Douglas MacArthur (1880–1964) was a General in the United States Army, who began his career in 1903 as a second lieutenant and served in three major military conflicts, going on to hold the highest military offices of both the United States and the Philippines.
Chronology and summary of military service
West Point 13 June 1899 – appointed as a cadet at the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York. 1900: Is the victim of hazing and becomes involved in a serious scandal where one cadet is left dead by upperclassman abuse. During the investigation he implicates only cadets who were already expelled from West Point or had previously confessed. 11 June 1903 – Graduates first in his class, commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers
Early career October 1903: Serves with Company I, 3rd Battalion of Engineers in the Philippine Islands. November 1903: Ambushed by two Filipino brigands or guerrillas while constructing a wharf in Guimaras. He shot and killed both of them. April 1904: Promoted to First Lieutenant. November 1904: Becomes assistant to Chief Engineering Officer for the Army Pacific Division in San Francisco, California. January 1905: Assigned to the California Debris Commission until October 1905. Acting Chief Engineer Officer, Pacific Division, July 1905 to October 1905. November 1905: Reports to Tokyo, Japan to serve as an aide to his father (Major General Arthur MacArthur, Jr.) in the Far East. Sees service in numerous locations in the Far East. August 1906: Takes three month furlough. Returns to United States. November 1906: Assigned to 2nd Engineer Battalion at Washington Barracks. December 1906: Serves as aide-de-camp to President Theodore Roosevelt August 1907: Attends the Engineering School of Application in Washington, D.C. Graduates 28 February 1908. March 1908: Assigned as the Officer-in-Charge (OIC), Improvements Commission, Milwaukee, Wisconsin April 1908: Appointed as commanding officer, Company K, 3rd Battalion of Engineers. Later that year becomes an instructor at the Mounted Service School, Fort Riley, Kansas April 1909: Becomes Quartermaster for the 3rd Battalion of Engineers. 27 February 1911: Promoted to captain and serves as the Officer-in-Charge of the Engineering Depot at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. April 1913: Appointed as superintendent of the State, War, and Navy Building in Washington, D.C. 25 September 1913: Assigned to the General Staff Corps, for duty as a member and recorder of the Board of Engineering Troops. April 1914: Becomes the assistant engineering officer of the military expedition to Veracruz, Mexico. Conducts an unauthorized reconnaissance mission during which he engages in three gun fights in which he kills a total of seven Mexicans. 11 December 1915: Promoted to major, serves as an engineering officer on the Army General Staff.
World War I 10 August 1917: Becomes chief of staff of the 42nd Division and is credited with naming it the "Rainbow Division". 11 August 1917: Promoted to the temporary rank of colonel in the National Army. Reports to Camp Mills, Long Island, New York to begin forming the 42nd Division. November 1917: Departs U.S. for France and joins the American Expeditionary Force. 26 June 1918: Appointed a brigadier general in the National Army and in August is appointed as commander of the 84th Infantry Brigade, which is part of the 42nd Division. Briefly commands the 42nd Division from 10 to 22 November 1918. 1918 – 1919: Receives two Distinguished Service Crosses and seven Silver Star Citations (later converted to Silver Stars) for battlefield leadership and bravery and also is wounded in action and gassed by the enemy. Was known for personally leading troops into battle, often without a weapon of his own. Begins to develop a negative relationship with General of the Armies John Pershing, after feeling that Pershing is wasting the lives of his troops with bad military tactics. May 1919: Returns to the United States as a hero, but is distraught over the lack of recognition his Rainbow Division receives for actions in France.
Inter-war years 12 June 1919: Becomes the Superintendent of the United States Military Academy, West Point.Cullum's Register of Graduates of the USMA. Vol. VII pg. 576. 20 January 1920: Appointed as a brigadier general in the Regular Army. Is one of the few officers who retain their wartime rank. Receives a negative evaluation report from Pershing, now Chief of Staff, who ranks MacArthur 38 out of 45 generals and states that MacArthur has an "exalted view of himself and should remain in his present grade for several years". February 1922: Married socialite Louise Cromwell Brooks in Palm Beach, Florida. 1 November 1922: Becomes Commanding General, District of Manila, in the Philippines. 29 June 1923: While still serving as District of Manila Commander, also becomes commander of the 23rd Infantry Brigade. 18 November 1924: Assigned as commander of the Philippine Division. 17 January 1925: Promoted to major general, becoming the youngest two-star general in the U.S. Army. 1 February 1925: Returns to the United States to become a corps commander. 1 May 1925: Assigned as 4th Corps Area Commander, encompassing the southeastern states with headquarters in Atlanta. Quickly reassigned as local residents did not welcome MacArthur because his father was a Union officer during the Civil War. 25 July 1925: Relieved of assignment as 4th Corps Area Commander. 1 August 1925 – 3 September 1928: Serves as 3rd Corps Area Commander, with headquarters in Baltimore, Maryland. November to December 1925: Serves as a member of the court martial of Brigadier General Billy Mitchell. 16 September 1927 to 1928: Serves as president of the American Olympic Committee. Leads the United States Olympic Team to Amsterdam in August 1928. 1 October 1928: Assigned as the Commanding General of the Philippine Department, with headquarters in Manila. 1929: Divorces his wife Louise due to mutual incompatibility. 