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20 Oct 2020
HS 315 Leadership Great Commander
General John J. Pershing

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John Joseph Pershing was born in Missouri on September 13, 1860 and had eight siblings, although three of them died in infancy. Upon completing high school, Pershing pursued a teaching career at Prairie Mound School, and then attended college for two years at North Missouri university- now known as Truman State University (Biography.com, 2019). An ad in the newspaper gave him the idea to apply to the United States Military Academy at West Point, although he did not do so because of his military service but because of an educational opportunity that was better than he could get in rural Missouri at that time. Despite his low interest in military service, he earned a high percentage on the entrance exam and from a simple cadet he became the class president.

He graduated in 1886 in time to join the 6th Cavalry in New Mexico for the last of the Indian wars. In 1889, he became a professor of military science at the University of Nebraska where he also earned a law degree (Greenwood, J.T., (2013). In 1896, he rejoined the cavalry leading a unit of African Americans and for that reason they would call him Black-Jack. The following year he returned to West Point as a tactical officer but was not popular due to his reputation for stern discipline. During the 1898 Spanish-American War, he served in both Cuba and the Philippines. In 1903, he married Frances Warren, the daughter of a senator, and the following year when the Russo-Japanese war broke out, he was sent as an observer. He also served as a military governor of a Philippine province and later as a commander of Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas (Biography.com, 2019).

While he was there in 1915, tragedy struck when a fire not only destroyed his home but also killed his wife and three daughters. Perhaps this episode in his life marked him and transformed his character. He became more withdrawn and emphasized the idea of duty above all else. In 1916, since he was already in Texas, he was chosen to lead the troops against the legendary Pancho Villa, who had infiltrated New Mexico in March, although he could not capture him. In that period, he was considered one of the most competent leaders in the country, and in September of that year he was given command of a division (Biography.com, 2019).

The United States joined the war against Germany in April 1917, and Pershing was chosen as commander of the American Expeditionary Force by President Wilson. He had served his entire career with distinction and had no political aspirations. However, the United States was not prepared for war, and now faced enormous challenges. General Pershing remained apolitical and was content to follow the orders of his superiors. Pershing, around May 28, 1917, traveled to Europe, having the confidence of President Wilson and Secretary Baker to go to France and cooperate with the allied forces (Gabel, C.R. & Willbanks, J.H. (2012). He was received enthusiastically in France and Britain but was soon described as the most stubborn man in Europe, due to his insistence on keeping the United States Army independent from the rest of the allies. They saw the Americans as replacement troops to be placed under their command and the American idea was that of a separate army. The German offensive from the spring of 1918, changed everything and Pershing put his troops at the disposal of the Allied Commander in Chief, Ferdinand Foch. Although in August, when Foch tried to transfer several American divisions to the French army and separate the first army with French troops in between. Pershing said: "Marshal Foch, you may insist all you please, but I decline absolutely to agree to your plan," he said. "While our army will fight wherever you may decide, it will not fight except as an independent American army" and that army fought during the last months of the war (MilitaryHistory.com, (2019). In October 1918, Pershing relinquished command of the First United States Army when he reorganized the AEF, and command of the Second United States Army was given to General Robert Bullard. The war came to an end on November 11, 1918. In 1921 he became the Chief of the Army Staff and when the United States entered the Second World War in 1941 He offered to lead it, but President Franklin Roosevelt turned him down and then John Pershing died in 1948 (Gabel, C.R. & Willbanks, J.H. (2012).

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The Legacy of General John J. Pershing (Introduction)

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The Legacy of General John J. Pershing (Introduction)

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U.S. Army General John J. Pershing commanded the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) in Europe during World War I. General Pershing was not as charismatic as Patton or MacArthur, but no Commander-in-Chief, before or since, has had as much freedom to carry out military operations. General Pershing created an army practically out of nowhere, and he pioneered the geopolitical beginning of the United States as a military power in the world. He was the first commander since George Washington to be called a ‘General of the Armies’. It was John Joseph Pershing better known as "Black-Jack".

