Colonel Keith R. Harsh was commissioned an Infantry Officer upon graduation from Officer Candidate School Class 238-43 19 May 1943. His first duty assignment was as Platoon Leader, Officer Candidate School, Fort Benning, Georgia. | His subsequent duty assignments include:  Platoon Leader, Airborne School, 551st Parachute Battalion; Platoon Leader, Executive Officer, and Company Commander, 508th Airborne Infantry Regiment; Platoon Leader, 82d Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, North Carolina; Instructor, the Infantry School, Fort Benning, GA; Company Commander, 508th Airborne Regimental Combat Team (RCT), Fort Benning, GA; Company Commander, 224th Infantry Regiment, 40th Infantry Division; Advisor, United States Army Reserve (USAR), Rockford, Illinois; Adjutant, 504th Airborn Infantry, Fort Bragg, North Carolina and Germany; Adjutant, Airborne Brigade, 8th Infantry Division, Germany; Assistant G-1, 8th Infantry Division, Germany; Action Officer, Office of Personnel Operations, Washington, D.C.; European Desk Officer and Action Officer, Emergency Airborne Command Post, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Washington, D.C.; Deputy Chief of Staff, I Corp Group, Korea; Advisor, Emergency Operation Headquarters, Advisor Grup, Michigan Army National Guard, Senior Army Advisor, MIARNG.