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By Edgar Castillo
A U.S. general is an operational rank, and is no doubt an incredibly demanding role, whereas the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army (CSA) is on a whole other level. The aforementioned appointment is a statutory position held by a four-star general, selected by the president and confirmed by the senate. As the highest-ranking officer assigned to serve in the Department of the Army, it functions like a high-stakes CEO, providing administrative and advisory positions more than a battlefield tactician commanding large-scale forces. The Chief of Staff oversees and manages the entire Army branch, directing and implementing all operations, is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and acts as the principal high-level military advisor to the Secretary of War and President of the United States. With it brings about unimaginable responsibility, pressure, and stress—and the ability through years of experience to know when to take some much-needed R&R (rest and recreation).
None successfully navigated the role better than Army Gen. George C. Marshal. Considered one of the greatest military leaders in U.S. history, he served his country from 1902 to 1945, a whopping 49 years! During his military tenure as an officer, Marshall, an avid and lifelong bird hunter, used his love of wingshooting as a method to unwind and relieve stress. His hunting excursions, though oftentimes brief, were restorative respites to a rigorous military life. Marshall made it a habit to institute times of leisure for himself during campaigns and deployments both stateside and abroad.
Commissioned as a 2nd lieutenant in 1902, Marshal found himself in the Philippines within a few months. There he and his troops hunted wild doves and pigeons to supplement the meager and monotonous army rations. A few days after Christmas in 1903, Marshall arrived at Fort Reno, Oklahoma Territory, for combat training. To avoid boredom, he perfected his horsemanship and hunted. The young “butter bar” said, “The hunting was superb. I went shooting almost every day… bringing home twelve quail in a half an hour’s worth of shooting.”
Fraternizing Fowl
As Marshall’s rank increased, so did his responsibilities. July of 1916 brought him his “railroad tracks” or captain bars, giving him command of 250 soldiers. A brilliant operations officer and staff planner, he continued to make time to bird hunt as a means to reset from the rigors of overseeing his troops. Known for his reserved nature, Marshall oftentimes would request a sergeant with local hunting knowledge to accompany him, because the sarge “knew where the birds were.” His one prerequisite was that the enlisted man not be a “chatty companion.”
By 1926, Marshall had been a lieutenant colonel for three years. He found himself in fragmented China, commanding an infantry regiment. He was responsible for protecting American lives and interests amid the turbulent country’s collapse of central authority. Even with intense obligations and daily challenges, Marshall was able to break away to hunt native Chinese pheasants.
The Marshall (Hunting) Plan
Marshall continued not to allow international troubles and looming war to disparage him from some trigger time on birds. Lucky for Marshall, he found a friend and resolute wingshooter in fellow officer Henry “Hap” Arnold, whom he had met in the Philippines. 1940 had the world in a volatile situation, and the U.S. was being drawn into a fight with the evil Axis Powers. During this time, Marshall wore four stars on his shoulder epaulets and had been promoted a year earlier in 1939 to Chief of Staff of the Army, while Arnold was a Brigadier General (1 star). Wanting to tour air power production for the looming war, Arnold coordinated a visit to a Maryland aircraft manufacturer and invited Marshall. Afterwards the two generals shot geese along the Chesapeake Bay.
America entered into WWII in December 1941. Under Marshall’s leadership, he built an ill-prepared, antiquated force of 200,000 into a globally dominant army of 8 million. To add to the general’s illustrious career, Marshall received an unprecedented fifth star in 1944 for the newly created rank of General of the Army. A move established by Congress to ensure American commanders held equal or superior rank to their Allied counterparts during the European theater.
Marshall’s prestigious rank only added to his grueling tenure, and finding time to hunt became unattainable. His crushing workloads, long hours, and never-ending schedules forbade him the opportunity to hunt birds. In 1944, Marshall found a short window to visit the Adirondacks and hunt deer and ruffed grouse. However, as the war intensified, it again demanded everything from Marshall. His leadership played a crucial role in leading the Allies to victory over Nazi Germany (May) and Japan (September) of 1945. After six years as the head of the U.S. Army, President Truman approved General Marshall’s request to be relieved of his assignment as Chief of Staff on November 18, 1945. It was rumored that before the ceremony, the Commander-In-Chief, “strongly encouraged” Marshall to go and enjoy himself…“drink old fashions (Marshall’s favorite) and shoot pheasants.”
A week later, during Thanksgiving weekend, Marshall packed his Ithaca 12-gauge double-barrel shotgun and took a much-needed break and traveled to North Dakota. There, the legendary five-star general and his lifelong friend, Arnold, shot a heap of ringneck pheasants—as “ordered” by POTUS.
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