Marshall B. Garth

Major General Marshall Garth graduated from OCS in 1942 and was assigned to the 104th Infantry Division where he served from Platoon Leader to Battalion Commander until the Division’s deactivation in 1945. He graduated from the Command and General Staff College in 1946 and in September of that year he was sent to Nanking, China, where he served as an advisor with the Chinese Army until the Chinese Communists took over in 1949 and his departure became necessary. | In 1949-1950 he attended the Armored advanced course at Fort Knox, Kentucky. Upon graduation he was assigned as an Infantry instructor at the Artillery School at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. In the summer of 1953 he joined the 45th Infantry Division in Korea as a battalion commander, and later the 24th Infantry Division where he served as a battalion commander, Assistant Chief of Staff, G-1 and Assistant Chief of Staff, G-3. | Upon his return to the States in late 1954 he was assigned to the Office of the Assistant Chief of Staff, G-3 (later DCSOPS) and at the completion of a 3-year tour with the Army Staff, he attended the Armed Forces Staff College. In the summer of 1958 he was assigned to the Office of the Special Assistant to the Chief of Staff, SHAPE. Here he not only had the opportunity to work and associate with the three services of the U.S. Defense Department but with the military services of all the NATO nations. | Following his SHAPE assignment, Colonel Garth attended the United States Army War College, Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, and graduated in the class of 1962. Upon graduation he was selected to help organize and man the new institute of Advanced Studies, part of the then recently organized U.S. Army Combat Developments Command. In the fall of 1964 Colonel Garth was assigned to the Army Concept Team in Vietnam. There he traveled widely throughout Vietnam working on ways and means to improve the conduct of the war against the Viet Cong. | After Vietnam, in late 1965, he joined the 4th Infantry Division at Fort Lewis, Washington. Initially, he served as a special assistant to the Commanding General and in January 1966 he became the Commander of the 3d Brigade, 4th Division. He returned to Vietnam in September of 1966 and his brigade was detached from the Division and sent to the area north of Saigon near Tay Ninh in War Aone C,  a traditional sanctuary for the Viet Cong. Colonel Garth’s brigade was credited with the largest single battle of the Vietnamese war. | In the summer of 1967 Colonel Garth was assigned to the J-5, OJCS in Washington, D. C. Shortly after arrival he was selected for promotion to General Officer. | In January 1968 Colonel Garth was promoted to Brigadier General. He then served as a Deputy Director for Operations in the National Military Command Center. In August of 1968, Brigadier General Garth joined the 2d Armored Division at Fort Hood, Texas. There he took over as Assistant Division Commander for Support. With his appointment as the Division Materiel Readiness Officer, his duties include direct supervision of support activities in an effort to improve maintenance within the division. | Brigadier General Garth has been awarded the Combat Infantryman’s Badge with star, the Silver Star w/Cluster, the Legion of Merit w/Cluster, the Bronze Star w/3 Clusters, the Purple Heart and the Air Medal with 8 Clusters. | General Garth was born in Stony Point, Virginia, graduated from high school in Haymarket, Virginia, and attended the College of William and Mary in Virginia for 3 years. He attended the University of Maryland in 1957 and Georgetown University in 1961-1963.