Joseph T. McNarney

Joseph T. McNarney

Joseph Taggart McNarney (born August 28, 1893 in Emporium (Pennsylvania) , † February 1, 1972 in La Jolla ) was a senior officer in the United States. At times he was Deputy Chief of Staff in the War Ministry and Deputy Allied Commander in Chief in Italy. Between November 1945 and January 1947 he was the American commander-in-chief in Europe and military governor of the American zone of occupation in Germany. He later moved to the aviation industry as President of Convair .

Life

McNarney was the son of a prosecutor. The mother was active in the Christian abstinence movement . After graduating from West Point Military Academy in 1915, he became an officer. First with the infantry, he switched to the intelligence service in 1915. This later became the United States Army Air Service and McNamey was one of the first 30 pilots. In 1917 he married and was sent to the European theater of war with the American expeditionary force . There he actively served as a pilot, mainly in observation units. As such, he was involved in a number of military operations. Most recently he held the rank of lieutenant colonel. He stayed in France until 1919 and wrote a handbook on aerial reconnaissance .

Then McNarney returned to the USA. Downgraded to captain, he worked in pilot training and successfully completed his training as a general staff officer . Among other things, he served in the intelligence department of the General Staff of the War Ministry. McNarney commanded a pilot school in 1930 and later bomber units. Between 1933 and 1935 he was an instructor at the Army War College in Washington. He then built the new headquarters of the United States Army Air Corps on Langley Field , Virginia .

Shortly before the start of World War II , McNarney became head of the war planning department on the General Staff of the War Department. A year later he was made a colonel. A short time later he was a member of the American-Canadian Defense Committee. In the same year he was promoted to brigadier general. He was posted to London in May 1941 as a special observer. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor , he was a member of the Roberts Commission investigating the event. In January 1942 he was named major general and became a member of a commission to reorganize the War Department after the United States entered the war. With the rank of Lieutenant General, he was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff of the US Army in March 1942. Among other things, he assumed plans to combat submarines, for which special bomber units were set up. From October 1944, McNarney was Deputy British Field Marshal Harold Alexander at the Allied High Command in Italy and at the same time Commander in Chief of US troops in the Mediterranean theater of war . In March 1945 he was promoted to general.

After Dwight D. Eisenhower was appointed Chief of Staff, McNarney took over his position as Commander of American troops in Europe in November 1945 . At the same time he was the military governor of the American zone of occupation in Germany. He was also the American representative in the Allied Control Council .

From March 1947, McNarney was his country's chief delegate to the UN military committee . He then held leading positions in military material procurement and other positions. In January 1952 he retired with the rank of General in the Air Force.

He moved into the private sector and became President of Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corp. (Convair) and President of General Dynamics Convair Division after Convair was merged with General Dynamics in 1954 . In 1958 he left the company management, but remained in close contact with the company until his death.

McNarney was the bearer of numerous foreign and domestic orders and decorations.

literature

• International Biographical Archive 16/1972 from April 10, 1972

Web links

• Short biography of the German Historical Museum
• Biography on page US Air Force (Engl.)