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| '''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]]. | | '''William Childs Westmoreland''' (1914–2005) was a [[United States Army]] general who held command of US forces during the [[Vietnam War]] from 1964 to 1968. |
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| ==Early career==
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| 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.
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| ==Second World War==
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| 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
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| ==WWII to Korea==
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| 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.
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| ==Steps to Vietnam==
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| ==Vietnam Era==
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| 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.
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| ==Retirement==
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| 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.
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| ==See also==
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| * [[Vietnam War]]
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| ==Further reading==
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| * Brower, . Charles F.; "Strategic Reassessment in Vietnam: the Westmoreland 'Alternate Strategy' of 1967-1968." ''Naval War College Review'' 1991 44(2): 20-51
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| * Carland, John M. "Winning the Vietnam War: Westmoreland's Approach in Two Documents," ''The Journal of Military History'' 68.2 (2004) 553-574 in [[Project Muse]]
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| * Carland, John M. ''Combat Operations: Stemming the Tide, May 1965-October 1966'' (2000), official Army history
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| * Cubbage, T. L. “Westmoreland vs. CBS: Was Intelligence Corrupted by Policy Demands?” ''Intelligence & National Security'' 1988 3(3): 118-180
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| * Westmoreland, William C. ''A Soldier Reports'' (1976) autobiography
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| * Zaffiri, Samuel. ''Westmoreland: A Biography of General William C. Westmoreland'' (1994) 502pp
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