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

by Henry G. Gole, Major General William A. Stofft, U.S. Army (Ret.) (Foreword by)

Overview

From the late 1960s to the late 1970s, the United States Army was a demoralized institution in a country in the midst of a social revolution. The war in Vietnam had gone badly and public attitudes about it shifted from indifference, to acceptance, to protest. Army Chief of Staff General Creighton Abrams directed a major reorganization of the Army and appointed William E. DePuy (1919–1992) commander of the newly established Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), in 1973. DePuy already had a distinguished record in positions of trust and high responsibility: successful infantry battalion command and division G-3 in World War II by the age of twenty-five; Assistant Military Attaché in Hungary; detail to CIA in the Korean War; alternating tours on the Army Staff and in command of troops. As a general officer he was General Westmoreland's operations officer in Saigon; commander of the 1st Infantry Division in Vietnam; Special Assistant to the Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff; and Assistant Vice Chief of Staff, Army. But it was as TRADOC Commander that DePuy made his major contribution in integrating training, doctrine, combat developments, and management in the U.S. Army. He regenerated a deflated post-Vietnam Army, effectively cultivating a military force prepared to fight and win in modern war. General William E. DePuy: Preparing the Army for Modern War is the first full-length biography of this key figure in the history of the U.S. Army in the twentieth century. Author Henry G. Gole mined secondary and primary sources, including DePuy's personal papers and extensive archival material, and he interviewed peers, subordinates, family members, and close observers to describe and analyze DePuy's unique contributions to the Army and nation. Gole guides the reader from DePuy's boyhood and college days in South Dakota through the major events and achievements of his life. DePuy was commissioned from the ROTC six months before the attack on Pearl Harbor, witnessed poor training and leadership in a mobilizing Army, and served in the 357th Infantry Regiment in Europe—from the bloody fighting in Normandy until victory in May 1945, when DePuy was stationed in Czechoslovakia. Gole covers both major events and interesting asides: DePuy was asked by George Patton to serve as his aide; he supervised clandestine operations in China; he served in the Office of the Army Chief of Staff during the debate over "massive retaliation" vs. "flexible response"; he was instrumental in establishing Special Forces in Vietnam; he briefed President Lyndon B. Johnson in the White House. DePuy fixed a broken Army. In the process his intensity and forcefulness made him a contentious figure, admired by some and feared by others. He lived long enough to see his efforts produce American victory in the Gulf War of 1991. In General William E. DePuy, Gole presents the accomplishments of this important military figure and explores how he helped shape the most potent military force in the history of the world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780813125008
Publisher:	University Press of Kentucky
Publication date:	09/26/2008
Series:	American Warriors Series
Pages:	408
Product dimensions:	6.40(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.50(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Henry G. Gole has taught at West Point, the U.S. Army College, the University of Maryland, and Dickinson College. He is the author of The Road to Rainbow: Army Planning for Global War, 1934–1940 and Soldiering: Observations from Korea, Vietnam, and Safe Places. In addition, he served as a rifleman in Korea and completed two tours as a Special Forces Officer during the Vietnam War.

Table of Contents

Foreword     ix
Preface     xiii
Acknowledgments     xvii
Dakota Days     1
Apprentice to Journeyman     13
The 90th Division Goes to School     25
The 90th Breaks Out     41
Regular Army     67
CIA Detail     75
Armed Forces Staff College and a Second Battalion Command     87
Clever Chaps: The View from the Chief's Office     101
School in London; Command in Schweinfurt     115
Back to Washington     131
Vietnam     143
The Big Red One     167
SACSA, Tet, and Policy Review     199
To Fix a Broken Army     213
TRADOC Commander: The Army's Road Back     237
Retirement, Illness, Taps     275
Legacy: An Army Ready to Fight the Next War     293
Notes     299
Selected Bibliography     329
Index     343

Editorial Reviews

"General William E. DePuy had an interesting and significant career spanning from combat in the World War II through the rebuilding of the Army after the Vietnam War. Henry Gole's excellent biography is an important contribution to American military history." Edward M. Coffman, author of The Regulars: The American Army, 1898-1941

Edward M. Coffman

"General William E. DePuy: Preparing the Army for Modern War is a superb contribution to our knowledge of our army's transformation and provides much food for thought about the forthcoming challenges of regeneration and reorientation the nation faces."—Parameters

From the Publisher

In a detailed new biography of DuPuy, historian (and retired Special Forces officer) Henry Gole provides a balanced and comprehensive assessment of the oft-controversial general. It is a book filled with "Ah, so that is why X happened at Y date" moments, and it is a worthy addition to any bookshelf.

History.Net

An excellent biography of a man who has been largely ignored by historians. It provides a much needed re-examination of the early post-Vietnam Army and the men who created and built what is regarded today as the best army in the world.

Bowling Green Daily News

"Readers less familiar with that army might better understand how painfully slow its post-Vietnam healing was, and the extent of heroin addiction, racism, illiteracy, and gener"al systematic dysfunction that junior combat arms leaders continued to confront daily." Military History of the West

Military History of the West

"[DePuy] was a dynamic, intelligent, hard-driving officer whose personality an military record have been well captured by author Henry G. Cole." Journal of America's Military Past

Journal of America's Military Past

An unbiased and objective study, the book reveals both DePuy's great strengths and his human weaknesses.

Air Power History

Gole not only conducts a comprehensive examination of DePuy's contributions to the Army but also provides insight into the complexities of the man and his motivations.... Well written in a highly engaging style and extremely informative.

Marine Corps University Journal