instructor on the staff of Marine Corps Schools, Quantico. While in this capacity, Hittle held additional duty as lecturer at Army and Navy Staff College in Washington, D.C., and received promotion to the rank of lieutenant colonel in May 1944. During his time in Washington, Hittle wrote The Military Staff, Its History and Development, a work which presents an American-spin on the history and evolution of what is commonly called "the General Staff" in Prussia/Germany, France, Great Britain, the United States, and Russia up to the end of the 1940s. He was ordered to the Pacific area in November 1944 and joined 3rd Marine Division under Major General Graves B. Erskine. Hittle relieved Colonel William C. Hall as divisional logistics officer and spent three months of training at Guam. He sailed with the division to Iwo Jima in February 1945 and participated in the main landing. Hittle was responsible for the organization of supply routes, and units under his command brought approximately 20,000 tons of material, ammunitions and other stuff ashore. Although he was slightly wounded, he remained in the combat area and keep organizing the arrival of supplies. Hittle was decorated with the Legion of Merit with Combat "V" for his service on Iwo Jima and also received the Purple Heart for wounds. Postwar period Following the war, Hittle remained with the staff of 3rd Marine Division at Guam and was transferred to the 7th Marine Regiment and assumed command of 2nd Battalion on February 25, 1946. The regiment was stationed within 1st Marine Division in Tsingtao, China by that time and participated in the combats with communists guerillas. He remained in Northern China until June 25, 1946, and subsequently was ordered back to the United States. Chowder Society A milestone in his career was his assignment to the staff of Marine Corps Schools, Quantico under Brigadier General Oliver P. Smith. Hittle was appointed secretary of the academic board just during the uneasy time for the Marine Corps. President Harry S. Truman intended the reorganize the United States Armed Forces and due to cuts in Marine Corps budget, the threat of merging in the United States Army was more realistic. Hittle became a member of the so-called "Chowder Society", special Marine Corps Board under General Gerald C. Thomas, which was tasked by Commandant Alexander Vandegrift to conduct research and prepare material relative to postwar legislation concerning the role of