Joseph M. Swing

Joseph May Swing (February 28, 1894 – December 9, 1984) was a senior United States Army officer, who fought in World War I and commanded the 11th Airborne Division during the campaign to liberate the Philippines in World War II.

Early life and military career

Joseph May Swing was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, on February 28, 1894, the son of Mary Ann (née Snellgrove) and Joseph Swing. He attended the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point, New York and was commissioned as an additional second lieutenant upon graduation in June 1915 (see the class the stars fell on). Having been assigned to the Field Artillery Branch of the United States Army, from September 1915 onwards he served with the 4th Field Artillery Regiment at Texas City, Texas, which soon moved to El Paso, later moving to Columbus, New Mexico in March 1916. Swing served with Brigadier General John J. Pershing's Punitive Expedition in the hunt for Pancho Villa, during which he was promoted to second lieutenant on May 8 and then promoted again to first lieutenant on July 1, until July when he moved with his regiment to Fort Bliss, Texas. He remained here until October when he was transferred to the 8th Field Artillery Regiment at Fort Myer, Virginia, with whom he served until May 1917, a month after the American entry into World War I.

He was promoted to captain on the 15th of that month and, in June, after being assigned as aide-de-camp to Brigadier General Peyton C. March, a position he would hold for the rest of the war, both men embarked for service in France. Swing, promoted to the temporary rank of major on March 5, 1918, was to serve in France until later in the month when March, now a major general, was recalled to Washington, D.C. to become the new army chief of staff.

Between the wars General Peyton C. March, Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army, and his aide-de-camp, Joseph M. Swing.

After the war, Swing continued his career in the artillery, graduating with honors from the United States Army Field Artillery School at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. In 1927 he graduated from the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and in 1935 he graduated from the United States Army War College in Washington D.C. On June 24, 1936 he was promoted to lieutenant colonel. From 1938 to 1940 he served as chief of staff for the 2nd Infantry Division, then as commander of artillery for the 1st Cavalry Division. On June 26, 1941 he was promoted to colonel in the Army of the United States (AUS).

Swing died in San Francisco at the age of 90 on December 9, 1984, and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington, Virginia, together with his wife, Josephine Mary Swing (1895–1972).

Decorations