Paul McDonald Robinett
# Paul McDonald Robinett

Paul McDonald Robinett (1893–1975) was a cavalry and armor officer (Brigadier General) of the U.S. Army. He spent much of his career as a staff officer, and commanded an armored regiment and combined arms combat command in combat during the Tunisian campaign of World War II.

## Biography

Robinett hailed from Missouri's Ozark foothills, scion of Ozark pioneers. After high school, he worked a summer in the Kansas harvest fields before enrolling in the University of Missouri, where he completed his B.S. (1917) in Agriculture. Since the U.S. had entered World War I, he tried to enlist but was rejected as underweight. After beginning a graduate fellowship at Iowa State, he again tried to enlist, unsuccessfully.

But he was accepted for officer training, subsequently commissioned a 2nd lieutenant in the 1st Cavalry. During World War I, First Cavalry served along the border with Mexico; during this time, he was promoted to first lieutenant. He was graduated from the Cavalry School Troop Commander's course at Fort Riley, Kansas in 1922, and taught Machine Gunnery and animal transportation there 1922–1923. He was a special student at the University of Paris in 1925, attended the French cavalry school at Saumur, and observed French maneuvers near Strasbourg. He was General Malin Craig's aide-de-camp 1927–1932, serving in the Panama Canal Zone and San Francisco.

Captain Paul McD. Robinett, Cavalry, completed the United States Army Command and General Staff College's two-year course and graduated June 15, 1934. He attended the U.S. Army War College. He served in the War Department's General Staff 1937–1941. He was Assistant Chief of Staff for intelligence under both Lesley J. McNair (from June 26, 1941) and George C. Marshall. President F. D. Roosevelt nominated him for promotion to colonel on November 20, 1942.

His personal credo was: "Always do whatever you can to keep your superior from making a mistake." He was a crack shot with a pistol and expert rider. Only one soldier of the 3rd Infantry ever collected on his offer of a dollar to any soldier who could out shoot him. He was an accomplished horseman, a member of the U.S. Army equestrian team, and competed in the 1924 Summer Olympics in Paris.

During the Tunisian campaign of World War II he commanded the 13th Armored Regiment, "Task Force Green," and 1st Armored Division's Combat Command B. After the American defeat at the battle of Kasserine Pass, his CCB and 1st Infantry Division repulsed a German advance west on Highway 13 toward Tebessa.

General Robinett and CCB were to lead 1st Armored Division's assault from Mateur toward Bizerte at first light on Thursday morning, May 6, 1943. The day before, as Robinett was returning to CCB, the confidence of the new division commander General Harmon in Robinett diminished so much he determined to relieve him. Harmon raced after Robinett to relieve him. He caught up just after a German artillery shell had shredded Robinett's left leg. General Robinett's war was over; he had already ceded command to Colonel Clarence C. Benson.

He commanded the Armored School at Fort Knox, Kentucky until he retired at the end of the war.

The 1940 census listed him as a resident of the Kennedy-Warren Apartment Building in Washington, D.C. and later the Army Navy Club, Washington, D.C. In 1941, then Lt Col Robinett was an honorary pallbearer at the funeral of General Craig's wife.

Brigadier General Robinett was a Missouri delegate at the 1948 Republican National Convention, and served on the resolution committee's foreign affairs subcommittee.

After the Korean War, BGen Robinett complained that American military succumbed to a "natural tendency" to develop quickly capabilities to counter an enemy, rather than those to defeat and destroy him. U.S. defense developed equipment and tactics weighted too much on defensive implements. In particular, the tanks were to be used chiefly to support infantry and an insufficient number of armored divisions – more mobile and more offensive. He recalled the blitzkrieg of World War II and the North Korea's tank invasion of the South.

