Brigadier General (later Major General) Joseph Edward Fix III entered the Army on 7 April 1943 at Colorado Springs, Colorado--where his father was stationed with the United States Air Force at the time. Serving as an enlisted soldier for 20 months, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant, Infantry, upon graduation from the Infantry Officers Candidate School, Fort Benning, Georgia on 9 January 1945. His first assignment after graduation was with the Parachute School, Fort Benning, Georgia, first as a student and subsequently as an instructor.  He joined the 511th Parachute Infantry, 11th Airborne Division in August 1945, and served with that regiment in the Philippines, Okinawa, and Japan until  December 1947. | Upon his return to the United States, he served for a short while with the Recruiting Command with station at Rock Island, Illinois.  Subsequently he was assigned to the 82d Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, during the period July 1948 until August 1951, leaving then to attend the Infantry Officers Advanced Course, Fort Benning, Georgia.  Following graduation, he joined the 3d Infantry Division in Korea and fought with that unit in 1952-1953.  Thereafter he joined Board No. 5, Office, Chief of Army Field Forces (OCAFF), Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where he was the Personnel Parachute Test Officer for the U.S. Army from January 1954 to August 1956. | Following attendance at the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas in 1956-1957, General Fix again returned to serve at the Infantry School, Fort Benning, Georgia, initially with the Airborne-Air Mobility Department and then in the Office of the Director of Instruction, from where he departed in 1960 to attend the Armed Forces Staff College, Norfolk, Virginia.  Immediately after graduation, he attended the University of Omaha, Nebraska, to complete his undergraduate work and obtain his baccalaureate degree. | General Fix was assigned to NATO's Central Army Group, Seckenheim, Germany, during 1961-1963 as G2 Air Reconnaissance Officer. From there, he rejoined the 3d Infantry Division and served as the Commanding Officer, 1st Battalion, 4th Infantry, 3d Division, with station at Heilbronn, Germany, from July 1963 to June 1964. | He attended the Air War College, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama during 1964-1965, and then was assigned to Office, Chief of Research and Development, DA, where he served, in turn, as Project Officer; Executive Secretary, Army Scientific Advisory Panel; and Military Assistant to the Chief Scientist, DA. | In April 1968, General Fix assumed command of the 1st Brigade, 4th Infantry Division in Vietnam, and commanded the Brigade through its heavy fighting in the Dak To area of the central Highlands until October 1968. Subsequently, he served as Deputy G1, U.S. Army, Vietnam at Long Binh. Early in April, 1969--just prior to the conclusion of his Vietnam tour--General Fix broke both legs in an accidental fall and was medically-evacuated to DeWitt Army Hospital, Fort Belvoir, Virginia. When discharged in November, 1969, he joined the Defense Special Projects Group (DSPG), Washington, D.C. and served initially as Chief of the Sensor Division and then as Chief, Operations Division. | In January 1971, he assumed the additional duty of Project Manager for Mystic Mission, the demonstration of a sensor system for use in Europe.  General Fix later was named the Commander of Detachment 1, Joint Task Force 728, the field element of DSPG, which actually conducted Mystic Mission at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida in September-November 1971 and at the Hohenfels Army Training Center, Germany in March-June 1972. | Upon being nominated for promotion to Brigadier General, he was assigned as Deputy Director for Research, Development and Engineering, U.S. Army Materiel Command, Alexandria, Virginia in July 1972 and served in that position until 1 July 1973. On that date he was named Director of International Logistics, U.S. Army Materiel Command.  He was promoted to Major General on 1 July 1975.