Gillem enlisted in the Regular Army in 1910 and served both as a Private and a Corporal with the 17th Infantry at Fort McPherson. On February 11, 1911, while still at Fort McPherson, he was appointed a Second Lieutenant of Infantry. He served in the Philippines and later served under General John J. Pershing on the Mexican Border in 1916.
During World War I, Alvan C. Gillem served with the American Expeditionary Forces in Siberia for eight months from 1918 to 1919.
Interwar Years
In 1923, Captain Gillem attended the U.S. Army Command and General Staff School. Following this, he was promoted to Major. Gillem was promoted to lieutenant colonel and commanded an infantry battalion for 2 years. Then he commanded the 66th Infantry Regiment for 10 months, the only armored regiment in the US Army at the time. He was promoted to brigadier general in January, 1941 and then given command of the 2nd Armored Brigade. He became the first commanding general of the 3rd Armored Division from April 1941 to January 1942, dubbing it the "Spearhead" division. He received promotion to major general in December, 1941.
Early during the Second World War, General Gillem was mostly stationed stateside. He was given command of the II Armored Corps and later the Armored Command at Fort Knox, Kentucky. Major-General Gillem commanded the XIII Corps, 9th US Army in the European Theater of Operations from September 1944 to September 1945. In June 1945 he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General. His corps came within 50 miles of Berlin, the closest of all US troops. He was selected to command the Armored Task Force that was scheduled to invade Japan, but Japan surrendered before the invasion plan was carried out.
Postwar Positions
Board for Utilization of Negro Manpower (1945-1946)
From October 1945 to April 1946, Gillem chaired the "Board for Utilization of Negro Manpower". Its report, "Utilization of Negro Manpower in the Postwar Army Policy", was presented in April 1946. It is noted for its recommendations to retain segregation, as that was a policy external to the military, but introduce equal opportunity, as that would be the best use of military manpower.
The number of black enlisted men should meet a quota of at least 10% of the Army's size. This would be proportional to the national population.
Black troops would serve in all-black platoons or companies that would be integrated into all-white battalions. This would be done to share experience and knowledge, which would improve unit quality.
Black enlisted men who were qualified should attend specialty and technical schools.
Black commissioned officers would be promoted by the same standards as their white counterparts.
On March 17, 1949, General Gillem and John J. McCloy testified before the President’s Committee on Equality of Treatment and Opportunity in the Armed Services. Gillem served on it from 1949 to 1950.
Command of the 3rd Army (1947-1950)
Gillem assumed command of the Third U.S. Army in June, 1947. When the Third Army headquarters was moved from Atlanta, Georgia, to Fort McPherson in 1947, Gillem also assumed command of the post. In 1947 Gillem served as an assistant to General George C. Marshall on his Presidential mission to China. He then served as special assistant to the commander of the United States forces in Nanking, commander of the China Service Command in Shanghai, and later American Commissioner in Peking. General Gillem retired from the army in August 1950 with the rank of lieutenant general.
Charity Work
Upon the end of his military career, Gillen served for four years as executive director of the National Foundation for the March of Dimes in the 1960s.
Death
Gillem died on February 13, 1973, in an Atlanta Hospital at the age of 85. Both he and his wife Virginia Gillem are buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
Family
Gillem's grandfather, Alvan Cullem Gillem graduated from West Point in 1851. He served in the Civil War with the Union Army, finishing the war as a brevet major general of U.S. Volunteers. Gillem's parents were Colonel Alvan Cullom Gillem, Sr., a cavalry officer in the U.S. Army and Bessie Coykendall. Both were buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Gillem had three children: Alvan, Richard, and Mary. The elder son, Alvan Cullem Gillem II, was born in Nogales, Arizona, in 1917, and became a lieutenant general in the U.S. Air Force, Gillem's second son Richard D. Gillem became an lieutenant colonel in the Army.