·       The National Society of Pershing Rifles

·       The National Society of Pershing Angels

·       Co-Ed Affiliates of Pershing Rifles (CAPERS)

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Analysis: Why Studying the leader is important today

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Analysis: Why Studying the leader is important today

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Leader is an admirable position to take up leaders have power, and they have more control over where they want objective to go. Subordinates look up to their leaders and while they are given more responsibilities, they often reap more of the rewards but not every person can be a great leader or great commander. Leadership is a complex construct: it takes skills and dedication, and hard work that do not always appeal to every person working towards their goal. It is important to study from other leaders especially the past leader or the one that you admire today, we should try to learn from them. We can learn from their lessons throughout history and the journey that leaders take are not all fun and learn from their failures, the obstacles, and challenges that those leaders faced throughout time. We should find some common lessons and experience that will help us on our own journey to become a great leader. With bad leaders, one learns to value good leaders more. That is when you realize that things can be done in a better way.

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1.     Develops Others: The fact that the American generals were up to the task in WWII is largely the responsibility of Pershing.

2.     Loyalty & courage: Pershing had the courage to defend and maintain their united army during the war as his own army.

3.     Decisive: Pershing always kept his convictions and his vision.

4.     Confidence: He was confident enough to ensure that other follow his commands.

Flaws:

1.     Inspires and Motivate: He was quite inflexible, he was not charismatic, nor appreciated by his men and often he was not willing to see the human cost of military actions.

2.     Builds Relationships. Some leaders have a difficult time building and maintaining positive relationships with others.

3.     Practices Self-Development: On the other hand, Pershing never fully understood air power or tanks and after the war he still claimed that morale and infantry were the key to victory.

4.     Resisting change: At first, he struggled with change but learned from his mistakes and had the courage to stop, slow down, and reorganize.

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Accomplishments:

1.     As an organizer he certainly deserves respect for the colossal task of creating and equipping the US military that numbered in the millions in little more than a year.

2.     Send all that army to Europe.

3.     He created the model of the General Staff that is still used today and improved military training.

4.     Pershing understood that the Army was too big and decided to create the second Army and delegate it to General Bullard.

Failures:

1.     His decision to leave heavy equipment such as tanks, artillery, and support vehicle behind to quicken the arrival of American forces would be a bad one.

2.     His disdain for the then accepted trench warfare strategy was evident by his "open warfare" doctrine, in which he argued, that American aggressiveness and marksmanship would restore mobility to warfare.

3.     His bravado and reliance on massed infantry attacks with little artillery support would soon fail him as was evident during the battle of Argonne, where 120,000 U.S. casualties occurred in six weeks.

4.     Pershing’s reluctance to utilize knowledge from the more experienced French and British officers caused many amongst him to second guess his appointment as General of the American forces.

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Pershing with no experience in new battlefields helped him to learn from his failures and success to help change the winning formula in WWI. Pershing was not a charismatic leader but that strong character was essential for the success of the Allied forces and the First Army in the First World War. Pershing had to do in Europe was extraordinary and his best legacy was to create an organization. General Pershing transformed a small inexperienced force in a little over a year into a vast highly skilled army. This army would not only helped win the war but also became a foundation for the modern American armed forces that would define the 20th century.

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Biography.com, (2019). John J. Pershing Biography. The Biography.com.

URL: https://www.biography.com/military-figure/john-j-pershing

Gabel, C.R. & Willbanks, J.H. (2012). Great Commanders, John J. Pershing "The Very Model of

A Modern Major General?", Ch. 5.

History.com Editors, (2019). John J. Pershing. HISTORY. A&E Television Networks.

URL: https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-i/john-j-pershing

MilitaryHistory.com, (2019). Odd Fact, People. Black Jack’s War – How John Pershing Fought to keep American’s Army Independent in WWI. “Marshal Foch, you may insist all you please, but I decline absolutely to agree to your plan,” he said. “While our army will fight wherever you may decide, it will not fight except as an independent American army.”

URL: https://militaryhistorynow.com/2016/05/23/black-jacks-war-how-john-pershing-fought-to-keep-americas-army-independent-in-ww1/

Greenwood, J.T., (2013). My life before the Word War: 1860-1917; a memoir. General of the

Armies John J. Pershing. The University Press of Kentucky. (p.81).

www.pershingriflessociety.org/our-history.html. Accessed 20 Oct. 2020.

http://pershingangels.org/. Accessed 20 Oct. 2020.

https://pershingrifles.wordpress.com/associated-organizations/co-ed-affiliates-of-pershing-rifles/         Accessed 20 Oct. 2020.