## Decorations

| 1st Row | Army Distinguished Service Medal | Army Distinguished Service Medal | Army Distinguished Service Medal | Army Distinguished Service Medal | Army Distinguished Service Medal | Army Distinguished Service Medal | Army Distinguished Service Medal | Legion of Merit | Legion of Merit | Legion of Merit | Legion of Merit | Legion of Merit | Legion of Merit | Legion of Merit | Legion of Merit | Purple Heart | Purple Heart | Purple Heart | Purple Heart | Purple Heart | Purple Heart | Purple Heart | Purple Heart | Purple Heart |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2nd Row | Army Commendation Medal | Army Commendation Medal | Army Commendation Medal | Army Commendation Medal | American Defense Service Medal | American Defense Service Medal | American Defense Service Medal | American Defense Service Medal | European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal | European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal | European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal | European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal | World War II Victory Medal | World War II Victory Medal | World War II Victory Medal | World War II Victory Medal |
| 3rd Row | Knight of the Legion of Honor (France) | Knight of the Legion of Honor (France) | Knight of the Legion of Honor (France) | Knight of the Legion of Honor (France) | French Croix de guerre 1939–1945 with two palms | French Croix de guerre 1939–1945 with two palms | French Croix de guerre 1939–1945 with two palms | French Croix de guerre 1939–1945 with two palms | Commander of the Order of Military Merit (Brazil) | Commander of the Order of Military Merit (Brazil) | Commander of the Order of Military Merit (Brazil) | Commander of the Order of Military Merit (Brazil) | Grand Cordon of the Order of Glory (French Tunisia) | Grand Cordon of the Order of Glory (French Tunisia) | Grand Cordon of the Order of Glory (French Tunisia) | Grand Cordon of the Order of Glory (French Tunisia) |

## Dates of rank

| Rank | Component | Date |
| - | - | - |
| Second lieutenant | Officers' Reserve Corps | November 27, 1917 (temporary) |
| First lieutenant | Regular Army | August 31, 1918 (accepted September 19, temporary) July 1, 1920 (accepted September 16, permanent) |
| Captain | Regular Army | December 2, 1929 |
| Major | Regular Army | October 1, 1938 |
| Lieutenant colonel | Regular Army | February 4, 1941 |
| Colonel | Army of the United States | February 1, 1942 |
| Brigadier general | Army of the United States | November 20, 1942 |
| Brigadier general | Regular Army, Retired | August 31, 1946 |

## Publications

* Robinett, Paul M., Paul M. Robinett papers, 1915–1972 (bulk 1943–1957), LCCN mm75038018 3,000 items. – 10 containers. – 4 linear
* Robinett, Paul M. (n.d.), The Axis Offensive in Central Tunisia, Feb. 1943, Library of Congress
* Robinett, Paul M. (n.d.), Among the First, Lexington, Virginia: George C. Marshall Foundation
* Robinett, Paul M. (1950). Preparation for leadership in America; extracted from the writings of Cicero, Chesterfield, Franklin, Washington, Emerson, Lincoln, Schofield, and the Honor code of the United States Military Academy. Washington. LCCN 50035715.
* Luther Harris Evans, Paul McDonald Robinett Willard Webb (April 21, 1950). Library of Congress intermission broadcasts [sound recording]. Program of Applied Studies. LCCN 2003642814. 1 sound disc : analog, 33 1/3 rpm ; 16 in. (preservation master)
* Robinett, Brigadier General Paul M. (March–April 1953). "Ground Force Mobility" (PDF). Armor: 6–11. Retrieved June 27, 2014.
* Robinett, Paul M. (1954). The exploitation of history by the United States Army. Washington?: United States Department of the Army. Office of Military History. LCCN 55061243.
* Robinett, Paul McD., chief, Special Studies Division. The study and writing of American military history, a guide. United States Department of the Army. Office of Military History. LCCN 54060137. OCLC 7879449.
* Robinett, Paul M. (1958). Armor command; the personal story of a commander of the 13th Armored Regiment, of the CCB, 1st Armored Division, and of the Armored School during World War II. Washington. LCCN 59031974.
* Robinett, Paul M., ed. (1956). American Military History from 1607 to 1953. Office of the Chief of Military History, U.S. Department of the Army.
* Robinett, Paul M., Paul M. Robinett papers, 1915–1972 (bulk 1943–1957), LCCN mm75038018 3,000 items. – 10 containers. – 4 linear feet.
* Robinett, Paul M. (1965). Education in Mountain Grove, Missouri, 1835–1913. LCCN 75327255.
