Thomas Francis Hickey (April 1, 1898 – November 1, 1983) was a career officer in the United States Army. He served from 1916 to 1958 and attained the rank of lieutenant general.
Early life Hickey was born in South Boston, Massachusetts, on April 1, 1898, a son of Lawrence Hickey and Johanna T. (McGrath) Hickey. He graduated from South Boston High School in 1916. Hickey was a prominent high school athlete, and was a member of South Boston's football, basketball, and track teams. South Boston High School also participated in the Boston School Cadets program, which provided military training to the city's male high school students. Hickey served in 2nd Battalion, 5th Regiment and attained the rank of captain.
Hickey's desire for a military career was well known among friends and family, and Hickey enlisted as a private soon after his high school graduation. He was promoted to corporal in 1917 and served in the enlisted ranks until being chosen for officer training. In the summer and fall of 1917, Hickey attended officer training at the Citizens Military Training Camp at Plattsburgh Barracks, claiming an 1897 date of birth and 1915 high school graduation in order to meet the minimum age requirement. In November 1917, Hickey received a Reserve commission as a second lieutenant of Cavalry.Full List of the New Officers Appointed at Plattsburgh, New York Times, November 25, 1917The Plattsburger, Yearbook of the Plattsburgh Officer Training Camp, 1917, p. 101
Military career Hickey served in France during World War I as a platoon leader in the 341st and 7th Machine Gun Battalions. He participated in the St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne Offensives, was wounded, and received the Wound Chevron which would be upgraded to the Purple Heart in 1932.Waltzing Into the Cold War: the Struggle for Occupied Austria, by James Jay Carafano, 2002, p. 95Third U.S. Army Web Site, Commander's Biographies, Thomas F. Hickey page
Hickey continued his military career after the war, remaining in Germany as a member of the Army of Occupation until February 1922.Third U.S. Army Web Site, Commander's Biographies, Thomas F. Hickey page Later that year, he transferred to the Field Artillery.Official Army Register, published by U.S. Army Adjutant General, 1922, p. 1048 In 1926, he graduated from the Field Artillery Officer Course.Life of the Soldier and the Airman, 1949, Volumes 35–36, p. 5 In 1932, he was assigned to train and advise National Guard units in the I Corps area.Field Artillery Journal, January–February, 1932, p. 8Field Artillery Journal, January–February, 1933, p. 8 He graduated from the Command and General Staff College in 1938 and,Life of the Soldier and the Airman, 1949 from 1940 to 1942, was an instructor at the Command and General Staff College.
In 1942, Hickey was assigned as Assistant Chief of Staff of the II Corps. From 1942 to 1943, Hickey served as chief of staff of the XI Corps, overseeing planning and execution of its operations in the Pacific Theater of World War II.The amphibious Eighth, prepared and edited by the Eighth U.S. Army, 1946, p. 73 After briefly serving as commander of the 42nd Division Artillery during its stateside training in Oklahoma, Hickey was promoted to brigadier general and assigned as commander of the X Corps Artillery, serving in the South West Pacific Theater. During the Leyte Campaign, Hickey served as commander of the 31st Division Artillery.
Following the end of the war, Hickey was assigned as chief of staff for United States Forces Austria (USFA) in 1946.Waltzing Into the Cold War Hickey was commander of the 82nd Airborne Division from 1950 to 1952,82nd Airborne Division Pamphlet 600-2, January 2005, p. 90 then commanded the XVIII Airborne Corps from 1952 to 1953.Ft. Bragg web site, XVIII Corps and Ft. Bragg Commanders page
Hickey commanded the IX Corps from 1953 to 1954, leading the organization during the end of its occupation of the Line Missouri Main Line of Resistance and subsequent withdrawal from combat at the end of the Korean War.United States Army Japan web site, IX Corps Commanders page The National Guardsman, 1955, Volume 9, page 12Korean War.com web site, Overview page In 1954, Hickey was appointed deputy commander of United States Army Forces in the Far East and promoted to lieutenant general. Hickey again commanded IX Corps from 1954 to 1955, before he was named commander of Third United States Army at Fort McPherson, where he remained until his retirement in 1958.U.S. Government Manual, 1956, p. 139The National Guardsman, 1958, Volume 12, p. 29
Awards and decorations Hickey's decorations included the Army Distinguished Service Medal with oak leaf cluster, the Silver Star, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal, the Purple Heart, and the Air Medal.Official U.S. Army Register, published by U.S. Army Adjutant General, 1956The American Catholic Who's Who, by Georgina Pell Curtis, 1960–1961, Volume 14, page 205
Hickey also received an honorary doctor of laws degree from Fordham University in 1958.
Post-military Following his retirement from the army, Hickey was Staff Director for the National Security Council's Net Evaluation Subcommittee from 1958 to 1961.The National Security: Its Theory and Practice, 1945–1960, by Norman A. Graebner, 1986, p. 192The Cold War: National Security Policy Planning from Truman to Reagan and From Stalin to Gorbachev, Lori Lyn Bogle, 2001, p. 96History of the Office of the Secretary of Defense, published by U.S. Department of Defense Historical Office, 1984, Volume 5, p. 316 The Net Evaluation Subcommittee was established by President Dwight Eisenhower, and was charged assessing the Soviet Union's capacity to inflict damage on the United States and its overseas installations, as well as monitoring for changes that would alter those capabilities.Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State, National Security Council Directive 5511, Directive on a Net Evaluation Subcommittee, February 14, 1955
Hickey died on November 1, 1983, in Arlington, Virginia.Social Security Administration (SSA) Death Master File (DMF) He was buried in Section 5, Site 83, of Arlington National Cemetery.
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