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124-710: Omar Nelson Bradley (February 12, 1893 – April 8, 1981) was a senior officer of the United States Army during and after World War II , rising to the rank of General of the Army . He was the first chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and oversaw the U.S. military's policy-making in the Korean War . Born in Randolph County, Missouri , he worked as a boilermaker before entering

248-677: A Freemason . He became a member of the West Point Lodge #877, Highland Falls, New York and continued with them until his death. Bradley married Mary Quayle (1892-1965), who had grown up across the street from him in Moberly. Her father, the town's popular police chief, had died when she was young. The pair attended Central Christian Church and Moberly High School together. On the cover of the 1910 Moberly High School yearbook, The Salutar, they were shown across from each other, although they did not date during those years. His picture bore

372-424: A "disservice to the nation" if he asked for a larger military force. Bradley also suggested that official Navy protests of Secretary Johnson's canceling the supercarrier United States were due to improper personal or political, even mutinous motives, calling Navy admirals "fancy dans who won't hit the line with all they have on every play unless they can call the signals", and who were in "open rebellion against

496-663: A 24-week Modular Initial Officer Training Course (MIOTC) at RAF College Cranwell . This course is split into four 6-week modules covering: militarisation, leadership, management and assessment respectively. Royal Marines officers receive their training in the Command Wing of the Commando Training Centre Royal Marines during a 15-month course. The courses consist not only of tactical and combat training, but also of leadership, management, etiquette, and international-affairs training. Until

620-516: A bachelor's degree and are exclusively selected from experienced mid- to senior-level enlisted ranks (e.g., E-5 with eight years' time in service for the Marine Corps, E-7 and above for Navy and Coast Guard). The rank of warrant officer (WO1, also known as W-1) is an appointed rank by warrant from the respective branch secretary until promotion to chief warrant officer (CWO2, also known as W-2) by presidential commission, and holders are entitled to

744-451: A bachelor's degree prior to commissioning. The U.S Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and NOAA Corps have no warrant officers or enlisted personnel, and all personnel must enter those services via commissioning. Direct commission is another route to becoming a commissioned officer. Credentialed civilian professionals such as scientists, pharmacists, physicians, nurses, clergy, and attorneys are directly commissioned upon entry into

868-591: A boiler in a seagoing vessel or remodeling a steam plant. Boiler repair can be a high-value, high-cost service since even the smallest steam boilers for dry cleaners and tailors can cost upwards of $ 20,000 to replace. In the United States, many boilermakers are employed in repairing, repiping , and re-tubing commercial steam and hot water boilers used for heating and domestic hot water in commercial buildings and multi-family dwellings. Sometimes these boilers are referred to as pressure vessels . Generally,

992-543: A class of 164. He was a baseball star and often played on semi-pro teams for no remuneration (to ensure his eligibility as an amateur to represent the academy). He was considered one of the most outstanding college players in the nation during his junior and senior seasons at West Point, noted as both a power hitter and an outfielder, with one of the best arms in his day. He rejected multiple offers to play professional baseball, choosing to pursue his Army career. While stationed at West Point as an instructor, in 1923 Bradley became

1116-463: A commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer (NCO), or a warrant officer . However, absent contextual qualification, the term typically refers only to a force's commissioned officers , the more senior members who derive their authority from a commission from the head of state . The proportion of officers varies greatly. Commissioned officers typically make up between an eighth and a fifth of modern armed forces personnel. In 2013, officers were

1240-639: A corridor known as the Aachen Gap towards the German township of Schmidt. The only nearby military objectives were the Roer River flood control dams, but these were not mentioned in contemporary plans and documents. Bradley and Hodges' original objective may have been to outflank German forces and prevent them from reinforcing their units further north in the Battle of Aachen . After the war, Bradley would cite

1364-608: A critic of George S. Patton, noted that Bradley's "common man" image "was played up by Ernie Pyle...The GIs were not impressed with him. They scarcely knew him. He's not a flamboyant figure and he didn't get out much to troops. And the idea that he was idolized by the average soldier is just rot." While Bradley retained his reputation as the GI's general , he was criticized by some of his contemporaries for other aspects of his leadership style, sometimes described as "managerial" in nature. British General Bernard Montgomery's assessment of Bradley

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1488-554: A desire to compensate him for the way in which he had been sidelined during the Battle of the Bulge. Others point out that both Secretary of War Stimson and General Eisenhower had desired to reward General Patton with a fourth star for his string of accomplishments in 1944, but that Eisenhower could not promote Patton over Bradley, Devers , and other senior commanders without upsetting the chain of command (as Bradley commanded these people in

1612-406: A few of the troops were disrespectful towards the residents' land and crops, and would tear down crops for extra food. However, for the most part, residents and soldiers established good relations. Bradley's personal experiences in the war are documented in his award-winning book A Soldier's Story, published by Henry Holt & Co. in 1951. It was re-released by The Modern Library in 1999. The book

1736-539: A four-year bachelor's degree from an accredited four-year institution within a defined time. College-graduate candidates (initial or prior-service) may also be commissioned in the U.S. uniformed services via an officer candidate school, officer training school, or other programs: A smaller number of Marine Corps officers may be commissioned via the Marine Corps Platoon Leaders Class (PLC) program during summers while attending college. PLC

1860-520: A front-line command until early 1943, after Operation Torch , the Allied invasion of French North Africa . He had been given VIII Corps after being succeeded by Lloyd D. Brown as commander of the 28th Division, but instead was sent to North Africa to be Eisenhower's front-line troubleshooter. At Bradley's suggestion, II Corps , which had just suffered a great defeat at the Kasserine Pass ,

1984-566: A gap"—for the remaining German forces. Around 20,000–50,000 German troops (leaving almost all of their heavy material) escaped through the gap, avoiding encirclement and almost certain destruction. They would be reorganized and rearmed in time to slow the Allied advance into the Netherlands and Germany. Most of the blame for this outcome has been placed on Bradley. Bradley had incorrectly assumed, based on Ultra decoding transcripts, that most of

