US Army General. A combat veteran of World War I, he rose in rank to become the US Army Chief of Staff. Born George Malin Craig, he received an appointment to the US Military Academy at West Point, New York in June 1894 and graduated in April 1889 with a commission as a 2nd lieutenant in the Infantry branch, transferring to the Cavalry two months later. His early assignments included service in the China Relief Expedition during the Boxer Rebellion and in the Philippine Insurrection (commonly known as the Philippine-American War). In February 1901 he was promoted to the rank of 1st lieutenant and to captain in May 1904. After the US entered World War I in April 1917, he was promoted to the rank of major, to temporary lieutenant colonel the following August and to temporary colonel in March 1918. He served in France during World War I as Chief-of-Staff to General Hunter Liggett in the 41st Infantry Division and later in the 1st Corps where he was promoted to the rank of temporary brigadier general in July 1918, participating in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive (also known as the Battle of the Argonne Forest), a part of the final Allied offensive of World War I. After the end of World War I he reverted to his permanent rank of major in August 1919 but was promoted to the rank of colonel in July 1920 and to brigadier general only 15 days later and was the Director of the US Army War College at Carlisle, Pennsylvania. From July 1920 until July 1924 he commanded the District of Arizona, the US Cavalry School, and the Coast Defenses of Manila and Subic Bay in the Philippines. From 1924 until 1926 he served as the Chief of Cavalry with the rank of major general from July 1924 until March 1926 in Washington DC and in 1927 he became commanding general of the Panama Canal Department, serving until August 1930. From October 1933 until January 1935 he was the commanding general of the US 4th Army. In February 1935 he became commandant of the US Army War College at Carlisle, Pennsylvania and served as the US Army Chief of Staff in Washington DC from October 1935 until August 1939, and was promoted to the rank of general and retired in this position with 41 years of continuous military service. In September 1941 he was recalled to active duty to head the War Department's Personnel Board and held this position until shortly before his death at the age of 69. Among his military and foreign decorations and awards include the Distinguished Service Medal (with two oak leaf clusters), the Spanish War Service Medal, the China Relief Expedition Medal, the Philippine Campaign Medal, the Mexican Border Service Medal, the World War I Victory Medal, the American Defense Service Medal, the American Campaign Medal, the World War II Victory Medal, the Cuban Military Order of Merit, the French Croix de Guerre, the Belgian Order of the Crown, and the British Companion of the Order of the Bath.