Edwin Luther Sibert | |
Birth Date: | 2 March 1897 |
Birth Place: | Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S. |
Death Place: | McLean, Virginia, U.S. |
Placeofburial: | Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington County, Virginia, U.S. |
Branch: | United States Army Central Intelligence Agency |
Serviceyears: | 1918–1954 |
Rank: | Major General |
Commands: | Department of the Antilles OP4 Commander Operation PORTREX |
Relations: | MG William L. Sibert (father) MG Franklin C. Sibert (brother) Lt. Cmdr. Edwin L Sibert, Jr. (son)[1] |
Edwin Luther Sibert (March 2, 1897 – December 16, 1977) was a United States Army officer with the rank of major general and served as intelligence officer during World War II and post-war Europe, where he assisted in the creation of the Gehlen Organization.[2] He would return to the United States and briefly serve in the Central Intelligence Group, the forerunner of the modern CIA. He was the son of Major General William L. Sibert and the brother of Major General Franklin C. Sibert. A graduate of the United States Military Academy in 1918, he would receive the Distinguished Service Medal three times for his service during World War II and the Cold War.[3]
Sibert was born on March 2, 1897, in Little Rock, Arkansas, to Major General William L. Sibert and his wife Mary Margaret Cummings Sibert. He would be raised on military tradition, his grandfather William J. Sibert and great-uncle William B. Beeson having served in the Confederate army, and his father in the United States Army.[4] Sibert's early years would see his father assigned to Manila, Philippines (1899–1900), and the Panama Canal Zone (1907–1914).[5]
In 1914, Sibert would receive an at-large appointment to the United States Military Academy, graduating in 1918.[6]
Sibert later graduated from the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas in June 1935. He also graduated from the Army War College in June 1939.[7]
Second lieutenant | 12 June 1918 | |
First lieutenant (acting) | 23 October 1918 | |
First lieutenant | 16 August 1919 | |
Captain | 1 August 1933 | |
Major | 1 April 1940 | |
Colonel (acting) | 15 January 1941 | |
Lieutenant colonel (acting) | 12 June 1941 | |
Colonel (acting) | 1 February 1942 | |
Lieutenant colonel | 4 August 1942 | |
Brigadier general (acting) | 31 October 1942 | |
Colonel | 11 March 1948 | |
Brigadier general (acting) | 31 October 1942 | |
Major general (acting) | 1 August 1948 | |
Brigadier general | 21 March 1953 |
1936 | 1937 | Assistant Instructor in the Department of Tactics, United States Military Academy | |
July 1940 | December 1941 | U.S. Military Attaché to Brazil | |
December 1941 | March 1942 | Assistant Secretary, Combined Chiefs of Staff | |
March 1942 | May 1942 | Attending Field Artillery School, Ft. Sill, Oklahoma | |
May 1942 | August 1942 | Chief of Staff, 7th Division | |
August 1942 | August 1943 | Commanding Officer, Artillery, 99th Division | |
September 1943 | March 1944 | Assistant Chief of Staff (G2)European Theater of Operations | |
March 1944 | July 1945 | Assistant Chief of Staff (G2), 12th Army Group | |
July 1945 | September 1946 | Assistant Chief of Staff (G2)European Theater of Operations | |
September 1946 | 12 August 1948 | Assistant Director of Operations, Central Intelligence Group (CIA) | |
13 August 1948 | 23 November 1948 | Commanding General, Pacific Sector, Panama Canal Zone | |
24 November 1948 | December 7, 1950 | Commanding General, U.S. Army Forces, Department of Antilles | |
December 7, 1950 | April 24, 1952 | Staff Director, Inter-American Defense Board, Washington, D.C. | |
April 24, 1952 |
After retirement, Sibert lived on Martha's Vineyard and spent his winters in Charleston, South Carolina. He moved to McLean, Virginia in 1972 and died there from a ruptured aneurysm in 1977.[9] Sibert is buried at Arlington National Cemetery along with his father MG William Luther Sibert.[10]