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This article says that from 14 April 1906 to 21 April 1910 the Chief of Staff of the United States Army was J. Franklin Bell, who was a Major General. However, the article on Arthur MacArthur, Jr. says that he was a Lieutenant General from 1906 to 1909. What's the deal? I thought 10 U.S.C. § 743 said the Chief of Staff of the Army is by default the highest ranking officer in the Army (save the chairman or vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, should they be Army officers). And I don't think Arthur MacArthur was the chairman or vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Maybe 10 U.S.C. § 743 didn't take effect until after 1909.

Also, are there any other times that the chief of Staff of the Army wasn't the highest ranking officer in the Army (excluding the chairman and vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff)? - Shaheenjim 19:51, 4 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

The lieutenant generalcy was originally supposed to go to the ranking officer of the Army; i.e., the senior major general. Ordinarily the ranking officer of the Army would also expect to be named commanding general/chief of staff as a prerogative of his rank, which indeed was the pattern up to 1906. What happened in 1906 was that when Bates retired, it was Corbin's turn to be ranking officer and he accepted the promotion to lieutenant general but declined the position of chief of staff, saying it ought to go to a younger man who could serve a longer term than the few months remaining before Corbin had to retire for age. So Bell became chief of staff as a major general and when Corbin retired later that year, it was Arthur MacArthur's turn to be promoted to lieutenant general. At that point the rank was no longer being awarded to recognize extraordinary wartime leadership, nor to empower the head of the service, but simply to reward longevity in uniform, and Congress terminated all new promotions to lieutenant general in January 1907. The rank expired in 1909 when MacArthur retired for age, having never become chief of staff and chafing at having had to take orders from the lower-ranking Bell. See, for example:

"The Chief of Staff", The New York Times, December 17, 1905

"The New Chief of Staff", The New York Times, February 4, 1906

"Lt. Gen. MacArthur Dies While Speaking: Retired Army Officer Stricken While Addressing Meeting of Veterans in Wisconsin", The New York Times, September 6, 1912

Ironically, the next serving Army officer to outrank the chief of staff was Arthur MacArthur's son Douglas (1948-1951, excluding retired generals of the armies or Army, who technically remained on active duty for life). Morinao 21:05, 4 November 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Isn't David Petraeus the current Chief of Staffof the US Army? 72.242.166.132 (talk) 22:20, 13 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Er, no, what on earth would make you think he was? If he were Chief of Staff, what would he be doing in Iraq? -- Zsero (talk) 22:54, 13 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]