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Ben Hebard Fuller
Ben Hebard Fuller
	15th Commandant of the Marine Corps (1930–1934)
Born	February 27, 1870; Big Rapids, Michigan, U.S.
Died	June 8, 1937 (aged 67); Washington, D.C., U.S.
Buried	Naval Academy Cemetery
Allegiance	United States of America
Service / branch	Navy; Marine Corps;
Years of service	1889–1891 (Navy); 1891–1934 (Marines)
Rank	Major General
Commands	Commandant of the Marine Corps
Battles / wars	Philippine–American War; Boxer Rebellion Battle of Tientsin; Banana Wars Occupation of the Dominican Republic; Occupation of Haiti;

Ben Hebard Fuller (February 27, 1870 – June 8, 1937) was a major general in the United States Marine Corps and served as the 15th Commandant of the Marine Corps between 1930 and 1934.^[1]

Biography

Born in Big Rapids, Michigan, Fuller was a member of the United States Naval Academy class of 1889. After serving two years of service as a naval cadet, a requirement at the time before commissioning, he was appointed a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps on July 1, 1891. He, with six other members of his class, attended the first course for new Marine officers at the School of Application, which was the prototype for today's Basic School.^[1]^[2]

On 26 October 1892, he married Katherine Heaton Offley.^[3] Together, they had two children.

Captain Fuller participated in the Battle of Novaleta, Philippine Islands on October 8, 1899, and was commended for gallant, meritorious, and courageous conduct in the Battle of Tientsin, China on July 13, 1900.^[1]

From 1904 to 1906, he served at the Naval Station, Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii. In June and July 1908, he was on detached duty with an expeditionary force organized for service in Panama, and from August of that year until January 1910, commanded a Marine Battalion at Camp Elliott, Panama Canal Zone. From March to June 1911, he commanded the 3rd Regiment of Marines at Camp Meyer, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.^[1]

From 1911 to 1915, he commanded various posts and stations in the United States, and during this period also, he completed the Field Officers’ Course at the Army Service Schools, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, and the course at the Army War College, Washington, D.C. Following a tour of duty as Fleet Marine Officer of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet, from January 1915 to June 1916, LtCol Fuller was assigned to the Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island, where he successfully completed the course.^[1]

In August 1918, he was assigned to command the 2nd Brigade of Marines in the Dominican Republic, remaining there until October 1920. He also served on the Staff of the Military Governor of Santo Domingo as Secretary of State, Interior, Police, War and Navy, from December 1919, until his detachment departed from Santo Domingo.^[1]

From November 1920 to July 1922, he served on the staff of the Naval War College, Newport, and from July 1922 to January 1923, commanded the Marine Corps Schools, Quantico, Virginia. In January 1924, he assumed command of the 1st Brigade of Marines in the Republic of Haiti, with headquarters at Port-au-Prince, and served in this capacity until December 8, 1925.^[1]

Following his return to the United States from Haiti, Brigadier General Fuller was assigned to Headquarters Marine Corps as President of the Marine Examining and Retiring Board, serving in that capacity until July 1928, when he was appointed Assistant to the Commandant of the Marine Corps.^[1] In September 1928 he was designated as the first Officer in Charge, United States Marine Corps Reserve, when a separate reserve section was created to administer that organization in the Office of the Commandant. During November and December of that year he was on the Reserve Board that was formed to set policy. Fuller was the head of the Reserve until May 1929.^[4]

Following the death of the Commandant, Major General Wendell C. Neville on July 9, 1930, Brigadier General Fuller was promoted to major general and appointed Commandant of the Marine Corps. He served in that capacity until March 1, 1934, when he was retired from active service, having attained the statutory retirement age of sixty-four years.^[1]

Major General Fuller's tenure was a period of general retrenchment and withdrawal of Marines from foreign countries. Beginning in 1933, these Marines composed the newly designated Fleet Marine Force, the principal operating force of the Marine Corps.^[1]

Major General Fuller died on June 8, 1937, aged 67, at the U.S. Naval Hospital, Washington, D.C., and was buried on June 11, 1937, in the U.S. Naval Academy Cemetery at Annapolis, Maryland, beside the grave of his son, Captain Edward C. Fuller of the 6th Marine Regiment, who was killed in action in the Battle of Belleau Wood during World War I.^[1]^[2]

Promotion history

Second Lieutenant, July 1, 1891
First Lieutenant, March 16, 1893
Captain, March 3, 1899
Major, December 27, 1903
Lieutenant colonel, February 3, 1911
Colonel, August 29, 1916
Brigadier General (temporary), July 1, 1918
Brigadier General, February 8, 1924
Major General August 7, 1930
Commandant of the Marine Corps, August 7, 1930

Medals and decoration

Fuller held the following medals and decorations:^[1]

China Relief Expedition Medal		Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal w/ 2 stars
Spanish Campaign Medal	Philippine Campaign Medal		Second Nicaraguan Campaign Medal
World War I Victory Medal	Medal of Military Merit of Santo Domingo		Presidential Medal of Merit of Nicaragua

Namesake

The United States Navy transport ship USS Fuller was named in his honor.

The road running from the main gate of Marine Corps Base Quantico to the town of Quantico, Virginia is named Fuller Road.

An enlisted housing facility at the Naval Support Activity Annapolis is named Fuller Hall.

References

This article incorporates public domain material from Major General Ben Hebard Fuller. United States Marine Corps.
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l "Major General Ben Hebard Fuller". Who's Who in Marine Corps History. United States Marine Corps History Division. Archived from the original on 17 March 2016. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
^ ^a ^b "Fuller I (DD-297)". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval History and Heritage Command. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
^ "About People". The National Tribune. Washington, D.C. 3 November 1892. p. 3. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
^ The Marine Corps Reserve – A History. Washington, DC: Division of Reserve, Headquarters Marine Corps. 1966. pp. 25, 30.

Allan Reed Millett; Jack Shulimson, eds. (2004). Commandants of the Marine Corps. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. pp. 214–223. ISBN 978-0-87021-012-9.

Military offices
Preceded by Maj. Gen. Wendell Cushing Neville	Commandant of the United States Marine Corps 1930–1935	Succeeded by Maj. Gen. John H. Russell Jr.
Preceded by Position established	Officer in Charge of the United States Marine Corps Reserve 1928–1929	Succeeded by Col. Julius S. Turrill
Preceded by Brig. Gen. Dion Williams	Assistant to the Commandant of the Marine Corps 1928–1930	Succeeded by Brig. Gen. John Twiggs Myers