Creighton Williams Abrams Jr. was an outstanding tank commander in the U.S. Army during WWII, and who would later command military operations in the Vietnam War from 1968-72. Appointed Chief of Staff, Abrams would succeed General Westmoreland as the top commander of all U.S. forces in the Vietnam theatre in 1972. And begin to implement the transition to an all-volunteer force.
Creighton W. Abrams was born on September 15th , 1914, in Springfield, Massachusetts. He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1936 with a decent academic record. After finishing the Cavalry School at Fort Bliss, Texas, he served with the First Cavalry Division and later with the newly created First Armored Division. Within nearly four decades, …show more content…
Abrams doubted the ability of the South Vietnamese army to effectively replace U.S. troops when the troop strength fell. The rate at which the number of available U.S. troops fell was more than Abrams would have preferred, however he would maintain a relentless pressure on the Vietcong and North Vietnamese positions in South Vietnam and was successful in carrying out the American troop withdrawal called for by Vietnamization. He gradually shifted American strategy from the search and destroy operations that Westmoreland had favored towards defending the population of South Vietnam. His enhancement of the South Vietnamese armed forces, would leave them with one of the largest and best equipped armies in the world. To give time for Vietnamization to succeed, Abrams planned and executed U.S.-South Vietnamese raids against the North Vietnamese supply lines in Cambodia in 1970 and in Laos in …show more content…
He won the respect and in some cases, the devotion of those under him, and in contrast to Westmoreland, his plain and earthy demeanor won approval from a skeptical U.S. press corps. He went out of his way to win the confidence of his Vietnamese counterparts, and he acquired a kind of "father-savior image" in Vietnam. Altogether Abrams served for five years in Vietnam, the last four as overall commander of U.S. forces there. When he left Vietnam in June 1972, the South Vietnamese Army was much stronger than when he had arrived. Abrams was appointed Chief of Staff of the United States Army in june 1972, a position he held until his
Creighton W. Abrams was born on September 15th , 1914, in Springfield, Massachusetts. He graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1936 with a decent academic record. After finishing the Cavalry School at Fort Bliss, Texas, he served with the First Cavalry Division and later with the newly created First Armored Division. Within nearly four decades, …show more content…
Abrams doubted the ability of the South Vietnamese army to effectively replace U.S. troops when the troop strength fell. The rate at which the number of available U.S. troops fell was more than Abrams would have preferred, however he would maintain a relentless pressure on the Vietcong and North Vietnamese positions in South Vietnam and was successful in carrying out the American troop withdrawal called for by Vietnamization. He gradually shifted American strategy from the search and destroy operations that Westmoreland had favored towards defending the population of South Vietnam. His enhancement of the South Vietnamese armed forces, would leave them with one of the largest and best equipped armies in the world. To give time for Vietnamization to succeed, Abrams planned and executed U.S.-South Vietnamese raids against the North Vietnamese supply lines in Cambodia in 1970 and in Laos in …show more content…
He won the respect and in some cases, the devotion of those under him, and in contrast to Westmoreland, his plain and earthy demeanor won approval from a skeptical U.S. press corps. He went out of his way to win the confidence of his Vietnamese counterparts, and he acquired a kind of "father-savior image" in Vietnam. Altogether Abrams served for five years in Vietnam, the last four as overall commander of U.S. forces there. When he left Vietnam in June 1972, the South Vietnamese Army was much stronger than when he had arrived. Abrams was appointed Chief of Staff of the United States Army in june 1972, a position he held until his