2108-514: A hard disciplinarian; he recommended the death sentence for several soldiers while he served as the commander of the First Army. One controversy of Bradley's leadership involved the lack of use of specialized tanks ( Hobart's Funnies ) in the Normandy invasion. After the war Chester Wilmot quoted correspondence with the developer of the tanks, Major General Percy Hobart , to the effect that

2232-505: A headquarters ashore. During Operation Overlord , he commanded three corps directed at the two American invasion targets, Utah Beach and Omaha Beach . During July he inspected the modifications made by Curtis G. Culin to Sherman tanks, that led to the Rhino tank . Later in July, he planned Operation Cobra , the beginning of the breakout from the Normandy beachhead. Operation Cobra called for

2356-530: A higher active duty or reserve enlisted grade in any of the U.S. armed forces) for the duration of their 14-week program. Upon graduation, they were commissioned as ensigns in the then- U.S. Naval Reserve on active duty, with the option to augment their commissions to the Regular Navy after four to six years of commissioned service. The AOCS also included the embedded Aviation Reserve Officer Candidate (AVROC) and Naval Aviation Cadet (NAVCAD) programs. AVROC

2480-441: A month in his lifetime, while he was a schoolteacher and sharecropper, the latter with the aid of all the family. They never owned a wagon, horse or a mule. When Omar was 15, his father died; he credited his father with passing on to him his love of books, baseball and shooting. His mother moved with him to Moberly, where she remarried. Bradley graduated from Moberly High School in 1910. He was an outstanding student and athlete who

2604-560: A paper bag." On August 11, 1949, President Harry S. Truman appointed Bradley the first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff . After his initial 1948 plan to expand the Army and modernize its equipment was rejected by the Truman Administration, Bradley reacted to the increasingly severe postwar defense department budget cutbacks imposed by Secretary of Defense Louis A. Johnson by publicly supporting Johnson's decisions, going so far as to tell Congress that he would be doing

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2728-481: A post- Vietnam reduction in force (RIF) that reduced the number of flight training slots for AFROTC graduates by approximately 75% in order to retain flight-training slots for USAFA cadets and graduates during the same time period. Many of these individuals, at the time all male, declined or resigned their inactive USAF commissions and also attended AOCS for follow-on naval flight-training. AOCs were active-duty personnel in pay grade E-5 (unless having previously held

2852-626: A prerequisite for such. In the past (and in some countries today but to a lesser extent), non-commissioned members were almost exclusively conscripts , whereas officers were volunteers. In certain Commonwealth nations, commissioned officers are made commissioners of oaths by virtue of their office and can thus administer oaths or take affidavits or declarations , limited in certain cases by rank or by appointment, and generally limited to activities or personnel related to their employment. In some branches of many armed forces, there exists

2976-411: A pressure vessel is a storage tank or vessel that has been designed to operate at pressures above 15 psi (1.03 bar; 103 kPa). The two main responsibilities of boilermakers are the use of oxy-acetylene gas torch sets to cut or gouge steel plate and tubes, followed by gas tungsten arc welding (GTAW), shielded metal arc welding (SMAW), or gas metal arc welding (GMAW) to attach and mend

3100-512: A replacement air group (RAG)/fleet replacement squadron (FRS) and then to operational Fleet Marine Force (FMF) squadrons. Like their NAVCAD graduate counterparts, officers commissioned via MarCad had the option to augment to the Regular Marine Corps following four to six years of commissioned service. The MarCad program closed to new applicants in 1967 and the last trainee graduated in 1968. Another discontinued commissioning program

3224-554: A third grade of officer known as a warrant officer. In the armed forces of the United States, warrant officers are initially appointed by the Secretary of the service and then commissioned by the President of the United States upon promotion to chief warrant officer. In many other countries (as in the armed forces of the Commonwealth nations), warrant officers often fill the role of very senior non-commissioned officers. Their position

3348-566: A whole ended six days later, and with it came the surrender of over 200,000 Axis Germans and Italians. As a result of his excellent performance in the campaign, Bradley was promoted to Brevet lieutenant general on June 2, 1943 and continued to command II Corps in the Allied invasion of Sicily (codenamed Operation Husky). The campaign lasted only a few weeks and, as he had in Tunisia, Bradley continued to impress his superiors, Eisenhower most notably, who wrote to Marshall about Bradley: There

3472-444: A year for each module at an Officers' Training Corps ; the last two must be undertaken at Sandhurst. Royal Navy officer candidates must complete a 30-week Initial Navy Training (Officer) (INT(O))course at Britannia Royal Naval College . This comprises 15 weeks militarisation training, followed by 15 weeks professional training, before the candidate commences marinisation. Royal Air Force (RAF) DE officer candidates must complete

3596-620: Is a sub-element of Marine Corps OCS and college and university students enrolled in PLC undergo military training at Marine Corps Officer Candidate School in two segments: the first of six weeks between their sophomore and junior year and the second of seven weeks between their junior and senior year. There is no routine military training during the academic year for PLC students as is the case for ROTC cadets and midshipmen, but PLC students are routinely visited and their physical fitness periodically tested by Marine Corps officer-selection officers (OSOs) from

3720-537: Is affirmed by warrant from the bureaucracy directing the force—for example, the position of regimental sergeant major in regiments of the British Army is held by a warrant officer appointed by the British government . In the U.S. military, a warrant officer is a technically-focused subject matter expert, such as helicopter pilot or information technology specialist. Until 2024, there were no warrant officers in

3844-550: Is an officer with a higher rank than another officer, who is a subordinate officer relative to the superior. NCOs, including U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard petty officers and chief petty officers, in positions of authority can be said to have control or charge rather than command per se (although the word "command" is often used unofficially to describe any use of authority). These enlisted naval personnel with authority are officially referred to as 'officers-in-charge" rather than as "commanding officers". Commissioned officers in

