World War II and Postwar Occupation in Japan
Almond was for a time highly regarded by George Marshall, also a VMI graduate, who was Army Chief of Staff during World War II. This regard accounted in part for Almond's promotion to Major General ahead of most of his peers and subsequent command of the 92nd Infantry Division, made of almost exclusively African-American soldiers, a position he held from its formation in October 1942 until August 1945. He led the division in combat in the Italian campaign of 1944-1945. Although George Marshall picked Almond for this assignment because Marshall believed Almond would excel at this difficult assignment, the division performed poorly in combat. Almond blamed the division's poor performance on its largely African-American troops, echoing the widespread prejudice in the segregated Army that blacks made poor soldiers--and went on to advise the Army against ever again using African-Americans as combat troops. Almond told confidants that the division's poor combat record had cheated him of higher command.
In 1946 Almond was transferred to Tokyo as chief of personnel at General MacArthur's General Headquarters (GHQ). Normally a deadend job, Almond handled the sizable challenge of staffing the occupation forces in Japan as the American forces rapidly demobilized, standing out among MacArthur's lackluster staff officers. Having won MacArthur's confidence as a capable and loyal staff officer Almond was the logical choice to become GHQ Chief of Staff in January 1949, when the incumbent, Paul Mueller, rotated home.
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