William Westmoreland
William Childs Westmoreland (1914-2005) was a United States Army general, best known for heading Military Assistance Command, Vietnam during the main part of the Vietnam War, but also in his last assignment as Chief of Staff of the Army.
Early career
Born in Spartansburg, South Carolina, he graduated from the United States Military Academy and was commissioned as a second lieutenant of artillery. He served in various military units, and, in 1941, was a staff officer of an artillery battalion in Hawaii.
Second World War
With quick wartime temporary promotions to major and lieutenant colonel, he served as an artillery officer in North Africa and Western Europe. By the end of the war, he was a temporary colonel and Chief of Staff of the 9th Infantry Division
WWII to Korea
After the war, he continued a rapid rise, commanding an infantry regiment and a reserve division, trained as a paratrooper, and commanded the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment. Following assignments as an instructor at the Command and General Staff College and Army War College, he commanded the 187th Regimental Combat Team (airborne) in combat in Morea, and was promoted to temporary brigadier general in November 1952.
Steps to Vietnam
He next held a Pentagon staff position, attended Harvard Business School (rather than the War College that was more traditional at the time), and then commanded the 101st Airborne Division.
Westmoreland next commanded the United States Military Academy, often a final three-star assignment. He moved to command the XVIII Airborne Corps, the main fast-reaction force of the Army.
Vietnam Era
Promoted to temporary full general, he commanded Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) from 1964 to 1968. As a MAC, rather than a Military Assistance Advisory Group (MAAG), which has a direct troop command responsibility as well as providing advisors and support to a Host Nation. After leaving Vietnam, he served as Chief of Staff of the Army, dealing with its change to an all-volunteer force during a time of protest.
Retirement
In retirement, he sued CBS News for libel in its 1982 program, "CBS-TV of The Uncounted Enemy: A Vietnam Deception", which claimed he had falsified reports from Vietnam. The matter was settled out of court.