page_title: Jacob L. Devers
section_title: World War I
hierarchical_section_title: Jacob L. Devers / World War I
caption_attribution_description: Modified version of an original Photograph (Image:Pack Howitzer3.jpg) of QF 2.95 inch Mountain Gun taken by Mark Pellegrini at the United States Army Ordnance Museum (Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD) on August 14, 2007. In this version I have merely artificially increased brightness and contrast to bring out more detail.
context_page_description: Jacob Loucks Devers was a general in the United States Army who commanded the 6th Army Group in the European Theater during World War II. He was involved in the development and adoption of numerous weapons, including the M4 Sherman and M26 Pershing tanks, the DUKW amphibious truck, the Bell H-13 Sioux helicopter and the M16 rifle.
  A graduate of the United States Military Academy, Devers was commissioned in the field artillery in 1909. During World War I, he was an instructor at the School of Fire at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, and did not serve in France until after the November 11 armistice ended the fighting, when he attended the French artillery school at Treves. Between the two world wars he was a staunch advocate of mechanization at a time when the idea of phasing out horses met strong resistance from conservative gunners.
  When World War II broke out in Europe, Devers was stationed in Panama. He was promoted to major general in October 1940 and took command of the newly formed 9th Infantry Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, a base whose construction he oversaw.
context_section_description: Devers' first posting was to the 1st Battalion, 4th Mountain Artillery, based at Vancouver Barracks in Washington state. This was a pack artillery unit, meaning that its howitzers, ammunition and equipment were all carried by mules. It was equipped with the obsolescent QF 2.95-inch mountain gun. Three months after Devers joined, the unit moved to Fort David A. Russell, Wyoming, where it rejoined the 2nd Battalion, returning from the Philippines. The post also hosted the 11th Infantry and the African-American 9th Cavalry. Devers was assigned to Battery C. Soon afterwards, First Lieutenant Lesley J. McNair became the battery commander. On 11 October 1911, Devers married Georgie Hayes Lyon of Arlington, Virginia, the niece of Major LeRoy S. Lyon, his battalion commander, in a ceremony at her parents' home in Arlington, Virginia.  They had met when she visited her uncle at Fort Russell.
  For his next assignment in December, 1912, Devers was sent back to West Point to teach mathematics. He also managed the baseball program and coached the Cadet basketball team. His ballplayers included Dwight D. Eisenhower and Omar N. Bradley. On 1 April 1916, he was promoted to first lieutenant. That August he was transferred to the newly activated 9th Field Artillery at Schofield Barracks, in what was then the Territory of Hawaii. His only child, daughter Frances Lyon, was born there on 20 July 1917. The 9th Field Artillery had a battalion of 4.7-inch guns and one of 155mm guns. Medium artillery was new in the United States Army, and the 9th was its first artillery tractor-drawn regiment. Devers was given command of Battery F. 
  The United States entered World War I against Germany on 6 April 1917. Devers was promoted to captain on 15 May, and major on 5 August. He was posted to the School of Fire at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, on 10 December as an instructor. He received promotions to lieutenant colonel on 30 July 1918, and colonel on 24 October 1918. He became executive officer of the 9th Field Artillery Regiment, his former unit from Hawaii now at Fort Sill, on 15 October 1918. In September he was nominated to command the 60th Field Artillery, which was under orders to move to the Western Front in France, but  never took up the post. The armistice of 11 November 1918 ended the fighting, and the orders were cancelled. A disappointed Devers instead became commanding officer of the 1st Field Artillery at Fort Sill on 5 March 1919. In May 1919, Devers was sent on a three-month temporary duty assignment to Europe with the American Army of Occupation. He attended the French artillery school at Treves to study guns, ammunition, equipment and tactics used by the Allies and the Germans during the war.
caption: A QF 2.95-inch mountain gun
exif: {}