George Brainard Crist (born January 23, 1931) is a retired four-star general of the United States Marine Corps and was the first Marine to be designated as a Unified Commander — serving as Commander in Chief, United States Central Command from 1985 to 1988 Biography George B. Crist was born on January 23, 1931, in Hartford, Connecticut. His father was a career Navy officer. Crist graduated cum laude from Villanova University in 1952, where he was in the NROTC. Later, he received an honorary doctorate from Villanova; and he was honored with Villanova's Alumni Medallion in 1981. Marine Corps career Crist was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps in 1952. While a lieutenant, he served in all three active duty Marine divisions. During the Korean War, he served with the 1st Marine Division in Korea. He returned to the United States in 1955, was promoted to captain and ordered to Marine Barracks, Washington, D.C., where he served as a White House aide under President Eisenhower. In 1959, he graduated from the Advanced Infantry Officers' School, Fort Benning, Georgia, and joined the newly formed U.S. Naval Mission to the Republic of Haiti. By 1963, Crist had returned to the 2nd Marine Division, where he deployed with an infantry battalion to the Caribbean during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Later, as Assistant Division G-3, he completed airborne training at Fort Benning. His first tour in Vietnam came in 1965. As an advisor to the Vietnamese Joint General Staff, he participated in combat operations throughout the Republic of Vietnam. In 1966, he became aide-de-camp to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. While in that assignment he was promoted to lieutenant colonel. Following his graduation from the Armed Forces Staff College in 1968, he commanded the 2nd Battalion, 6th Marines at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. In 1971, he completed the Air War College as a distinguished graduate, concurrently receiving a master's degree in Political Science from Auburn University. The next year, he returned to the Far East, serving first as a battalion commander in the 3rd Marine Division and then with the 9th Marine Amphibious Brigade, assisting in the defense of South Vietnam during the 1972 North Vietnamese Easter Offensive. When he returned to the U.S, he spent three years at Headquarters Marine Corps in Plans and Programs. While in Washington, he was promoted to colonel. In the summer