Robert I. Rees

Robert Irwin Rees was born in Houghton, Michigan on 9 November 1871, a son of Seth Rees and Eugenia (Livermore) Rees. Among his siblings was Thomas H. Rees, who also served as a US Army brigadier general. In 1895, he received the degrees of Bachelor of Science (B.S.) and Engineer of Mining (E.M.) from the Michigan College of Mines (now Michigan Technological University). The Spanish–American War started in April 1898, and Rees performed duties associated with defense of strategically valuable waterways. In May 1898, Rees was one of eight soldiers who were run down by the French ocean liner SS La Touraine while they were laying mines in New York Harbor. The ship was putting out to sea, and did not stop or lower life boats, resulting in the drowning of two men. He was appointed a second lieutenant of Infantry, effective 25 October 1899. ==Start of career==

Rees was initially assigned to the 3rd Infantry Regiment, and he continued to serve with his regiment in the Philippines. In February 1902, he led the effort that recovered the bodies of five soldiers from the 35th U.S. Volunteer Infantry, who had been ambushed in 1900 while providing an escort for a pro-U.S. local leader. After returning to the United States in 1903, he was posted to Kentucky, stationed first at Fort Thomas and later at West Point. Following his service in Kentucky, Rees was assigned to duty in Alaska Territory, where he initially served at Fort Liscum, then at Fort Egbert. In June 1907, Rees was assigned to Fort Columbia, Washington, where he served as an instructor for joint army and National Guard coastal defense exercises. In the summer of 1908, he commanded Company H, 3rd Infantry during a temporary camp near Tacoma, Washington, where army units conducted extensive maneuvers and exercises to gain proficiency with Field Artillery gunnery and Infantry and Cavalry attacks and defenses. After returning to Fort Columbia later that year, he served as adjutant of the 3rd Infantry. In September 1909, Rees returned to the Philippines, where he served with the 3rd Infantry on the island of Jolo. In May 1912, Rees was posted to Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, where he was a student in the Army School of the Line. He completed the course in 1913, and was named a distinguished graduate. ==Continued career==

After completing the School of the Line, Rees remained at Fort Leavenworth to attend the United States Army Command and General Staff College, from which he graduated in 1914. After completing the Staff College course, he joined the 3rd Infantry at Madison Barracks, New York. In 1916, Rees was assigned as commandant of cadets and professor of military science at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. Soon after American entry into World War I in April 1917, Rees was assigned to the Army General Staff, first as a member of the War Plans Division, then as a member of the Operations Division. In these roles, he was appointed chairman of the War Department Committee On Education and Special Training, which created training programs for mechanics and technicians. This effort proved successful, and Rees went on to create the wartime Student Army Training Corps, which encouraged young men to receive military training while attending college. Rees subsequently served in France, where he organized and headed the American Expeditionary Forces University, a wartime and post-war effort to provide college courses and vocational training to soldiers in order to facilitate their transition to jobs and careers in the post-war economy. After returning to the United States, Rees was assigned as chief of the education and recreation branch of the War Plans Division. In 1922, he was detailed to the U.S. veterans' bureau as assistant director in charge of vocational rehabilitation. Later that year he was enrolled as a student in the United States Army War College, from which he graduated in 1923. In 1924, Rees retired from the military so he could begin a civilian career as a telecommunications executive. ==Later career==

After leaving the army, Rees resided in New York City and joined the American Telephone and Telegraph Company as an assistant vice president. In addition, he was active in the Association of Cooperative Colleges, the City Club of New York, the Machinery Club of New York, and the Engineers' Club. He experienced a cerebral hemorrhage on 18 November while in Detroit to address a meeting of Engineering Society of Detroit. ==Awards==

For his First World War service, Rees was a recipient of the Army Distinguished Service Medal. "For exceptionally meritorious and conspicuous service with the committee charged with education and special training in the Army. To his initiative and breadth of vision are largely due the successful measures for training of enlisted men for special services and the establishment of the Students' Army Training Corps." Orders: War Department, General Orders No. 25 (1919) Additional awards Rees was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Engineering from Worcester Polytechnic Institute in 1930 and Michigan Technological University in 1933. ==Dates of rank==

Rees's dates of rank were: • Corporal, 7 May 1897 • Lieutenant Colonel (National Army), 5 August 1917 • Brigadier General (Retired), 21 June 1930 ==Works by==