Armed Forces: Cerebral Commandant

ARMED FORCES

Though the President routinely names a new commandant of the Marine Corps every four years, the selection this year crackled with suspense. Three individualistic generals—each highly qualified to be the nation's top Marine—were in open contention for the post, and Lyndon Johnson delayed for more than two months beyond the traditional September announcement date before choosing one of them. Last week the President ended the suspense by picking self-effacing Lieut. General Leonard F. Chapman Jr. to succeed Commandant Wallace M. Greene Jr. on the first of the year.

Floridian "Chappie" Chapman, 54, was the dark horse choice between two other, better-known lieutenant generals, both also 54: popular, barrel-chested Lewis Walt and acerbic, shrimp-sized (5 ft. 4 in., 134 Ibs.) Victor H. ("Brute") Krulak. Walt and Krulak have vastly more combat experience than Chapman and both are experts on Viet Nam. Both are also controversial. Walt­whom the President last week named assistant commandant—has been criticized, unjustly, for not being aggressive enough during his two years as the Marine commander in Viet Nam. Krulak, a favorite of Defense Secretary Robert McNamara and President Kennedy, has earned enemies with a tongue that is as sharp as his mind.

Quiet Confidence. The choice between the generals was not an easy one. Each had a clique of supporters actively rooting for him. Noting that Chapman was senior in time-in-rank to Walt and Krulak, Johnson remarked: "One man said you could flip a coin and any one of three or four would be ideally equipped."

Though Chapman has not been in combat since World War II, where he served with distinction as an artillery commander, he fits ideally the cerebral requirements of modern military leadership. Like the members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, with whom the commandant meets regularly as an associate member, Chapman is largely a product of Robert McNamara's industrialized Pentagon; last August he was given the Armed Forces Management Association's annual merit award for his mastery of management techniques in running the corps. Over the past six years in various staff jobs at the Marine headquarters—and for the past five months as assistant commandant. Chapman became known as a man of quiet competence. As a fellow officer described him: "You never catch him looking at only one slice of the pie."