1917.
Van Fleet then transferred to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where he served as an instructor for provisional officers, October 10, 1917, to March 22, 1918; commanding Army Service Schools Detachment No. 2, to April 6, 1918; at Kansas City, Missouri, inspecting 7th Infantry Regiment, National Guard of Missouri, April 1 to 5; at Camp Forrest, Ga., Camp Wadsworth, S. C., and Camp Mills, Long Island, commanding a company of the 16th Machine Gun Battalion, from April 10 to July 4, 1918. He received a temporary promotion to major on June 17, 1918.
Van Fleet was then shipped to France, where he commanded the 17th Machine Gun Battalion, part of the 6th Division, from September 12, 1918, to June 11, 1919. He was wounded in action in the Meuse–Argonne offensive on November 4, 1918, just seven days before the Armistice with Germany which caused hostilities to cease.
Interwar period
After the war, Van Fleet was reduced to his permanent rank of captain in 1922 and promoted to major in the Regular Army in December 1924. While serving as the senior officer of the University of Florida's U.S. Army Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) program, Van Fleet also served as the head coach of the Florida Gators football team in 1923 and 1924, after assisting William G. Kline for a year. He led the Gators into national prominence with a 12–3–4 (.737) record.
From 1924 to 1927 he was stationed at Camp Galliard in the Panama Canal Zone where he commanded the 1st Battalion of the 42nd Infantry. This assignment was followed by one at the Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia. At Fort Benning Van Fleet served as an instructor from April 1927 to September 1928 and as a student in the Advanced Course from September 1928 to June 1929. In addition to his other duties, Van Fleet served as head coach of the post's football team. Van Fleet then returned to the University of Florida where he was the Professor of Military Science and Tactics from July 1929 to June 1933.
From July 1933 to July 1935 he was stationed at Fort Williams in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, where he served as commander of the 2nd Battalion of the 5th Infantry and also as the post's executive officer. During this assignment, he oversaw the construction of a duck pond in the northwest corner of the parade field.
Unlike the majority of his fellow officers who rose to high command in the next few years, Van Fleet was unique in the sense that he never attended either the Command and Staff College or the Army War College during his military career.