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3968-426: Is based on an extensive diary maintained by his aide-de-camp, Chester B. Hansen, who ghost-wrote the book using the diary; Hansen's original diary is maintained by the U. S. Army Heritage and Education Center, at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania. On March 25, 1942, Bradley, recently promoted to major general, assumed command of the newly activated 82nd Infantry Division. Bradley oversaw the division's transformation into

4092-489: Is credited with doing much to improve its health care system and with helping veterans receive their educational benefits under the G. I. Bill of Rights . Bradley's influence on the VA is credited with helping shape it into the agency it is today. He was a regular visitor to Capitol Hill and lobbied on behalf of veterans' benefits in testimony before various congressional veteran affairs committees. Due to his numerous contributions to

4216-402: Is his gentleness. He was never known to issue an order to anybody of any rank without saying 'Please' first." While the public at large never forgot the image created by newspaper correspondents, a different view of Bradley was offered by combat historian S. L. A. Marshall , who knew both Bradley and George Patton, and had interviewed officers and men under their commands. Marshall, who was also

4340-412: Is to serve as supervisors within their area of trade specialty. Senior NCOs serve as advisers and leaders from the duty section level to the highest levels of the armed forces establishment, while lower NCO grades are not yet considered management specialists. The duties of an NCO can vary greatly in scope, so that an NCO in one country may hold almost no authority, while others such as the United States and

4464-556: Is unlikely that the funnies would have been as useful there as they were on the Commonwealth beaches. The British had agreed to provide British-crewed Funnies to operate with the American forces but were unable to train the crews and deliver the vehicles in time. President Truman appointed Bradley to head the Veterans Administration for two years after the war. He served from August 15, 1945, to November 30, 1947 and

4588-546: Is very little I need to tell you about him [Bradley] because he is running absolutely true to form all the time. He has brains, a fine capacity for leadership and a thorough understanding of the requirements of modern battle. He has never caused me one moment of worry. He is perfectly capable of running an Army . He has the respect of all his associates, including all the British officers that have met him. On September 10, 1943, Bradley transferred to London as commander in chief of

4712-647: The Allied invasion of Sicily . He commanded the First United States Army during the Invasion of Normandy . After the breakout from Normandy, he took command of the Twelfth United States Army Group , which ultimately comprised forty-three divisions and 1.3 million men, the largest body of American soldiers ever to serve under a single field commander. After the war, Bradley headed the Veterans Administration . He

4836-543: The Cardwell Reforms of 1871, commissions in the British Army were purchased by officers. The Royal Navy, however, operated on a more meritocratic, or at least socially mobile, basis. Commissioned officers exist in all eight uniformed services of the United States . All six armed forces of the United States have both commissioned officer and non-commissioned officer (NCO) ranks, and all of them (except

4960-755: The Saarland , or possibly a two-thrust assault on both the Saarland and the Ruhr Area . Montgomery argued for a narrow thrust across the Lower Rhine, preferably with all Allied ground forces under his personal command as they had been in the early months of the Normandy campaign, into the open country beyond and then to the northern flank into the Ruhr, thus avoiding the Siegfried Line . Although Montgomery

5084-550: The U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Space Force continues to have no warrant officers; the last of the previous cohort of USAF warrant officers retired in the 1980s and the ranks became dormant until the program was resurrected in 2024. The USSF has not established any warrant officer ranks. All other U.S. Armed Forces have warrant officers, with warrant accession programs unique to each individual service's needs. Although Warrant Officers normally have more years in service than commissioned officers, they are below commissioned officers in

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5208-746: The United States Air Force and United States Space Force ) have warrant-officer ranks. The two noncombatant uniformed services, the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps (NOAA Corps), have only commissioned officers, with no warrant-officer or enlisted personnel. Commissioned officers are considered commanding officers under presidential authority. A superior officer

5332-648: The United States Armed Forces , enlisted military personnel without a four-year university degree at the bachelor's level can, under certain circumstances, also be commissioned in the Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard limited duty officer (LDO) program. Officers in this category constitute less than 2% of all officers in those services. Another category in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard are warrant officers / chief warrant officers (WO/CWO). These are specialist officers who do not require

5456-681: The United States Army Infantry School . After the U.S. entry into World War II , he oversaw the transformation of the 82nd Infantry Division into the first American airborne division. He received his first front-line command in Operation Torch , serving under General George S. Patton in North Africa . After Patton was reassigned, Bradley commanded II Corps in the Tunisia Campaign and

5580-608: The United States Military Academy at West Point . He graduated from the academy in 1915 alongside Dwight D. Eisenhower as part of " the class the stars fell on ." During World War I , he guarded copper mines in Montana . After the war, he taught at West Point and served in other roles before taking a position at the War Department under General George Marshall . In 1941, he became commander of

5704-813: The University of Missouri in Columbia , where he intended to study law . He finished second in the West Point placement exams, held at Jefferson Barracks Military Post in St. Louis, Missouri . The first-place winner was unable to accept the Congressional appointment, however, and the nomination was passed to Bradley in August 1911. While Bradley was attending the academy, his devotion to sports prevented him from excelling academically; but he still ranked 44th in

5828-504: The Virginia Military Institute . The Coast Guard has no ROTC program, but does have a Direct Commission Selected School Program for military colleges such as The Citadel and VMI . Army ROTC graduates of the United States' four junior military colleges can also be commissioned in the U.S. Army with only a two-year associate degree through its Early Commissioning Program , conditioned on subsequently completing

5952-474: The War Department ; after 1938 he was directly reporting to U.S. Army Chief of Staff Marshall. On February 20, 1941, Bradley was promoted to the (wartime) temporary rank of brigadier general (bypassing the rank of colonel .) (This rank was made permanent by the army in September 1943). The temporary rank was conferred to allow him to command the U.S. Army Infantry School at Fort Benning , Georgia (he

