John Slezak

John Slezak (1896–1984) was United States Under Secretary of the Army from 1954 to 1955.

John Slezak was born in Stará Turá, Austria–Hungary (in modern Slovakia) on April 18, 1896. After immigrating to the United States in 1916, Slezak enlisted in the United States Army in 1917 and was posted to the Rock Island Arsenal, where he became head of a department in the small arms division. In 1919, he enrolled at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and received a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering in 1923. He worked as a mechanical engineer at Western Electric from 1923 to 1930. In September 1924, he was appointed a Second Lieutenant in the United States Army Reserve, serving as an ordnance officer. In 1930, he became president of the Turner Brass Works in Sycamore, Illinois, a position he held until 1953.

With the U.S.'s entry into World War II, Slezak became a Major in the United States Army. He was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in 1942 and Colonel in 1943. He spent 47 months with the Chicago Ordnance District, first as Deputy District Chief, then as Chief of the Industrial Division, and finally as District Chief. For his war service, Slezak was awarded the Legion of Merit in 1944; the Oak Leaf Cluster in 1946; and the American Campaign Medal and the World War II Victory Medal. After the war, as a civilian, Slezak helped to establish the machine tool division of the Army-Navy Munitions Board.

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