Adna Romanza Chaffee Jr. (September 23, 1884 – August 22, 1941) was an officer in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

, called the "Father of the

Armored Armour (British English) or armor (American English; see spelling differences) is a covering used to protect an object, individual, or vehicle from physical injury or damage, especially direct contact weapons or projectiles during combat, or f ...

Force" for his role in developing the U.S. Army's tank forces.

Early life and education

Chaffee was born in Junction City, Kansas, on September 23, 1884, to his father, Lieutenant General Adna R. Chaffee, and mother, Annie Francis Rockwell. He was commissioned as a

Lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations. The meaning of lieutenant differs in different militaries (see comparative military ranks), but it is often ...

of Cavalry in 1906 following his graduation from the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a fort, since it sits on strategic high groun ...

. He was 31st out of 78 pupils in his class. Chaffee learned to ride on horseback from a young age, and would later receive recognition as "the Army's finest horseman". Upon his father's death in 1914, he became an Hereditary First Class Companion of the

Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States The Military Order of the Loyal Legion of the United States (MOLLUS), or simply the Loyal Legion is a United States patriotic order, organized April 15, 1865, by three veteran officers of the Army. The original membership was composed of members ...

Career

From 1914 to 1915, Chaffee was posted with the 7th Cavalry in the Philippines, and from 1916 to 1917 Captain Chaffee was assigned to

West Point The United States Military Academy (USMA), also known Metonymy, metonymically as West Point or simply as Army, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York. It was originally established as a f ...

as the Senior Cavalry Instructor in the Tactical Department. When America entered

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in April 1917, Chaffee was temporarily promoted to Major and assigned as the adjutant for the 81st Division as it organized a
Camp Jackson, South Carolina
During the war, Major Chaffee served as an Assistant G3 Operations officer in the

US IV Corps IV Corps was a corps-sized formation of the United States Army that saw service in both World War I and World War II. World War I The corps was first organized on 20 June 1918, during World War I as part of the American Expeditionary Forces. Un ...

, and later returned to the 81st Division as the G3 during the St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne offensives. Promoted to the temporary rank of

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

, he became the G3, III Corps at the end of the war, and remained with the

corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies great ...

for occupation duty in 1919. Following the war, he returned to his

Regular Army A regular army is the official army of a state or country (the official armed forces), contrasting with irregular forces, such as volunteer irregular militias, private armies, mercenaries, etc. A regular army usually has the following: * a standin ...

rank of Captain of Cavalry and became an instructor at the General Staff School and the Army School of the Line at

Fort Leavenworth Fort Leavenworth () is a United States Army installation located in Leavenworth County, Kansas, in the city of Leavenworth. Built in 1827, it is the second oldest active United States Army post west of Washington, D.C., and the oldest perma ...

. During the 1920s, he helped develop the armor concepts and doctrine of the future. He predicted in 1927 that mechanized armies would dominate the next war and helped the first effort to develop a U.S. Army armored force. In 1931, newly promoted Lieutenant Colonel Chaffee was assigned as the executive officer of the embryonic 1st Cavalry Division, where he continued to develop and experiment with armored forces and became the leading American advocate of mechanized warfare. From 1934 to 1938, Chaffee was posted to the War Department as the Chief of the Budget and Legislative Planning Branch. Chaffee then returned to the 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Knox, where he was advanced to brigadier general and given command of the 7th Mechanized Brigade. Chaffee led the unit through the Plattsburg and Louisiana Maneuvers of 1939–1940, where he helped develop Army doctrine for armored and mechanized formations. In June 1940, Chaffee was appointed the Commander of the Armored Force, and given responsibility for integrating all branches of the Army into mechanized warfare. He played a major role in the development and fielding of new armored and mechanized infantry divisions for World War II. Chaffee was promoted to major general in October 1940, and given command of the I Armored Corps. He was stricken with cancer and died on August 22, 1941, at Boston, Massachusetts. He is buried next to his father in Section 3 of

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...

Legacy

The M24 Chaffee light tank is named after him.

Fort Chaffee Fort Chaffee Joint Maneuver Training Center is an Army National Guard installation in western Arkansas, adjacent to the city of Fort Smith. Established as Camp Chaffee in 1941, renamed to Fort Chaffee in 1956, Fort Chaffee has served as a United ...

, near

Fort Smith, Arkansas Fort Smith is the third-largest city in Arkansas and one of the two county seats of Sebastian County. As of the 2020 Census, the population was 89,142. It is the principal city of the Fort Smith, Arkansas–Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Are ...

, is named in his honor.

References

External links

Army.mil: Adna Chaffee Jr.

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Chaffee, Adna R. Jr. 1884 births 1941 deaths United States Army personnel of World War I United States Army Cavalry Branch personnel People from Junction City, Kansas Military personnel from Kansas Burials at Arlington National Cemetery Deaths from cancer in Massachusetts United States Army Command and General Staff College alumni United States Military Academy alumni Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) United States Army generals of World War II United States Army generals