 He was commissioned as an Infantry Officer in the United States Army and won the Silver Star while serving as a Platoon Leader with the 10th Armored Division in the European Theater of Operations during World War II.Postwar assignments included attending the Army Armor School at Ft Knox, Kentucky; training officer with the Military Assistance Group in Brazil and as a staff officer with the Caribbean Command in Panama.During the 1950s he served as Assistant Executive Secretary to the Joint Chiefs of Staff at the Pentagon, attended the Joint Services Staff College in England and served with the Military Assistance Advisory Group in Spain.