Alden K. Sibley

Alden Kingsland Sibley (born January 3, 1911 in Tuscaloosa , Tuscaloosa County , Alabama , † January 18, 1999 in Brownfield , Oxford County , Maine ) was an American major general in the US Army .

Life

Training as an army officer and engineer

Sibley, son of a professor of mechanical engineering , graduated from the US Military Academy (USMA) in West Point after school and became an officer in the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). He graduated from the US Military Academy as eighth of 347 graduates in his class. With the support of a Rhodes scholarship , he completed a degree in theoretical physics and nuclear physics at Magdalen College of Magdalen College, which he completed with a Bachelor of Science (BS), and during this time in 1935 undertook a worldwide research trip for measurement and exploration of cosmic rays .

After his return to the USA in 1936 Sibley became chief of the 1st Battalion of the 5th Engineer Regiment in Fort Belvoir and at the same time graduated from the US Army Engineer School in 1936. Then he was from 1937 to 1938 aide-de-camp of US President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the White House , and after only executive officer ( executive officer ) in the construction of Conchas Dam in San Miguel County in New Mexico , then head of the Construction inspection for the construction of the John Martin Dam in Bent County , Colorado, and most recently executive officer for the canal and power plant project on the St. Lawrence River in Massena , New York's St. Lawrence County .

Second World War

After the entry of the United States into World War II on December 8, 1941, Sibley became chief engineer of the US military mission in North Africa and, after arriving in Egypt in January 1942, also took on the role of district engineer in the North African engineering district. This was followed by a position as a staff officer for logistics (G4) and then as deputy chief of the staff of the operations units for the theater of war in the Middle East (Middle East Theater of Operations) , before he was promoted to commander of the base command for Eritrea in Asmara and to colonel .

In 1943 Sibley became the commander of the Army Contingent in the United British-American Group for the Planning of Military Operations for the Theater of War in the Middle East, and later in 1943 he was in command of the Base Command for North Africa in Tripoli . In November 1943 he was sent to London staggered where he G4 Executive Officer to the Vice-Chief of Staff and the operations in the theater of war in Europe (European Theater of Operations) was. In early 1944 he was seconded to the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) in London, where he was involved in the planning for Operation Overlord , the Allied landing in Normandy .

post war period

Two months after the war Sibley was in October 1945 as a member of the General Staff in the War Department of the United States (US Department of War) appointed and returned to the US, where he assistant to the deputy and G 4 of the provisional chief of staff in Washington, DC was . In 1946 he served as a member of the Joint Planning Committee for Logistics at the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) and later as Head of the Strategic Logistics Office at the War Department General Staff (WDGS) and as head of the Army Planning Coordination Group in the Office of the Chief of the General Staff. For his work on the War Department Command Installation Committee, he was awarded the Oak Leaf of the Army Commendation Medal .

At the direction of Defense Minister ( US Secretary of the Army ) Frank Pace, Jr. in 1950 founded the Advisory Board for Sibley Army policy (Army Policy Council) and served in the next 2½ years as the Military Secretary. During this time he was also special assistant to the Undersecretary for Politico-Military Affairs in the Army Ministry. In 1952 he went to Paris and became head of the logistics planning department at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE). During the next three years he visited eight of the 15 member countries of NATO and prepared there plans for the logistical support of the troop units subordinate to the then Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), Matthew B. Ridgway and then Alfred M. Gruenther .

In 1955 Sibley returned to the United States and became director of the department for educational development of the faculty at the National War College (NWC) at Fort Lesley J. McNair in Washington, DC, and served during this at the same time as chief of staff of the US delegation in negotiations of the Federal Republic of Germany in Bonn and the US delegation in the negotiations on the bases in the Philippines in Manila . In April 1957 he was promoted to brigadier general and chief engineer of the Army Engineering Division in New England . In 1957 he was awarded the medal for the 75th anniversary of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME).

Promotion to major general and retirement

In August 1960 he was employed in Vietnam as deputy head for logistics and administration of the local advisory group for military assistance MAAG (Military Assistance Advisory Group) . To fulfill this function, he completed an orientation course at the Institute for Military Assistance in Washington, DC in September 1960

He returned to the United States in October 1961 and was promoted to major general and deputy chief of the US Army Corps of Engineers for military operations. He then became Commanding General of the US Army Mobility Command in St. Louis in 1962 and Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics of the US European Command (USEUCOM) in 1964 , before becoming Commanding General of the XI between 1966 and 1967. US Army Corps was. He was last appointed Deputy Commanding General of the 5th US Army in 1967 and then retired in 1968.

He has received several awards for his services, including the Legion of Merit , the Bronze Star , Army Commendation Medal, the Order of the British Empire , membership of the Legion of Honor and the Croix de guerre .

publication

• The Impact of Terrain on Strategy. A Lecture devilvered at Naval War College, February 9, 1962 , in: Naval War College Review , May 1962, pp. 19-52
• The Sibley family in America, 1629-1972 , Honolulu 1972

Web links

• Alden K. Sibley in the database of Find a Grave (English)
• Short biography in the Naval War College Review , May, pp. 53 ff.
• The Alden K. Sibley papers, 1957-1967
• Sibley, Alden K. (Alden Kingsland), 1911-