Posted on Feb 26, 2021
Is there any record of who received the last battlefield commission in the U.S. military (in any service)?
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Posted 5 y ago
Responses: 8
I am not going to bet the farm on this one, but Vietnam would seem to be the one I would go with. As to who...IDK.
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RESEARCH!! In thirty seconds I found Who was the last person to receive a battlefield commission in the US Army? Not an enlisted promotion, but a promotion from enlisted to officer.
I believe the last official one was during Vietnam, but I don’t have the person’s name.
Since then, I haven’t heard of any but one, and that was a rather unique situation outside of combat.
It happened at Fort Benning some time before 1984, as I only met the man in his role as a commanding officer of 51st Company, Officer Candidate School (this was prior to their current designations of A-B-etc. - it was 50th and 51st Company). The man was Michael (‘Iron Mike’) Wagers, who was a direct commission from First Sergeant to Captain.
I believe the last official one was during Vietnam, but I don’t have the person’s name.
Since then, I haven’t heard of any but one, and that was a rather unique situation outside of combat.
It happened at Fort Benning some time before 1984, as I only met the man in his role as a commanding officer of 51st Company, Officer Candidate School (this was prior to their current designations of A-B-etc. - it was 50th and 51st Company). The man was Michael (‘Iron Mike’) Wagers, who was a direct commission from First Sergeant to Captain.
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I had a cousin by the name of Baker who received a battlefield commission. He retired as a Major from the Army stationed at 5th Army HQ, either in Chicago or Fort Sheridan, IL, sometime in mid 50s
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