John R . Guthrie John Reiley Guthrie ( December 20 , 1921 – May 25 , 2009 ) was a United States Army four - star general who served as Commanding General , U . S . Army Development and Research Command ( CG DARCOM ) , from 1977 to 1981 . In the 1980s , DARCOM was renamed United States Army Materiel Command . Military career . Guthrie was born in Phillipsburg , New Jersey , on December 20 , 1921 . He graduated from Princeton University with a B . A . degree in 1942 . An honor graduate of the Princeton ROTC , he was commissioned a 2nd lieutenant , Field Artillery Reserve , and immediately ordered to active duty . He was integrated into the Regular Army in July 1946 , while on duty with the War Department General Staff . In October 1946 , he was assigned to London , England as Assistant to the Military Attaché , where he served for three years . In November 1949 , he returned to the U . S . and was assigned to the 39th Field Artillery Battalion , 3rd Infantry Division , Fort Benning , Georgia . He served as Battery Commander and S - 3 of the 39th at Fort Benning , Japan and Korea , until June 1951 when he was assigned as S - 3 , 3rd Infantry Division Artillery . During this period , he participated in operations against guerrillas in the Wonsan area , the evacuation from Hŭngnam , the reoccupation of Seoul and the spring Chinese offensive and United Nations counteroffensive . Upon his return to the United States , he commanded the 602nd Field Artillery Battalion and Fort Sill from February 1952 to May 1953 . He was then assigned to the Staff and Faculty at the Artillery and Guided Missile School as a member of the Combat Developments Department . In March 1956 , he was transferred to the Office of the Chief of Research and Development , HQDA , for duty with the Surface - to - Surface Missiles Division and later with the Missiles and Space Division . He was the Army Staff project officer for the launching of the United States ' first artificial earth satellite , Explorer 1 . In July 1958 , he was assigned as the Military Assistant to the Secretary of the Army and was appointed Assistant Executive to the Secretary of the Army on August 1 , 1959 . After serving in this position for a year , he attended the National War College and graduated in 1961 . He was then assigned to the Staff , Commander - in - Chief , Pacific , Camp H . M . Smith , Hawaii , serving as Deputy Chief , War Games Branch , and Group Operations Officer , from August 1961 to February 1964 . In February 1964 , he assumed command of the 25th Infantry Division Artillery , Schofield Barracks , Hawaii , which he commanded until appointed Chief of Staff , 25th Infantry Division , in July 1964 . In July 1965 , he returned to the Continental United States and was assigned to the Requirements and Development Division , J - 5 Directorate , Organization of the Joint Chiefs of Staff , Washington , D . C . In March 1966 , he became Director of Developments , Office of the Chief of Research and Development , HQDA . He remained in that position until his reassignment to Korea , where he served as Assistant Division Commander ( Maneuver ) and Assistant Division Commander ( Support ) , 2nd Infantry Division , which at the time was actively engaged in counter - infiltration operations along the Korean Demilitarized Zone . General Guthrie was named Deputy Director of Development and Engineering , AMC , in November 1968 ; became Director of Research , Development and Engineering in August 1969 ; and was selected as Deputy Commanding General for Materiel Acquisition , AMC , in April 1971 . In October 1973 , General Guthrie returned overseas to become Deputy Chief of Staff , United States Pacific Command , Hawaii . In March 1975 , he was promoted to lieutenant general and assigned as Commanding General , IX Corps and United States Army , Japan . In May 1977 , General Guthrie returned to AMC , which had been redesignated the U . S . Army Materiel Readiness and Development Command , as its Commanding General . He remained in that assignment until his retirement in August 1981 . Post military . In retirement , Guthrie was Director of the Association of the United States Army ' s Landpower Education Program , a position he filled until December 1986 . He also served as a Trustee of Princeton University from 1981 to 1985 , was on the Board of Directors of the Army and Air Force Mutual Aid Association and the Board of Advisors of the National Contract Management Association , and as a member of the National Research Council ' s Space Technology Assessment Panel and its Committee on Artificial Intelligence and Army Robotics . Guthrie was married to Rebecca Jeffers Guthrie , who died on April 11 , 2005 . They had six children , one of whom is autistic . General Guthrie died May 25 , 2009 . The 2010 Virginia General Assembly passed a resolution celebrating his life and expressing the " high regard " in which his memory is held by the members of the legislature and the citizens of Virginia .