George B. Crist

Infobox Military Person
name= George B. Crist
born= Birth date and age|1931|1|23
died=
placeofbirth= Hartfod, Connecticut
placeofdeath=
placeofburial=


caption= General George B. Crist, USMC
nickname=
allegiance= United States of America
branch= United States Marine Corps
serviceyears= 1952-1988
rank= General
commands= 2nd Battalion, 6th Marines CENTCOM
unit=
battles= Korean War Vietnam War
awards=Defense Distinguished Service Medal (2) Defense Superior Service Medal Legion of Merit Bronze Star with Combat V device
laterwork= CBS military analyst

George B. Crist (born January 23, 1931) is a retired four-star General in the United States Marine Corps and was the first Marine to be designated as a Unified Commander — Commander in Chief, United States Central Command.

Biography

George B. Crist was born on 23 January 1923 in Hartford, Connecticut. His father was a career Navy officer.

Crist graduated cum laude from Villanova University in 1952, where he was in the NROTC. Later, he received an honorary doctorate from Villanova; and he was honored with Villanova's Alumni Medallion in 1981. [cite web
url=http://www.villanova.edu/artsci/college/about/awards/alumnimedallion/pastwinners.htm
accessdate=2007-01-07
title=Alumni Medallion – Past Winners
publisher=Villanova University]

Marine Corps career

Crist was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1952. While a lieutenant, he served in all three active duty Marine Divisions. During the Korean War, he served with the 1st Marine Division in Korea.

He returned to the States in 1955, was promoted to captain and ordered to Marine Barracks, Washington, D.C., where he served as a White House aide under President Eisenhower. In 1959, he graduated from the Advanced Infantry Officers' School, Fort Benning, Georgia, and joined the newly formed U.S. Naval Mission to the Republic of Haiti.

By 1963, Crist had returned to the 2nd Marine Division, where he deployed with an infantry battalion to the Caribbean during the Cuban missile crisis. Later, as Assistant Division G-3, he completed airborne training at Fort Benning.

His first tour in Vietnam came in 1965. As an advisor to the Vietnamese Joint General Staff, he participated in combat operations throughout the Republic.

In 1966, he became aide-de-camp to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. While in that assignment he was promoted to lieutenant colonel.

Following his graduation from the Armed Forces Staff College in 1968, he commanded the 2nd Battalion, 6th Marines at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. In 1971, he completed the Air War College as a distinguished graduate, concurrently receiving a master's degree in Political Science from Auburn University. The next year he returned to the Far East, serving first as a battalion commander in the 3rd Marine Division and then with the 9th Marine Amphibious Brigade, assisting in the defense of South Vietnam during the 1972 North Vietnamese offensive.

When he returned to the U.S, he spent three years at Headquarters Marine Corps in Plans and Programs. While in Washington, he was promoted to colonel.

In the summer of 1975, Crist was ordered to Headquarters, Fleet Marine Force (FMF), Atlantic, Norfolk, Virginia, where he served as Assistant Chief of Staff, G-3, Chief of Staff, and following his promotion to brigadier general, as Deputy Commander.

In 1978, he was transferred to Europe as the Deputy Director of Operations (J-3), U.S. European Command, where he was actively involved in a series of crisis actions ranging from Iran to Africa.

In 1980, Crist was promoted to major general and returned to the United States as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Reserve Affairs. This was followed two years later by a tour with the Joint Chiefs of Staff as the Vice Director, Joint Staff.

In 1984, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general and served as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Installations and Logistics and Quartermaster General and then as Chief of Staff, Headquarters Marine Corps.

Crist was promoted to the grade of general in November 1985, and on 27 November 1985, he assumed command of the U.S. Central Command, MacDill Air Force Base, Florida. At CENTCOM, he helped to run Operation Earnest Will, the escort of reflagged Kuwaiti tankers; Operation Prime Chance, the secret actions against Iranian naval forces; and Operation Praying Mantis, the 18 April 1988 retaliation for the Iranian mining of the USS Samuel B. Roberts (FFG-58).

On 1 December 1988, General Crist retired from the Marine Corps after 36 years of service. In retirement, he became an analyst for the CBS television network.

Awards and decorations

His military decorations include two awards of the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star , two individual awards of the Air Medal, and the Joint Service Commendation Medal. Foreign decorations include the Egyptian Meritorious Badge of Honor of the First Degree, the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with silver and bronze stars, and the Vietnamese Honor Medal] .

ee also

Notes

References

:Marine Corps
* [http://hqinet001.hqmc.usmc.mil/hd/Historical/Whos_Who/Crist_GB.htm General George B. Crist, USMC (retired)] , "Who's Who in Marine Corps History", History Division, United States Marine Corps. (Official Marine Corps biography).

External links

*cite web|url=http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/concepts_centcomlong.html
accessdate=2007-01-07
title=The Reagan Administration and Emergence of CENTCOM
work=Central Command, United States
publisher=Military History Encyclopedia on the Web