Robert J. Baer was a lieutenant general in the United States Army who was the first program manager of the XM1 tank (later M1 Abrams) program.
Robert J. Baer | |
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![]() Baer speaking at the 1975 Annual Armor Conference | |
Born | 99–100 |
Allegiance | United States |
Service/ | United States Army |
Years of service | 1944–c. 1977 |
Rank | Lieutenant general |
Commands | Project Manager M1 Abrams |
Battles/wars | Vietnam War |
Baer entered the U.S. Military Academy in 1944 and graduated with the class of 1947.[1] Baer served in the Army in Germany in the early 1950s.[2] He earned a Silver Star and an Air Medal with Oak Leaf Clusters during one of two tours in Vietnam War as a brigade commander.[2] In 1969 Baer was put in a Department of Defense position at the Pentagon, where he managed tank and military vehicle programs. In July 1972 Baer, then a brigadier general, was given the program manager role for the new XM1 tank program.[2] Baer was succeeded by lieutenant general Donald M. Babers in 1977.[3]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/14/Robert_J._Baer_West_Point_photo.png/220px-Robert_J._Baer_West_Point_photo.png)
Baer's son John Baer was a Lieutenant colonel assigned to the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment in the Fulda Gap, where he commanded a squadron with Abrams tanks.[4]
References
edit- ^ Kelly 1989, p. 134.
- ^ a b c Kelly 1989, p. 132-133.
- ^ Kelly 1989, p. 271.
- ^ Kelly 1989, p. 263.
Bibliography
edit- Kelly, Orr (1989). King of the Killing Zone. New York, New York: W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 0-425-12304-9.