6076-584: The sovereign or the governor general acting on the monarch's behalf. Upon receipt, this is an official legal document that binds the mentioned officer to the commitment stated on the scroll. Non-commissioned members rise from the lowest ranks in most nations. Education standards for non-commissioned members are typically lower than for officers (with the exception of specialized military and highly-technical trades; such as aircraft, weapons or electronics engineers). Enlisted members only receive leadership training after promotion to positions of responsibility, or as

6200-550: The " Siegfried Line " or "Westwall" in late September. The success of the advance had taken the Allied high command by surprise. They had expected the German Wehrmacht to make stands on the natural defensive lines provided by the French rivers, and had not prepared the logistics for the much deeper advance of the Allied armies, so fuel ran short. Eisenhower faced a decision on strategy. Bradley favored an advance into

6324-532: The AOCS program were primarily non-prior military service college graduates, augmented by a smaller cohort of college-educated active duty, reserve or former enlisted personnel. In the late 1970s, a number of Air Force ROTC cadets and graduates originally slated for undergraduate pilot training (UPT) or undergraduate navigator training (UNT) lost their flight training slots either immediately prior to or subsequent to graduation, but prior to going on active duty, due to

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6448-554: The American ground forces preparing to invade France in the spring of 1944. For D-Day, Bradley was chosen to command the US First Army , which, alongside the British Second Army , commanded by Lieutenant-General Miles Dempsey , made up the 21st Army Group , commanded by General Sir Bernard Montgomery . On June 10, 1944, four days after the initial Normandy landings , Bradley and his staff debarked to establish

6572-670: The Bentley Hotel in Alexandria. Many Army officers present at the maneuvers later rose to very senior roles in World War II, including Bradley, Mark Clark , Dwight Eisenhower , Walter Krueger , Lesley J. McNair and George Patton . Lieutenant Colonel Bradley was assigned to General Headquarters during the Louisiana Maneuvers but as a courier and observer in the field, he gained invaluable experience for

6696-636: The German attempt to split the US armies at Mortain ( Operation Lüttich ), Bradley's Army Group and XV Corps became the southern pincer in forming the Falaise pocket , trapping the German Seventh Army and Fifth Panzer Army in Normandy. The northern pincer was formed of Canadian forces, part of British General Sir Bernard Montgomery 's 21st Army Group. On August 13, 1944, concerned that American troops would clash with Canadian forces advancing from

6820-572: The German forces in the Ruhr from the north and south. Over 300,000 prisoners were taken. American forces then met up with the Soviet forces near the Elbe River in mid-April. By V-E Day , the 12th Army Group was a force of four armies (First, Third, Ninth, and Fifteenth) that numbered over 1.3 million men. Unlike some of the more colorful generals of World War II, Bradley was polite and courteous in his public appearances. A reticent man, Bradley

6944-488: The Germans had already escaped encirclement, and he feared a German counterattack as well as possible friendly fire casualties. Though admitting that a mistake had been made, Bradley placed the blame on General Montgomery for moving the British and Commonwealth troops too slowly, though the latter were in direct contact with a large number of SS Panzer, paratroopers , and other elite German forces. The American forces reached

7068-576: The Infantry School, succeeded Bradley in command of the First Army; together, they made up Bradley's new command, the 12th Army Group . By August, the 12th Army Group had swollen to over 900,000 men and ultimately consisted of four field armies. It was the largest group of American soldiers to ever serve under one field commander. Hitler 's refusal to allow his army to flee the rapidly advancing Allied pincer movement created an opportunity to trap an entire German Army Group in northern France. After

7192-628: The Israel Defense Forces, a university degree is a requirement for an officer to advance to the rank of lieutenant colonel and beyond. The IDF often sponsors the studies for its officers in the rank major , while aircrew and naval officers obtain academic degrees as a part of their training programmes. In the United Kingdom, there are three routes of entry for British Armed Forces officers. The first, and primary route are those who receive their commission directly into

7316-497: The RAF personnel were officers in 2013, but the British Army had a larger total number of officers. Commissioned officers generally receive training as generalists in leadership and in management , in addition to training relating to their specific military occupational specialty or function in the military. Many militaries typically require university degrees as a prerequisite for commissioning, even when accessing candidates from

7440-524: The Roer dams as the objective. Since the Germans held the dams, they could also unleash millions of gallons of water into the path of advance. The campaign's confused objectives, combined with poor intelligence, resulted in the costly series of battles known as the Battle of Hurtgen Forest , which cost some 33,000 American casualties. At the end of the fighting in the Hurtgen, German forces remained in control of

7564-473: The Roer dams in what has been described as "the most ineptly fought series of battles of the war in the west." Further south, Patton's Third Army, which had been advancing with great speed, was faced with last priority (behind the U.S. First and Ninth Armies) for supplies, gasoline and ammunition. As a result, the Third Army lost momentum as German resistance stiffened around the extensive defenses surrounding

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7688-703: The Royal Navy's Warrant Officers Commissioning Programme. In the British Army , commissioning for DE officers occurs after a 44-week course at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst . The course comprises three 14 weeks terms, focussing on militarisation, leadership and exercises respectively. Army Reserve officers will attend the Army Reserve Commissioning Course, which consists of four two-week modules (A-D). The first two modules may be undertaken over

7812-528: The School of Infantry, before entering naval flight-training. MarCads would then complete their entire flight-training syllabus as cadets. Graduates were designated Naval Aviators and commissioned as 2nd Lieutenants on active duty in the Marine Corps Reserve. They would then report to The Basic School (TBS) for newly commissioned USMC officers at Marine Corps Base Quantico prior to reporting to

