Henry V. Graham - Summary of Military Career

Summary of Military Career

Henry Graham served in the National Guard from 1934 until his retirement in 1976 with the rank of Major General. He was called to active duty for federal service during World War II and the Korean War, with the following dates of rank.

• Enlisted Service: 27 March 1934 - 14 September 1940
  • Private: 25 March 1934
  • Corporal: 24 March 1937
  • Sergeant: 23 April 1937
  • First Sergeant: 27 May 1940
• Second Lieutenant: 15 September 1940 (National Guard) / 25 November 1940 (Army of the United States)
• First Lieutenant (Army of the United States): 28 January 1942
• Captain (Army of the United States): 17 September 1942
• Major (Army of the United States): 24 March 1943
• Lieutenant Colonel: 16 September 1945 (Army of the United States) / 28 October 1945 (Officer Reserve Corps) / 17 December 1946 (National Guard)
• Colonel (National Guard): 1 April 1953
• Major General (National Guard): 21 April 1959

Due to the service component intricacies of the National Guard versus federalized status, while a Major General in the National Guard, Henry Graham was twice appointed as Brigadier General in the Army of the United States in order to perform federalized duties under the authority of the President of the United States. The first occurrence was on June 11, 1963 and again on September 13, 1963; both events were in connection with federalization due to civil rights tensions in Alabama.

On March 13, 1970, while still serving as a Major General and National Guard Adjutant General, Henry Graham accepted a "dual commission" as a Chief Warrant Officer in the National Guard, solely for the purposes of performing flight operations as pilot of a McDonnell F-101 Voodoo. This unusual administrative move was to enable General Graham, who did not hold the proper military occupational specialty to serve as a pilot, perform flight training and flight duties as a Warrant Officer. In theory, General Graham was technically resigned from his general officer's commission each time he flew, was a Warrant Officer in the air, and then reinstated as a Major General when the flight mission concluded. In practice, however, General Graham maintained his rank and insignia at all times.