Lyman Lemnitzer Lyman Louis Lemnitzer ( August 29 , 1899 – November 12 , 1988 ) was a United States Army general , who served as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff from 1960 to 1962 . He then served as Supreme Allied Commander of NATO from 1963 to 1969 . Early life and education . Lemnitzer was born on August 29 , 1899 in Honesdale , Pennsylvania . He graduated from West Point in 1920 and was assigned at his request to a Coast Artillery unit . Lemnitzer served in the Philippines but soon began receiving the staff assignments that marked his military career . Career . Lemnitzer was promoted to brigadier general in June 1942 and assigned to General Eisenhower ' s staff shortly thereafter . He helped form the plans for the invasions of North Africa and Sicily and was promoted to major general in November 1944 . Lemnitzer was one of the senior officers sent to negotiate the Italian fascist surrender during the secret Operation Sunrise and the German surrender in 1945 . Following the end of World War II , Lemnitzer was assigned to the Strategic Survey Committee of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and was later named Deputy Commandant of the National War College . In 1950 , at the age of 51 , he took parachute training and was subsequently placed in command of the 11th Airborne Division . He was assigned to Korea in command of the 7th Infantry Division in November 1951 and was promoted to lieutenant general in August 1952 . Lemnitzer was promoted to the rank of general and named commander of U . S . Army forces in the Far East and of the Eighth Army in March 1955 . He was named Chief of Staff of the Army in July 1957 and appointed Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in September 1960 . As Chairman , Lemnitzer weathered the Bay of Pigs crisis and the early years of American involvement in Vietnam . He was also required to testify before the United States Senate Foreign Affairs Committee about his knowledge of the activities of Major General Edwin Walker , who had been dismissed from the Army over alleged attempts to promote his political beliefs in the military . Lemnitzer approved the plans known as Operation Northwoods in 1962 , a proposed plan to discredit the Castro regime and create support for military action against Cuba by staging false flag genuine acts of terrorism and developing " a Communist Cuban terror campaign in the Miami area , in other Florida cities and even in Washington " . Lemnitzer presented the plans to Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara on March 13 , 1962 . It is unclear how McNamara reacted , but three days later President Kennedy told the general that there was no chance that America would take military action against Cuba . Within a few months , after the denial of Operation Northwoods , Lemnitzer was denied another term as JCS chairman . In November 1962 , Lemnitzer was appointed as commander of U . S . forces in Europe , and as Supreme Allied Commander of NATO ( the U . S . European Command is the crown jewel of regional commands ) in January 1963 . This period encompassed the Cyprus crisis of 1963 - 1964 and the withdrawal of NATO forces from France in 1966 . Later life and death . Lemnitzer retired from the military in July 1969 . In 1975 , President Ford appointed Lemnitzer to the Commission on CIA Activities within the United States ( aka the Rockefeller Commission ) to investigate whether the Central Intelligence Agency had committed acts that violated American laws and allegations that E . Howard Hunt and Frank Sturgis ( of Watergate fame ) were involved in the assassination of President John F . Kennedy . Death . Lemnitzer died on November 12 , 1988 and is buried in Arlington National Cemetery . His wife , Katherine Tryon Lemnitzer ( 1901 – 1994 ) , is buried with him . In popular culture . Lemnitzer was played by John Seitz in the 1991 Oliver Stone film , " JFK " . Awards and decorations . Lemnitzer was awarded numerous military awards and decorations including but not limited to : See also . Operation Northwoods