7936-571: The U.S. Air Force Reserve on the same day. Aviation cadets were later offered the opportunity to apply for a commission in the regular Air Force and to attend a college or university to complete a four-year degree. As the Air Force's AFROTC and OTS programs began to grow, and with the Air Force's desire for a 100% college-graduate officer corps, the aviation cadet program was slowly phased out. The last aviation cadet pilot graduated in October 1961 and

8060-445: The U.S. Armed Forces may also be commissioned through the Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC). The ROTC is composed of small training programs at several hundred American colleges and universities. There is no Marine Corps ROTC program per se , but there exists a Marine Corps option for selected midshipmen in the Naval ROTC programs at civilian colleges and universities or at non-Federal military colleges such as The Citadel and

8184-456: The U.S. Army Infantry School. While Bradley was serving in this assignment, the school's assistant commandant, Lieutenant Colonel George C. Marshall , described Bradley as "quiet, unassuming, capable, with sound common sense. Absolute dependability. Give him a job and forget it." From 1929, Bradley taught again at West Point, studying at the U.S. Army War College in 1934. Bradley was promoted to lieutenant colonel on June 26, 1936 and worked at

8308-585: The U.S. Marine Corps. In addition to the ROTC, Army National Guard (ARNG) officers may also be commissioned through state-based officer-candidate schools. These schools train and commission college graduates, prior-servicemembers, and enlisted guard soldiers specifically for the National Guard. Air National Guard officers without prior active duty commissioned service attend the same active-duty OTS at Maxwell AFB , Alabama, as do prospective active duty USAF officers and prospective direct entry Air Force Reserve officers not commissioned via USAFA or AFROTC . In

8432-459: The U.S. Navy, primarily Naval Aviators, via interservice transfer. During the U.S. participation in World War II (1941–1945), civilians with expertise in industrial management also received direct commissions to stand up materiel production for the U.S. armed forces. Although significantly represented in the retired senior commissioned officer ranks of the U.S. Navy, a much smaller cohort of current active-duty and active-reserve officers (all of

8556-475: The UK, this effective monopoly over an important skill of the industrial revolution led to boilermakers being labeled 'the labour aristocracy" by historians. Boilermaking, welding , and fitting tubes can be a full-time requirement at power plants . Stress fractures, leaks, and corrosion demand continual repair or replacement resulting from operation at very high steam pressures. Other boilermakers might work seasonally or on an individual project such as re-fitting

8680-422: The US. Of the six requested types of Funnies, the Sherman flamethrower version of the Churchill Crocodile is known to have been difficult to produce, and the Centipede never seems to have been used in combat. Richard Anderson considers that the press of time prevented the production of the other four items in numbers beyond the Commonwealth's requirements. Given the heavier surf and the topography of Omaha Beach, it

8804-406: The United Kingdom consider their NCOs to be "the backbone of the military" due to carrying out the orders of those officers appointed over them. Boilermaker Although the name originated from craftsmen who made boilers , boilermakers assemble, maintain, and repair other large vessels and closed vats, in addition to boilers. The boilermaker trade evolved from industrial blacksmithing ; in

8928-734: The Veterans Administration, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs ' primary conference room at the headquarters of the Department of Veterans Affairs is named in Bradley's honor. Bradley became the Army Chief of Staff in 1948. After assuming command, Bradley found a U.S. military establishment badly in need of reorganization, equipment, and training. As Bradley himself put it, "the Army of 1948 could not fight its way out of

9052-448: The age of 30 are known as Late Entry (LE) officers. The third route is similar to the second, in that candidates convert from an enlisted rank to a commission; but these are only taken from the highest ranks of SNCOs ( warrant officers and equivalents). This route typically involves reduced training requirements in recognition of existing experience. Some examples of this scheme are the RAF's Commissioned Warrant Officer (CWO) course or

9176-515: The armed forces of the United States come from a variety of accessions sources: Graduates of the United States service academies attend their institutions for no less than four years and, with the exception of the USMMA, are granted active-duty regular commissions immediately upon completion of their training. They make up approximately 20% of the U.S. armed forces officer corps. Officers in

9300-437: The city of Metz . While Bradley focused on these two campaigns, the Germans were in the process of assembling troops and materiel for a surprise winter offensive. Bradley's command took the initial brunt of what would become the Battle of the Bulge . For logistical and command reasons, General Eisenhower decided to place Bradley's First and Ninth Armies under the temporary command of Field Marshal Montgomery's 21st Army Group on

9424-489: The civilian control." In his second memoir, Bradley would later state that not arguing more forcefully in 1948 and 1949 for a sufficient defense budget "was a mistake... perhaps the greatest mistake I made in my postwar years in Washington." Officer (armed forces) An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service . Broadly speaking, "officer" means

9548-686: The class the stars fell on ". Bradley's cullum number is 5356. There were ultimately 59 future general officers in that graduating class, among whom Bradley and Dwight D. Eisenhower attained the rank of General of the Army . Eisenhower was elected in 1952 in a landslide victory as 34th President of the United States . Among the numerous others who became generals were Joseph T. McNarney , Henry Aurand , James Van Fleet , Stafford LeRoy Irwin , John W. Leonard , Joseph May Swing , Paul J. Mueller , Charles W. Ryder , Leland Hobbs , Vernon Prichard , John B. Wogan , Roscoe B. Woodruff , John French Conklin , Walter W. Hess , and Edwin A. Zundel . Bradley

9672-448: The cut sections of tubes and steel plates. Boilermakers usually go through a formal apprenticeship which includes about four years of paid on-the-job training combined with classroom instruction. Unions and many employers offer these apprenticeships. To become an apprentice, one must be at least 18 years old and have a high school diploma or GED. Attending a trade or technical school combined with employer-provided training can accelerate

9796-404: The description "calculative" and hers "linguistic." She earned a college degree in education. At West Point, Bradley played three years of varsity baseball including the 1914 team. Every player on that team who remained in the army ultimately became a general. Bradley graduated from West Point in 1915 as part of a class that produced many future generals, and which military historians have called "

