Starry presents papers to Combined Arms Research Library

By Combined Arms CenterOctober 1, 2009

Title
1 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Title
2 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – From left, retired Gen. Donn A. Starry, Command Sgt. Maj. Philip Johndow, command sergeant major for the Combined Arms Center and the Command and General Staff College, and Dale Ormond, deputy to the commanding general, Combined Arms Center, unveil t... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Title
3 / 3 Show Caption + Hide Caption – (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

Fort Leavenworth, Kan. (Sept. 28, 2009) - Retired Gen. Donn A. Starry, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command's second commanding general, presented his personal papers to Ed Burgess, the Combined Arms Research Library director, in a ceremony here Sept. 25. Starry's papers are a two-volume collection titled Press On!, published by the U.S. Army Combat Studies Institute.

Starry, lauded for the changes he brought to educating Soldiers, retired from active service in 1983. He enlisted in 1943 as a private and was then accepted to the U.S. Military Academy-West Point and commissioned a second lieutenant in 1948. Starry would see duty in a variety of armor units, including command of the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment in Vietnam, which he led into Cambodia in 1970. In his 35 years as a commissioned officer, he left his mark on the Army as a leader and thinker, assisting in the formulation of Airland Battle Doctrine as well as focusing the Army on how it trained to fight future wars.

"All we were trying to do was build an Army that could go to war and our Soldiers would win," Starry said in comments during the ceremony. He said he was extremely impressed with how his efforts resulted in transforming the Army from Vietnam to the Army that debuted in Desert Storm.

He can be credited with developing the Battalion Training Management System, instituting the Community Life Program and laying out the principles for Airland Battle that synchronized all assets on the battlefield and incorporated attacking the enemy in depth. Starry's view of the deep battle resulted in collaboration with the Air Force and production of the Joint Surveillance and Target Attack Radar System aircraft. He can also be credited for establishing the Combat Studies Institute.

A native Kansan, Starry was made a brevet first lieutenant in the Kansas National Guard at age five by then-Governor Clyde Reed.

"Soldiering is an affair of the heart," Starry said of his career.