Hugh Aloysius Drum - Between The World Wars

Between The World Wars

After the war, Drum served as the director of training for the School of the Line at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where he taught the doctrine of open warfare that he and General Pershing had practiced in France. From there he went to the War Department in Washington, D.C. where he publicly clashed with Colonel Billy Mitchell about the disposition of the U.S. Army Air Corps. General Drum successfully lobbied Congress not to have the Air Corps broken out into a separate service. He served as commander of the 1st Infantry Division from 1927 and as Inspector General of the US Army from 1930.

He was promoted to major general by 1931 and sent to Honolulu. It was during Drum's posting in Hawaii that he renewed acquaintance with another ambitious officer, George S. Patton, with whom he had a contentious professional relationship. Following a stint at Fort Hayes, Ohio, Drum returned to Washington in 1933 to serve as deputy to the Chief of Staff, General Douglas MacArthur. From 1935 to 1937, Drum commanded the U.S. Army, Pacific (Hawaiian Department). In 1938, Drum took concurrent command of the newly reactivated First Army and Second Corps Area headquartered at Fort Jay, Governors Island, New York. When Chief of Staff General Malin Craig retired in 1939, Drum was passed over in favor of General George Marshall. Despite this disappointment, he received a promotion to lieutenant general in August 1939. Drum became the 17th American officer to receive the permanent rank of lieutenant-general.