I read from the book of John Keegan about how General Albert Wedemeyer developed the Victory Plan that became the basis for the United States waging war in Europe. I also learned that he was responsible for structuring the U.S. Army into three basic units: Infantry, Armored and Airborne Infantry. Unfortunately, he got on the wrong side of Winston Churchill so he was sidelined from the European theater of the war. What is known about this man as strategist of World War II?
I am uncertain as to from whence this concept of US Army branches stems. Certainly the US Army at the time of World War II acknowledged but three combat arm branches, Infantry, Artillery, and Cavalry (which, yes, in those days encompassed armored units). Everything else was classified as a separate corps (not “corps” as in Army Group -> Army -> Corps -> Division -> Regiment, but “corps” as defined by a separate specializing body of troops, usually rating their own branch insignia). Thus one finds the Signal Corps, Medical Corps, Dental Corps, Military Police Corps, Nurse Corps, Quartermaster Corps, Chemical Corps, Ordnance Corps, and, yes, the Air Corps, just to mention a few. Even within the combat arms, back then, Artillery was divided into Field Artillery Corps and the Coast Artillery Corps. Today, those basic three: infantry, artillery, and, now, armor/armored cavalry predominate as combat arms, but have been joined by a fourth, Special Forces. I wonder if Keegan was stretching a point or simply mis-interpreting his own source. In the WWII years, the combat arm branch Infantry included the airborne infantry. Certainly regiments were designated as “Parachute Infantry” or “Glider Infantry” as opposed to plain infantry (or as in the vernacular of the postwar airborne mafia, “leg infantry” – always pronounced with an appropriate sneer –). To this day, they all wear the crossed rifles of infantry, be they airborne or no. The distinguishing device between plain old fashioned infantry and those indoctrinated in the esteemed concept of vertical envelopment is the wings one earns upon graduation from airborne training. It is more than common to find soldiers and officers of non-airborne infantry units to also wear the wings earned through completion of airborne training. Just because one graduated from airborne training does not mean one’s career is restricted to airborne units, just as completion of Ranger training does not restrict one to Ranger units. I can think of not a few Armor types of my acquaintance who wore both the airborne wings and the ranger flash but spent their army service as branched Armor officers. Cutting to the chase, airborne infantry, during WWII and, indeed, to this day, has never been an independent branch or corps, it has always been firmly in the infantry house - whether they liked it or not. There was never a plan to develop Airborne Infantry as a separate branch, not then, not now. As for Wedemeyer? He went off to China as Stillwell’s replacement . . . how’s that for a reward? Actually he was serving as Mountbatten’s Chief of Staff in the SEAC when tapped by Marshall to replace Stillwell in late October 1944. At least they sent him as far away from Churchill as possible. And please, don't tell us that an esteemed historian - and don't get me wrong, I like Keegan and enjoy his works - cannot make a mistake. Happens all the time, I could cite several glaring examples from some well known writers.
