Implementation
In July 1955 General Taylor became the Chief of Staff of the United States Army where he selected General William Westmoreland as his Secretary to the General Staff. Westmoreland recalled that Taylor was told by President Dwight Eisenhower he had to do something to give the Army "charisma"; something in Westmoreland's words to give the Army a "modern look". In the mid 1950s the Army was facing a loss of morale following the end of the Korean War when the lion's share of government funding and publicity was going to the nuclear armed United States Air Force and Navy. After Taylor designed the Pentomic concept he promoted Westmoreland to what was then the youngest Major General in the US Army to command Taylor's former wartime command the recently reactiviated 101st Airborne Division that would be the first unit to be reconfigured in the Pentomic structure.
American army officers felt the plan was "ill started, ill fated and hopefully short lived" with some thinking it was a scheme of Taylor's to increase the number of active divisions in the army when he had actually cut their combat manpower.
Westmoreland recalled that as the Pentomic structure with all its flaws was a creature of the Chief of Staff, any officer who valued his career was loathe to be heard to criticise it. Westmoreland also briefed all officers in the division "Our job is not to determine whether it will work-our job is to make it work". Following the end of Westmoreland's command of the 101st in 1960 he recommened the pentomic structure be abolished.
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