9920-490: The difficult period between the wars , he taught and studied. From 1920 to 1924, Bradley taught mathematics at West Point. He was promoted to major in 1924 and took the advanced infantry course at Fort Benning, Georgia . After brief duty in Hawaii, Bradley was selected to study at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth , Kansas in 1928–29. Upon graduating, he served as an instructor in tactics at

10044-458: The division was making it unmanageably elitist, a decision with which Eisenhower concurred). While Patton is often viewed today as the archetype of the intolerant, impulsive commander, Bradley actually sacked far more generals and senior commanders during World War II, whereas Patton relieved only one general from his command— Orlando Ward —for cause during the entire war (and only after giving General Ward two warnings). When required, Bradley could be

10168-653: The early 20th century, the Spanish army had the highest proportion of officers of any European army, at 12.5%, which was at that time considered unreasonably high by many Spanish and foreign observers. Within a nation's armed forces, armies (which are usually larger) tend to have a lower proportion of officers, but a higher total number of officers, while navies and air forces have higher proportions of officers, especially since military aircraft are flown by officers and naval ships and submarines are commanded by officers. For example, 13.9% of British Army personnel and 22.2% of

10292-490: The early nineteenth century, a boilermaker was called a boilersmith . The involvement of boilermakers in the shipbuilding and engineering industries came about because of the changeover from wood to iron as a construction material. It was often easier, and less expensive, to hire a boilermaker who was already in the shipyard--fabricating iron boilers for wooden steamships--to build a ship. This overlap of skills could extend to anything large and made of iron--or later, steel. In

10416-1103: The enlisted ranks. Others, including the Australian Defence Force , the British Armed Forces , the Nepali Army , the Pakistan Armed Forces (PAF), the Swiss Armed Forces , the Singapore Armed Forces , the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the Swedish Armed Forces , and the New Zealand Defence Force , are different in not requiring a university degree for commissioning, although a significant number of officers in these countries are graduates. In

10540-766: The entire AOCS program but would not be commissioned until completion of flight training and receiving their wings. After their initial operational tour, they could be assigned to a college or university full-time for no more than two years in order to complete their bachelor's degree. AVROC and NAVCAD were discontinued when AOCS was merged into OCS in the mid-1990s. Similar to NAVCAD was the Marine Aviation Cadet (MarCad) program, created in July 1959 to access enlisted Marines and civilians with at least two years of college. Many, but not all, MarCads attended enlisted "boot camp" at Marine Corps Recruit Depot Parris Island or Marine Corps Recruit Depot San Diego , as well as

10664-590: The establishment of the U.S. Air Force as an independent service in September 1947, it then became a source for USAF pilots and navigators. Cadets had to be between the ages of 19 and 25 and to possess either at least two years of college/university-level education or three years of a scientific or technical education. In its final iteration, cadets received the pay of enlisted pay grade E-5 and were required to complete all pre-commissioning training and flight training before receiving their wings as pilots or navigators and their commissions as 2nd lieutenants on active duty in

10788-540: The failure to use such tanks was a major contributing factor to the losses at Omaha Beach, and that Bradley had deferred the decision whether to use the tanks to his staff who had not taken up the offer, other than in respect of the DD (swimming) tanks . However a later memo from the 21st Army Group is on record as relaying two separate requests from the First Army, one dealing with the DD tanks and "Porpoises" (towed waterproof trailers),

10912-436: The first American airborne division and took parachute training. In August the division was re-designated as the 82nd Airborne Division and Bradley relinquished command to Major General Matthew Ridgway , who had been his assistant division commander (ADC). Bradley then took command of the 28th Infantry Division , which was a National Guard division with soldiers mostly from the state of Pennsylvania. Bradley did not receive

11036-538: The future. Colonel Bradley assisted in the planning of the maneuvers, and kept the General Staff in Washington, D.C. abreast of the training that was occurring during the Louisiana Maneuvers. Bradley later said that Louisianans welcomed the soldiers with open arms. Some soldiers even slept in some of the residents' houses. Bradley said it was so crowded in those houses sometimes when the soldiers were sleeping, there would hardly be any walking room. Bradley also said

11160-537: The last aviation cadet navigators in 1965. By the 1990s, the last of these officers had retired from the active duty Regular Air Force, the Air Force Reserve and the Air National Guard . In countries whose ranking systems are based upon the models of the British Armed Forces (BAF), officers from the rank of second lieutenant (army), sub-lieutenant (navy) or pilot officer (air force) to

11284-529: The latter being captains or flag officers as of 2017) were commissioned via the Navy's since discontinued Aviation Officer Candidate School (AOCS) program for college graduates. The AOCS focused on producing line officers for naval aviation who would become Naval Aviators and Naval Flight Officers upon completion of flight training, followed by a smaller cohort who would become Naval Air Intelligence officers and Aviation Maintenance Duty Officers. Designated as "aviation officer candidates" (AOCs), individuals in

11408-674: The learning curve. According to U. S. Census Bureau data of 2012, boilermakers are the most male "saturated" job in the USA, having a share of 99.8 % males and 0.2 % females. Boiler repair in the United States is governed by the National Board of Boiler and Pressure Vessel Inspectors and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) under a classification called R Stamp Welding. In order to perform R Stamp welds and repairs, boilermakers are tested and certified in

11532-600: The military or another federal uniformed service . However, these officers generally do not exercise command authority outside of their job-specific support corps (e.g., U.S. Army Medical Corps ; U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps , etc.). The United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer Corps almost exclusively use direct commission to commission their officers, although NOAA will occasionally accept commissioned officers from

11656-452: The nearest Marine Corps officer-recruiting activity. PLC students are placed in one of three general tracks: PLC-Air for prospective marine naval aviators and marine naval flight officers ; PLC-Ground for prospective marine infantry, armor, artillery and combat-support officers; and PLC-Law, for prospective Marine Corps judge advocate general officers. Upon graduation from college, PLC students are commissioned as active-duty 2nd lieutenants in

