Army Chief of Staff in Koblenz. Here he was informed that he and other senior officers were being assigned to Camp Benning, Georgia to form the first faculty of the Infantry School that was being established there. Middleton sailed out of Brest in mid-July, met his wife in New York, and together they traveled to Columbus, Georgia, by way of Washington, D.C., and Atlanta. Military Schools For the ten years following World War I, Troy Middleton would be either an instructor or a student in the succession of military schools that Army officers attend during their careers. Middleton arrived in Columbus, Georgia with strong praise from his superiors, and would soon get his efficiency report, in which Brigadier General Benjamin Poore of the 4th Division wrote of him, "The best all-around officer I have yet seen. Unspoiled by his rapid promotion from captain in July to colonel in October; and made good in every grade. He gets better results in a quiet unobtrusive way than any officer I have ever met. Has a wonderful grasp of situations and a fine sense of proportion." Infantry School Up until the World War, other branches of the Army had their own specialty schools, but the infantry did not. This situation was being amended, and Middleton would be part of that change as a new faculty member of the Infantry School at Camp Benning, about nine miles from Columbus. Middleton, whose rank had reverted to his permanent rank of captain following the war, was an instructor in the new school for his first two years at Benning, and also a member of the Infantry Board, set up for research on weapons and tactics. One of his jobs on the board was to evaluate new weapons and equipment, and at one point he tested a new semiautomatic rifle which would eventually become the M-1 rifle, the standard weapon of the infantry in World War II. The first nine-month class of the new infantry school began in September 1919, and students were taken through a curriculum of weapons and tactics. Captain Middleton, the youngest faculty member on the school staff, was an ideal instructor, fresh with experiences from the recent war. After two years as an instructor, and a promotion to major on 1 July 1920, Middleton prevailed upon his commanders to be allowed to enroll in the advanced infantry course as a student. This ten-month