Peyton C . March Peyton Conway March ( born December 27 , 1864 in Easton , Pennsylvania – April 13 , 1955 ) was an American soldier and Army Chief of Staff . March was the son of Francis Andrew March , considered the principal founder of modern comparative linguistics in Anglo - Saxon and one of the first professors to advocate and teach English in colleges and universities . Peyton March attended Lafayette College , where his father occupied the first chair of English language and comparative philology in the United States . In 1884 , he was appointed to West Point and graduated in 1888 . He was assigned to the 3rd Artillery . As a student he was a brother of the Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity ( Rho chapter ) . He married Josephine Smith Cunningham ( d . 1904 ) in 1891 . They had a son , Peyton , Jr . ( b . 1896 ) , who was killed in a plane crash in Texas during World War I . March AFB in Riverside , California was named in young March ' s honor . Early army career . In 1894 , March was assigned to the 5th Artillery as a 1st lieutenant . He was sent to the Artillery School in 1896 . He organized the Astor Battery ( which was personally financed by John Jacob Astor IV ) and commanded the battery when it was sent to the Philippines during the Spanish - American War . After the battery returned from the Philippines in 1899 , March was assigned as the aide to Major General Arthur MacArthur , Jr . during the Philippine - American War . Later that year he was promoted to major . He continued to serve in the Philippines , and was a provincial governor and commissary of prisoners . Historian Bruce Campbell Adamson has written about Henry Bidwell Ely ( Adamson ' s great grandfather ) who was placed in charge of The Astor Battery by John Jacob Astor IV , to give Peyton March whatever he needed . March credit ' s Ely as having " an open check book " to purchase uniforms , mules and the cannons . In 1903 he was sent to Fort Riley and commanded the 19th Battery of the Field Artillery . Later that year he was sent to Washington , D . C . and served on the newly created General Staff . In 1904 – 05 , March was one of several American military attaché s serving with the Imperial Japanese Army in the Russo - Japanese War . He would become one of eight observers who were later promoted to be generals in the U . S . Army . In 1907 , March commanded the 1st Battalion , 6th Field Artillery . March then served as adjutant of Fort Riley , Kansas and then served as adjutant at several other commands , including at the War Department . In 1916 , he was promoted to colonel and commanded the 8th Field Artillery Regiment on the Mexican border . World War I and later . In June 1917 , March was promoted to brigadier general and commanded the 1st Field Artillery Brigade , 1st Infantry Division , American Expeditionary Forces . Later that year , he was promoted to major general and commanded the artillery units of the U . S . First Army and all non - divisional artillery units . In March 1918 , he was recalled to Washington , took over as acting Army Chief of Staff on March 4 and was Army Chief of Staff on May 20 , 1918 . He was promoted to temporary general . March was highly critical of President Wilson ' s decision to send an American Expedition to North Russia and Siberia in 1918 during the Russian Civil War ( the so - called Siberian Intervention ) ostensibly to prop - up the White movement war effort , secure the railroads , support the Czech Legion trapped there , and stop the Japanese from exploiting the chaos in order to colonize Siberia . March wrote after the pull - out of American forces in 1920 : In 1919 March was admitted as an honorary member of the Virginia Society of the Cincinnati . He served as Chief of Staff until June 30 , 1921 . As Chief of Staff he reorganized the Army structure , and abolished the distinctions between the Regular Army , the Army Reserves , and the Army National Guard during war time . He created new technical branches in the service including the United States Army Air Corps , Chemical Warfare Corps , Transportation Corps , and Tank Corps . He also centralized control over supply . After the war ended , he supervised the demobilization of the Army . As Chief of Staff he often came into disagreement with General John J . Pershing , who wanted to conduct the AEF as an independent command . March retired as a major general in 1921 . In 1923 , he married Cora V . McEntee . In June 1930 , March was advanced to general on the retired list . March died on April 13 , 1955 and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery . March was a highly efficient and capable administrator who did much to modernize the American Army and prepare it for combat in the First World War . Dates of rank . Source - Army Register , 1922 . pg . 1192 .