11780-601: The north and American Operation Grenade to the south) in February 1945—to break the German defenses and cross the Rhine into the industrial heartland of the Ruhr. Aggressive pursuit of the disintegrating German troops by the 9th Armored Division resulted in the capture of a bridge across the Rhine River at Remagen . Bradley quickly exploited the crossing, forming the southern arm of an enormous pincer movement encircling

11904-501: The north, refused to make any changes. Bradley's Army Group now covered a very wide front in hilly country, from the Netherlands to Lorraine . Despite having the largest concentration of Allied army forces, Bradley faced difficulties in prosecuting a successful broad-front offensive in difficult country with a skilled enemy. General Bradley and his First Army commander, General Courtney Hodges , eventually decided to attack through

12028-426: The north-west, Bradley overrode Patton's orders for a further push north towards Falaise, while ordering Major General Wade H. Haislip 's XV Corps to "concentrate for operations in another direction". Any American troops in the vicinity of Argentan were ordered to withdraw. This order halted the southern pincer movement of Haislip's XV Corps. Though Patton protested the order, he obeyed it, leaving an exit—a "trap with

12152-653: The northern flank of the Bulge. Bradley was incensed, and began shouting at Eisenhower: "By God, Ike, I cannot be responsible to the American people if you do this. I resign." Eisenhower turned red, took a breath and replied evenly, "Brad, I—not you—am responsible to the American people. Your resignation therefore means absolutely nothing." Bradley paused, made one more protest, then fell silent as Eisenhower concluded, "Well, Brad, those are my orders." At least one historian has attributed Eisenhower's support for Bradley's subsequent promotion to (temporary) four-star general (March 1945, not made permanent until January 1949) to, in part,

12276-521: The officer grades following completion at their relevant military academy. This is known as a Direct Entry (DE) officer scheme. In the second method, individuals may gain a commission after first enlisting and serving in the junior ranks, and typically reaching one of the senior non-commissioned officer ranks (which start at sergeant (Sgt), and above), as what are known as Service Entry (SE) officers (and are typically and informally known as "ex-rankers"). Service personnel who complete this process at or above

12400-406: The other with a variety of other Funnies. The second list gives not only items of specific interest with requested numbers, but items known to be available that were not of interest. The requested items were modified Shermans, and tank attachments compatible with Shermans. Noted as not of interest were Funnies that required Churchill or Valentine tanks, or for which alternatives were available from

12524-445: The quality of their weld joints through a rigorous testing procedure. R stamps are issued to companies that have existing ASME code stamps issued for construction and whose quality control system covers repairs or follow the guidelines set up by ASME to obtain an R stamp. Welders identify their welds by stamping their identifying welder number adjacent to their completed weld with a set of steel stencils. Welding, fitting, and installing

12648-414: The rank hierarchy. In certain instances, commissioned chief warrant officers can command units. A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is an enlisted member of the armed forces holding a position of some degree of authority who has (usually) obtained it by advancement from within the non-commissioned ranks. Officers who are non-commissioned usually receive management and leadership training, but their function

12772-557: The rank of general , admiral or air chief marshal respectively, are holders of a commission granted to them by the appropriate awarding authority. In United Kingdom (UK) and other Commonwealth realms , the awarding authority is the monarch (or a governor general representing the monarch) as head of state . The head of state often has the power to award commissions, or has commissions awarded in his or her name. In Commonwealth nations, commissioned officers are given commissioning scrolls (also known as commissioning scripts) signed by

12896-548: The same customs and courtesies as commissioned officers. Their difference from line and staff corps officers is their focus as single specialty/military occupational field subject-matter experts, though under certain circumstances they can fill command positions. The Air Force has discontinued its warrant-officer program and has no LDO program. Similarly, the Space Force was created with no warrant-officer or LDO programs; both services require all commissioned officers to possess

13020-515: The senior 17% of the British armed forces, and the senior 13.7% of the French armed forces. In 2012, officers made up about 18% of the German armed forces, and about 17.2% of the United States armed forces. Historically armed forces have generally had much lower proportions of officers. During the First World War, fewer than 5% of British soldiers were officers (partly because World War One junior officers suffered high casualty rates). In

13144-419: The sky. Scores of our troops were hit, their bodies flung from slit trenches. Doughboys were dazed and frightened....A bomb landed squarely on McNair in a slit trench and threw his body sixty feet and mangled it beyond recognition except for the three stars on his collar. However, the bombing was successful in knocking out the enemy communication system, rendering German troops confused and ineffective, and opened

13268-535: The theater). A more likely explanation is that as Bradley commanded an Army Group and was the immediate subordinate of Eisenhower, who was promoted to five star rank in December 1944, it was only appropriate that he should hold the next lower rank. Bradley used the advantage gained in March 1945—after Eisenhower authorized a difficult but successful Allied offensive (on a broad front with British Operation Veritable to

13392-470: The tubes and accessories that attach to the boiler can also be performed by boilermakers, and is governed by the same organizations as R Stamp Welding. This certification is called Power Piping and is governed by ASME Code section B31.1. The International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers is a labor union for boilermakers in Canada and the United States. In

13516-503: The use of strategic bombers using huge bomb loads to attack German defensive lines. After several postponements due to weather, the operation began on July 25, 1944, with a short, very intensive bombardment with lighter explosives, designed so as not to create more rubble and craters that would slow Allied progress. Bradley was horrified when 77 planes bombed short and dropped bombs on their own troops, including Lieutenant General Lesley J. McNair : The ground belched, shook and spewed dirt to

