Frank S. Besson, Jr.

Frank S. Besson, Jr.
General Frank S. Besson, Jr.
Born	(1910-05-30)May 30, 1910 Detroit, Michigan
Died	July 15, 1985(1985-07-15) (aged 75) Walter Reed Army Medical Center
Allegiance	United States of America
Service/branch	United States Army
Years of service	1932–1970
Rank	General
Commands held	Military Railway Service Transportation Corps U.S. Army Materiel Command
Battles/wars	World War II
Awards	Distinguished Service Medal (3) Legion of Merit (2)
Other work	Director, National Rail Passenger Corporation

Frank Schaffer Besson, Jr., CBE (May 30, 1910 – July 15, 1985) was born on May 30, 1910 in Detroit, Michigan. His father was a West Point graduate and a Colonel in the Corps of Engineers . Frank S. Besson, Jr. graduated seventh in his class from the United States Military Academy in 1932. In 1935, he received a master's degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His early career was noted for the role he played in the development of portable military pipelines, steel landing mats for airplanes, and steel treadway bridges. He is credited with the studies leading to the Army 's adoption of the Bailey Bridge, used extensively in all theaters in World War II.

He became Assistant Director of the Third Military Railway Service (with rank of Lieutenant Colonel) in 1943, and was promoted to Director (with rank of Colonel) the following year. As Director of the Third Military Railway Service in Iran from 1944 to 1945, Besson ensured the flow of war materials to the Russian forces through the Persian Corridor. He was promoted to brigadier general, becoming, at 34, the youngest general officer in the Army Ground Forces and Chief of the Railway Division. Toward the end of World War II, he was Deputy Chief Transportation Officer of the Army Forces in the Western Pacific and, when Japan's collapse was imminent, assumed full control of railroads in Japan. During the first year of occupation, General Besson directed the rehabilitation of the Japanese rail system, moving more than 200,000 troops and 150,000 tons of supplies in the first two months.

Subsequent assignments included a tour as Assistant Chief of Staff, Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), where General Besson formulated logistics plans and overall programs to meet the complex requirements of the fifteen nations of the NATO alliance. His efforts in instituting a system for "costing out" five-year programs, thereby bringing force goals into consonance with available resources, earned him the first Distinguished Service Medal to be awarded at SHAPE headquarters.

General Besson stimulated both military and commercial adoption of containerization and improved water terminal practices. He introduced the roll-on/roll-off technique for the rapid loading and discharge of wheeled and tracked vehicles. He further refined these concepts upon assuming command of the Transportation Center and School at Fort Eustis, Virginia in 1953. General Besson was the Chief of Transportation, U.S. Army from March 1958 until April 2, 1962, when he took charge of the U.S. Army Materiel Command.