Arthur Sylvester Collins Jr. (August 6, 1915 – January 7, 1984) was a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

who served as commander of

I Field Force, Vietnam I Field Force, Vietnam was a corps-level command of the United States Army during the Vietnam War. Activated on 15 March 1966, it was the successor to Task Force Alpha, a provisional corps command created 1 August 1965 (renamed Field Force Vietna ...

during the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

Early life and education

Collins was born on 6 August 1915 in the Mission Hill section of

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

, Massachusetts and attended

Boston Latin School The Boston Latin School is a Magnet school, magnet Latin schools, Latin Grammar schools, grammar State school, state school in Boston, Massachusetts. It has been in continuous operation since it was established on April 23, 1635. It is the old ...

. He graduated from the

United States Military Academy The United States Military Academy (USMA), commonly known as West Point, is a United States service academies, United States service academy in West Point, New York that educates cadets for service as Officer_(armed_forces)#United_States, comm ...

, West Point, New York, with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1938 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the infantry. Collins later graduated from the Army War College in 1953. He also earned an M.A. degree in international affairs from

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

in 1964.

Military career

In May 1942 Collins was appointed as battalion commander of the 1st Battalion,

130th Infantry Regiment The 130th Infantry Regiment is an infantry regiment in the Army National Guard. It is one of several Army National Guard units with campaign credit for the War of 1812. Lineage Constituted 1 March 1809 as the Volunteer Militia of Illinois Ter ...

. In May 1944 the 130th Infantry deployed to

Finschhafen Finschhafen is a town east of Lae on the Huon Peninsula in Morobe Province of Papua New Guinea. The town is commonly misspelt as Finschafen or Finschaven. During World War II, the town was also referred to as Fitch Haven in the logs of some U. ...

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

. In August 1944 Collins assumed command of the 130th Infantry, commanding the regiment during the

Battle of Morotai The Battle of Morotai, part of the Pacific War, began on 15 September 1944, and continued until the end of the war in August 1945. The fighting started when United States and Australian forces landed on the southwest corner of Morotai, a small isl ...

and

Battle of Luzon The Battle of Luzon (; ; ) was a land battle of the Pacific Theater of Operations of World War II by the Allied forces of the U.S., its colony the Philippines, Mexico, and allies against forces of the Empire of Japan. The battle resulted in a U ...

, where the 130th Infantry participated in the capture of

Baguio Baguio ( , , ), officially the City of Baguio (; ; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Philippines. It is known as the "Summer Capital of the Philippines", ...

. The 130th Infantry then participated in the

Occupation of Japan Japan was occupied and administered by the Allies of World War II from the surrender of the Empire of Japan on September 2, 1945, at the war's end until the Treaty of San Francisco took effect on April 28, 1952. The occupation, led by the ...

, landing there in September 1945. In June 1965 Collins was appointed as commander of the 4th Infantry Division and led it during its deployment to

South Vietnam South Vietnam, officially the Republic of Vietnam (RVN; , VNCH), was a country in Southeast Asia that existed from 1955 to 1975. It first garnered Diplomatic recognition, international recognition in 1949 as the State of Vietnam within the ...

in August 1966 and remained in command until January 1967. In January 1970 Collins was appointed to command

, which he commanded from February 1970 to January 1971. Upon reviewing some of the more optimistic portions of his predecessor General William R. Peers' debriefing report, he questioned the existence of any discernible progress during the past two years. "Frankly," Collins observed, "I do not know what happened between 1968–1970," believing that "if the ARVN combat units had improved as much as indicated by General Peers, somewhere along the line they had again slipped back a long way." Upon his arrival in February 1970, Collins judged that the local Vietnamese forces were "woefully weak because of lack of leadership at the regimental and battalion level," and he exhibited little of Peers' optimism. Collins served as acting

Commanding General, United States Army Europe The commanding general of United States Army Europe and Africa (CG USAREUR-AF) was formerly known as the commander-in-chief of United States Army Europe (CINCUSAREUR). Prior to 8 May 1945 the official title was Commander, European Theater of O ...

from 20 March to 26 May 1971. He retired from the army in July 1974. Collins lived in

Alexandria, Virginia Alexandria is an independent city (United States), independent city in Northern Virginia, United States. It lies on the western bank of the Potomac River approximately south of Washington, D.C., D.C. The city's population of 159,467 at the 2020 ...

after retirement. He contracted cancer and died on 7 January 1984 at the

Walter Reed Army Medical Center The Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC), officially known as Walter Reed General Hospital (WRGH) until 1951, was the United States Army, U.S. Army's flagship medical center from 1909 to 2011. Located on in Washington, D.C., it served more ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

Collins was buried at the

West Point Cemetery West Point Cemetery is a historic cemetery on the grounds of the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York, West Point, New York (state), New York. It overlooks the Hudson River, and served as a burial ground for Continental Army s ...

on 11 January 1984.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Arthur S. 1915 births 1984 deaths Military personnel from Boston Boston Latin School alumni United States Military Academy alumni United States Army personnel of World War II Recipients of the Air Medal Recipients of the Silver Star United States Army War College alumni Elliott School of International Affairs alumni United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War Recipients of the Legion of Merit United States Army generals Recipients of the Distinguished Service Medal (US Army) Military personnel from Alexandria, Virginia Deaths from cancer in Washington, D.C. Burials at West Point Cemetery