13640-575: The way for the ground offensive by attacking infantry. Bradley sent in three infantry divisions—the 9th , 4th and 30th —to move in close behind the bombing. The infantry succeeded in cracking the German defenses, opening the way for advances by armored forces commanded by Patton to sweep around the German lines. As the build-up continued in Normandy, the Third Army was formed under Patton, Bradley's former commander, while Lieutenant General Courtney Hodges , whom Bradley had succeeded as Commandant of

13764-722: Was commissioned as a second lieutenant into the Infantry Branch of the United States Army and was first assigned to the 14th Infantry Regiment . He served on the Mexico–United States border in 1915, defending it from incursions due to the Mexican civil war. On July 1, 1916 he was promoted to first lieutenant . When the United States entered World War I in April 1917 (see the American entry into World War I ), he

13888-406: Was among the first from his class to reach even a temporary rank of general officer; first was his West Point classmate Luis Esteves , who was promoted Brigadier general in October 1940). While serving in this position he played a key part in developing the officer candidate school model. Almost a year later, on February 15, 1942, over two months after the American entry into World War II , Bradley

14012-511: Was appointed as Chief of Staff of the United States Army in 1948 and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1949. In 1950, he was promoted to the rank of General of the Army , becoming the last of the nine individuals promoted to five-star rank in the United States Armed Forces . He was the senior military commander at the start of the Korean War , and supported President Harry S. Truman 's wartime policy of containment . He

14136-425: Was born into poverty in rural Randolph County, Missouri , near Moberly . Bradley was named after Omar D. Gray, a local newspaper editor admired by his father, and a local physician, James Nelson. He was of British ancestry , his ancestors having emigrated from Great Britain to Kentucky in the mid-1700s. He attended at least eight country schools where his father taught. The elder Bradley never earned more than $ 40

14260-469: Was chosen captain of both the baseball and track teams. Bradley was working as a 17-cents-an-hour (equal to $ 5.56 today) boilermaker at the Wabash Railroad when he was encouraged by his Sunday school teacher at Central Christian Church in Moberly to take the entrance examination for the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point, New York . Bradley had been saving his money to enter

14384-500: Was composed of college students who would attend AOCS training in two segments similar to Marine Corps PLC but would do so between their junior and senior years of college and again following college graduation, receiving their commission upon completion of the second segment. The NAVCAD program operated from 1935 through 1968 and again from 1986 through 1993. NAVCADs were enlisted or civilian personnel who had completed two years of college but lacked bachelor's degrees. NAVCADs would complete

14508-404: Was first favorably brought to public attention by war correspondent Ernie Pyle , who was urged by General Eisenhower to "go and discover Bradley". Pyle subsequently wrote several dispatches in which he referred to Bradley as the GI's general , a title that would stay with Bradley throughout his remaining career. Will Lang Jr. of Life magazine said "The thing I most admire about Omar Bradley

14632-501: Was instrumental in persuading Truman to dismiss General Douglas MacArthur in 1951 after MacArthur resisted administration attempts to scale back the war's strategic objectives. Bradley left active duty in 1953 (although remaining on "active retirement" for the next 27 years). He continued to serve in public and business roles until his death in 1981 at age 88. Omar Nelson Bradley, the son of schoolteacher John Smith Bradley (1868–1908) and his wife Mary Elizabeth (née Hubbard) (1875–1931),

14756-709: Was made a temporary major general (a rank made permanent in September 1944) and soon took command of the 82nd Infantry Division (soon to be redesignated as the 82nd Airborne Division) before succeeding Major General James Garesche Ord as commander of the 28th Infantry Division in June. The Louisiana Maneuvers were a series of U.S. Army exercises held around Northern and Western-Central Louisiana, including Fort Polk , Camp Claiborne and Camp Livingston , in 1940 and 1941. The exercises, which involved some 400,000 troops, were designed to evaluate U.S. training, logistics , doctrine , and commanders. Overall, headquarters were in

14880-512: Was not permitted to launch an offensive on the scale he had wanted, George Marshall and Hap Arnold were eager to use the First Allied Airborne Army to cross the Rhine, so Eisenhower agreed to Operation Market Garden . Bradley opposed the operation, and bitterly protested to Eisenhower the priority of supplies given to Montgomery, but Eisenhower, mindful of British public opinion regarding damage from V-1 missile launches in

15004-645: Was overhauled from top to bottom, and Eisenhower, now the Supreme Allied Commander of the Allied forces in North Africa, installed Major General George S. Patton as corps commander in March 1943. Patton requested Bradley as his deputy, but Bradley retained the right to represent Eisenhower as well. Bradley succeeded Patton as commander of II Corps in April and directed it in the final Tunisian battles of April and May, with Bizerte falling to elements of II Corps on May 7, 1943. The campaign as

15128-747: Was promoted to captain on May 15 and sent to guard the Butte, Montana copper mines, considered of strategic importance. Bradley was promoted to the temporary rank of major in June 1918 and assigned to command the second battalion of the 14th Infantry, joined the 19th Division in August 1918, which was scheduled for European deployment, but the influenza pandemic and the armistice with Germany on November 11, 1918, that fall intervened. From September 1919 until September 1920, Bradley served as assistant professor of military science at South Dakota State College (now University) in Brookings, South Dakota . During

15252-403: Was that he was "dull, conscientious, dependable, and loyal". He had a habit of peremptorily relieving senior commanders who he felt were too independent, or whose command style did not agree with his own, such as the colorful and aggressive General Terry Allen , commander of the U.S. 1st Infantry Division (who was relocated to a different command because Bradley felt that his continued command of

15376-462: Was the Air Force's aviation cadet program. Originally created by the U.S. Army Signal Corps in 1907 to train pilots for its then-fledgling aviation program, it was later used by the subsequent U.S. Army Air Service , U.S. Army Air Corps and U.S. Army Air Forces to train pilots, navigators, bombardiers and observers through World War I, the interwar period, World War II, and the immediate postwar period between September 1945 and September 1947. With

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