Robert Leahy Fair

Robert Leahy Fair (May 18, 1923 – September 14, 1983) was a United States Army lieutenant general and a field commander in Germany during the Cold War. Fair commanded V Corps from August 25, 1975, until January 4, 1976. After 32 years in the U.S. Army and service in three wars, Fair concluded his career in 1976, and died in 1983.

Fair received a Bachelor of Science degree from The University of Maryland in 1961, and a Master of Arts from George Washington University in 1963. He also attended the University of Michigan, where he studied the Japanese language in preparation for an assignment on General MacArthur's Staff.

"Fair's approach won plaudits. Novelist Josiah Bunting (The Lionheads), an ex-major himself, praised Fair's leathery style in a Playboy article last fall, describing the general as ‘an admirable soldier’ who is ‘always in bristling motion.’ But other officers, whose palms sweat when Fair raked them over with abrasive questions, disliked him intensely. To some enlisted men, Fair was a bush-league General Patton." One member of the Lancer Brigade said, "The colonel is a doer. When he decides something, that means we're gonna have some action."

A 1976 Time magazine article quoted an admiring captain as saying, "I'd have followed him into the jaws of hell—and had a hard time catching up with him."

Early life and education Born in San Francisco, California, Fair was the son of Robert A. Fair.

Fair attended the University of San Francisco before receiving an appointment to the United States Military Academy. He entered West Point on July 19, 1942. He was appointed by Rep (R-CA) Richard J. Welch, the California 5th District. Found to be deficient in Mathematics, he was dismissed on January 12, 1943. Prior to his enlistment in the Army, he also attended the University of Chicago from 1943 to 1944. On November 29, 1950, Captain Fair earned the Silver Star for actions with Headquarters Company, 38th Infantry Regiment, in the vicinity of Kunu-ri.

Interwar service Upon returning to the United States, he served as Assistant G-3 (Operations), Sixth U.S. Army at The Presidio of San Francisco in California. In August 1952, he attended the Infantry Officers' Advanced Course at Fort Benning, Georgia. Upon graduation, Captain Fair was assigned as the Regimental Operations Officer (and Ceremonial Officer) for the 3d Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard) at Fort Myer, Virginia, until August 1954.

Josiah Bunting noted in his 1975 article on the Volunteer Army: "In fiscal 1974, Fair's division reenlistment goal was 813: 1222 took their burst of six. In July 1973, before Fair got to the division, the A.W.O.L. rate was 44 per 1000; a year later, it was 14 per 1000. From January to June 1974, 1194 troopers raised their G.T. scores, and of all the soldiers who re-upped when Fair was in command, 72 percent re-enlisted for his division." Bunting commented that Fair would be "a tough act to follow."

On August 25, 1975, Lieutenant General Fair assumed command of V Corps at Frankfurt, Federal Republic of Germany from Lieutenant General William R. Desobry. He was responsible for the training and readiness of V Corps, headquartered at Abrams Barracks, which included the 8th Infantry Division (Mechanized) "Pathfinder," the 3rd Armored Division "Spearhead," and the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment "Blackhorse." Major General John R. D. Cleland commanded the "Pathfinder" Division, which was headquartered at Rose Barracks, Bad Kreuznach. Major General (later Lieutenant General) Charles J. Simmons commanded the "Spearhead" Division headquartered at Frankfurt. Colonel (later Lieutenant General) John L. Ballantyne III commanded the "Blackhorse" Regiment headquartered at Fulda.

While he was reportedly the only modern day corps commander to be relieved of duty during peacetime, a Time magazine article noted, "Lieut. General Robert L. Fair is headed for a more prosaic destination, however, and defenders of a tough, no nonsense, old-style Army are dismayed. As of next week Fair, 52, will retire for 'personal reasons' – the most important being that he and his commanding officer hated each other's guts." General George S. Blanchard served as the USAREUR Commander from 1975 to 1979. In fact there is no evidence that either general did not respect the other. Truth of the matter, Gen Fair was most concerned about troop readiness and Gen Blanchard was concerned about his obligations to Congress. Both Generals were dedicated to service to the US Army. Gen Blanchard sent Gen Fair a back channel message advising him to return monies he had transferred from construction to training back to construction. Gen Fair did not do so. These funds were regulated by US Congress. Lieutenant General (later General) Donn A. Starry assumed command of V Corps on February 16, 1976.

Later life and death

Following retirement from the military, Fair worked for SRI International, formerly Stanford Research Institute, before transitioning to Lockheed Corporation. While at Lockheed, he worked on the MQM-105 Aquila remote piloted vehicle (RPV), now called unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV).

Fair died on September 14, 1983, at Santa Clara, California.

Personal life Fair was married to the former Alys Tendrich on July 9, 1949. They had three children.

Dates of rank

Awards and decorations

General Fair’s awards include the Silver Star, Legion of Merit with two Oak Leaf Clusters, Distinguished Flying Cross, Bronze Star with two Oak Leaf Clusters, Purple Heart with two Oak Leaf Clusters, Air Medal, Combat Infantryman’s Badge with Star (two awards), and Army Staff Identification Badge. His foreign awards include the Vietnam Distinguished Service Order (2nd Class), Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Gold and Bronze Stars, the Vietnam Armed Forces Honor Medal (1st Class), and the Vietnam Psychological Operations Award (1st and 2nd Class).

Assignment history 1944: Graduation from Officer Candidate School, Fort Benning, Georgia 1946: Central Interrogation Center, Far East Command, Tokyo, Japan 1950: 38th Infantry, 2nd Infantry Division, Republic of Korea 1955: Graduate, Army Command and General Staff College, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas 1959: Graduate, Armed Forces Staff College, Norfolk, Virginia 1963: Graduate, Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island 1964: Commander, 1st Battalion, 6th Infantry, Fort Hood, Texas 1968: Commander, 1st Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, Cu Chi, Republic of Vietnam 1969: Chief of Staff, 25th Infantry Division, Cu Chi, Republic of Vietnam 1970: Director, Management Information Systems, Department of the Army 1973: Commanding General, 2nd Armored Division, Fort Hood, Texas 1975: Commanding General, V Corps, Frankfurt, Federal Republic of Germany 1976: Retired from active service