2 October 1930: Becomes the commander of the Ninth Corps Area with headquarters at the Presidio of San Francisco, California. 21 November 1930: Appointed by President Hoover as Chief of Staff of the United States Army and promoted to the rank of general on the same date. 1931: Proposes the Army General Staff Badge but it is not approved by the War Department until 1933. 22 February 1932: Re-establishes the Purple Heart on the 200th anniversary of the birth of George Washington. Previously, wound chevrons were worn on the right sleeve of the uniform. 27 February 1932: Installed as the Supreme Paramount Carabao of the Military Order of the Carabao in Washington, D.C. June 1932: Presides over the dispersal of the "Bonus Army", deemed a low point of his tenure as Army Chief of Staff. 16 July 1932: Establishes the Silver Star decoration for valor in combat to replace the Silver Citation Star which was worn on the appropriate campaign medal. 1 October 1935: Completes his tour as chief of staff and declines retirement from the army. Per Army regulations, reverts to his permanent rank of major general. October 1935: Meets heiress Jean Faircloth on his voyage to the Philippines. 26 October 1935: Arrives in the Philippines and becomes the Chief Military Advisor to the Commonwealth Government of the Philippines. Makes his residence at the Manila Hotel. 3 December 1935: Mary Pinkney "Pinkie" Hardy MacArthur (b. 1852) dies in Manila. 14 January 1936: Made a Master Mason at Sight by Samuel R. Hawthorne, Grand Master of the Philippines. Becomes a 32nd Degree Mason later that year. 24 August 1936: Commissioned as a field marshal in the Philippine Army. Only person to ever hold that rank in the Philippine Army. Begins wearing the "scrambled eggs" cap often associated with his image. 30 April 1937: Marries Jean Faircloth in New York City. 31 December 1937: Retires from the U.S. Army at his own request. Placed on the retired list as a four-star general. 1 January 1938 – 25 July 1941: Civilian adviser to the Philippine Government on military matters. 21 February 1938: Son Arthur MacArthur IV is born in Manila.
World War II 1941-1942 26 July 1941: Recalled to active service in the United States Army with the rank of major general and appointed as commanding general of United States Army Forces in the Far East (USAFFE). 27 July 1941: Commissioned as a temporary lieutenant general in the Army of the United States. 8 December 1941: Japanese invade the Philippines. 18 December 1941: Promoted to four star general in the Army of the United States. 24 December 1941: Moves headquarters from Manila to Corregidor. Declares Manila an open city. December 1941–May 1942; Allied forces retreat to Bataan and Corregidor 15 January 1942: $500,000 from the Philippine treasury is deposited by wire into MacArthur's personal bank account. It is a gratuity to MacArthur from Philippine President Manuel Quezon for his services to the Philippines. 22 February 1942: Ordered by President Roosevelt to leave the Philippines and go to Australia. 12 March 1942: Departs the Philippines by PT boat and later takes a plane from Mindanao to Australia. 17 March 1942: Arrives at Batchellor Field in Darwin, Australia. 20 March 1942: In Terowie, South Australia, MacArthur promises, "I came out of Bataan and I shall return." 21 March 1942: Establishes headquarters of USAFFE in Melbourne, Australia. 1 April 1942: Awarded the Medal of Honor by War Department General Order No. 16 for his efforts to defend the Philippines. 9 April 1942: Major General Edward P. King surrenders the last American and Filipino forces on the Bataan peninsula. 18 April 1942: Appointed Supreme Allied Commander, South West Pacific Area (SWPA) with headquarters in Melbourne. Australian Prime Minister John Curtin gives MacArthur control of the Australian military, which commences the New Guinea campaign. MacArthur also commands American, Dutch and New Zealand forces. 6 May 1942: Fall of Corregidor island. Lieutenant General Jonathan Wainwright IV surrenders remaining American and Filipino forces in the Philippines. 18 June 1942: Appointed Supreme Allied Commander, South West Pacific Area. 21 July 1942: Moves headquarters to the Australian Mutual Provident (AMP) Building in Brisbane, Australia. 5 September 1942: I Corps, commanded by Lieutenant General Robert Eichelberger, arrives in Australia and is assigned the 32nd and 41st Infantry Divisions. I Corps serves as the headquarters for US ground forces assigned to SWPA and is initially subordinate to the Australian First Army. 15 September 1942: The 126th Infantry Regiment of the 32nd Infantry Division arrives in New Guinea. This marks the beginning of the New Guinea campaign. 19 September 1942: Awarded Distinguished Service Medal by the American Legion. 6 November 1942: Moves tactical headquarters of SWPA to Port Moresby, New Guinea. Main headquarters remains in Brisbane. 16 November 1942 until 22 January 1943: Battle of Buna–Gona. American and Australian forces under MacArthur engaged in a hard-fought campaign eliminated a Japanese stronghold in southwestern New Guinea. Allied casualties were high and much was learned about conducting jungle warfare.
1943 16 February 1943: The Sixth United States Army is formed under the command of Lieutenant General Walter Kruger. The Sixth Army serves as the headquarters for all US ground forces in the South West Pacific Area. 2-4 March 1943: Battle of the Bismarck Sea. Allied air forces under MacArthur's command sink 8 transports, 4 destroyers and destroy 20 fighter planes with light casualties. The victory greatly reduces Japan's ability to reinforce its forces on New Guinea. 30 June 1943 to March 1944: MacArthur implements Operation Cartwheel, consisting of 10 individual operations with the goal of isolating the major Japanese base at Rabaul. The operation is based on the principles of avoiding strongly held areas and using "island hopping" to gain positional advantages.