World War II
Byers spent for months visiting military schools in England, France, and Germany prior to attending the U.S. Army War College from September 1939 to June 1940. He was promoted to major on 1 July 1940. On graduation he was assigned to the G-1 (Personnel) Division, War Department General Staff at a time when the workload of this division was particularly heavy owing to the vast expansion of the Army. He was promoted to wartime rank Lieutenant Colonel on 11 December 1941 and Colonel on 1 February 1942.
In February 1942, Byers became Chief of Staff of Major General Robert L. Eichelberger's newly-reactivated 77th Infantry Division at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. Byers would form a close working relationship with Eichelberger, who had also attended Ohio State where he too had been a member of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity. Byers, along with a number of other staff members from the 77th Infantry Division, followed Eichelberger when the latter became commander of I Corps in June 1942.
The I Corps headquarters staff moved to Brisbane by air in August 1942, travelling on the same aircraft as former United States Secretary of War Patrick J. Hurley and the Prime Minister of New Zealand, Peter Fraser. The headquarters soon moved to Rockhampton, Queensland, where it supervised the training of American troops in Queensland. Byers was promoted to temporary Brigadier General on 31 October 1942.
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