Frank S . Besson , Jr . Frank Schaffer Besson , Jr . , CBE ( May 30 , 1910 – July 15 , 1985 ) was born on May 30 , 1910 in Detroit , Michigan . His father was a West Point graduate and an officer in the Corps of Engineers . Frank S . Besson , Jr . graduated seventh in his class from the United States Military Academy in 1932 . In 1935 , he received a master ' s degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology . His early career was noted for the role he played in the development of portable military pipelines , steel landing mats for airplanes , and steel treadway bridges . He is credited with the studies leading to the Army ' s adoption of the Bailey Bridge , used extensively in all theaters in World War II . He became Assistant Director of the Third Military Railway Service ( with rank of Lieutenant Colonel ) in 1943 , and was promoted to Director ( with rank of Colonel ) the following year . As Director of the Third Military Railway Service in Iran from 1944 to 1945 , Besson ensured the flow of war materials to the Russian forces through the Persian Corridor . He was promoted to brigadier general , becoming , at 34 , the youngest general officer in the Army Ground Forces and Chief of the Railway Division . Toward the end of World War II , he was Deputy Chief Transportation Officer of the Army Forces in the Western Pacific and , when Japan ' s collapse was imminent , assumed full control of railroads in Japan . During the first year of occupation , General Besson directed the rehabilitation of the Japanese rail system , moving more than 200 , 000 troops and 150 , 000 tons of supplies in the first two months . Subsequent assignments included a tour as Assistant Chief of Staff , Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe ( SHAPE ) , where General Besson formulated logistics plans and overall programs to meet the complex requirements of the fifteen nations of the NATO alliance . His efforts in instituting a system for " costing out " five - year programs , thereby bringing force goals into consonance with available resources , earned him the first Distinguished Service Medal to be awarded at SHAPE headquarters . General Besson stimulated both military and commercial adoption of containerization and improved water terminal practices . He introduced the roll - on / roll - off technique for the rapid loading and discharge of wheeled and tracked vehicles . He further refined these concepts upon assuming command of the Transportation Center and School at Fort Eustis , Virginia in 1953 . General Besson was the Chief of Transportation , U . S . Army from March 1958 until April 2 , 1962 , when he took charge of the U . S . Army Materiel Command . General Besson was the first Commander of the Army Materiel Command , formed in 1962 during a major Army reorganization . During his command , the mammoth logistical organization , with an annual budget exceeding $ 14 billion and an inventory of $ 21 billion , employed more than 160 , 000 civilian personnel , in addition to its military complement of 14 , 000 . As the first AMC Commander , General Besson was charged with consolidating six Army technical service organizations into a single command without disrupting effective materiel support for the Army . His success resulted in his receiving the Merit Award of the Armed Forces Management Association in 1963 . On May 27 , 1964 , 53 - year - old Frank Besson became the 75th officer in the U . S . Army ' s 189 - year history to wear the four stars of a full general . He was the first Army officer to achieve that rank as head of a logistical organization in peacetime . In March 1969 , General Besson left AMC to become chairman of the Joint Logistics Review Board , formed to review logistic activities in support of the Vietnam War . He retired in July 1970 and was promptly recalled to active duty to establish procedures to implement the board ' s recommendation . He permanently retired in October 1970 . While in retirement , General Besson was nominated by President Richard M . Nixon as one of the founding directors of the National Rail Passenger Corporation , which ran Amtrak . He was also director of the Services National Bank in Alexandria and of ECR International . On July 15 , 1985 , General Besson died of cancer at Walter Reed Army Medical Center . http : / / www . findagrave . com / cgi - bin / fg . cgi ? page = gr & GRid = 47293817 . His awards and decorations include the Army Distinguished Service Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters , the Legion of Merit with one Oak Leaf Cluster , the Iranian Order of Homayoun , Honorary Commander of the Order of the British Empire , and the Republic of Korea ' s Order of Military Merit , Second Class ( Ulchi ) .