Major General John C. Raaen, Jr. (Ret.)

John Raaen, Jr. was appointed to the United States Military Academy on July 1, 1939 from Arkansas, where he ultimately attained USMA Bachelor of Science. At the Academy, he was appointed Cadet Captain and Regimental Supply Officer and was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers in 1943. After an initial assignment at the engineering school, he joined the 55th Armored Engineer Battalion, 10th Armored Division, located first at Fort Benning, Georgia and later in the Tennessee Maneuver Area, where he served as a battalion staff officer and platoon leader.

In 1948 he attended the U.S. Naval Academy Post Graduate School at Annapolis, Maryland, and following two more years of study at the Johns Hopkins University, received a Master of Arts degree in Physics, and he is listed today as a Johns Hopkins University Distinguished Military Alumnus.

In October 1943 he was assigned to the newly activated 5th Ranger Infantry Battalion located at Camp Forrest, Tennessee. With the Battalion, he engaged in amphibious and commando training in Florida, England, and Scotland. On June 6, 1944, as Headquarters Company Commander, he participated in the initial assault on Omaha Beach, Normandy, France.

For this action he received the Silver Star and Combat Infantryman Badge. He continued in combat with the Battalion through the Brittany Campaign, across France, and finally into the Saar Valley where he was injured in December 1944 and evacuated to the United States. He recovered at Walter Reed Army Hospital in Washington DC from February until June of 1945.

In 1955 he became Executive Officer, 8th Army Ordnance Section and was deployed to Korea and in the following year assumed command of the 83rd Ordnance Battalion (Ammunition). Upon his return to the United States in January 1957 he was assigned as a Project Officer on the Ordnance Board at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland.

In January 1969 he was assigned to Headquarters, United States Army Vietnam, first as Chief, G4 Ammunition Division, later as Chief, G4 Supply Division, and finally as Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff, G4. In December 1969 he was assigned to the Army General Staff as Director of Ammunition, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics

He was promoted to Brigadier General on July 7, 1970. He was assigned as Commanding General, Headquarters Army Mobility Equipment Command on June 28, 1971. He was promoted to Major General in 1972 and assigned as Commanding General, Headquarters, Army Weapons Command, Rock Island, Illinois. Six months later he organized and assumed command of the U.S. Army Armament Command – a merger of the Weapons and Munitions Commands at Rock Island Arsenal.

Maj. Gen. John Raaen Jr.’s awards and decorations include: Silver Star, Legion of Merit (w/3rd OLC), Bronze Star Medal (w/V device and 2nd OLC), Army Commendation Medal, Combat Infantryman Badge, American Defense Service Medal, American Campaign Medal, European-African Middle East Campaign Medal w/Arrowhead and three campaign stars, World War II Victory Medal, Army of Occupation Medal, National Defense Service Medal (W/OLC), Vietnam Service Medal with four campaign stars, Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, Distinguished Unit Citation (5th Ranger Infantry Battalion, Normandy 1994) and Meritorious Unit Citation.

Men of D-Day by John C. Raaen, Jr.

Major General Raaen on Bhagavad Gita on Effective Leadership