Commander, City Patrol Corps, New York City Police Department President, West Point Association of Graduates Secretary and treasurer, executive director, West Point Alumni Foundation
In 1916, the 10th Field Artillery was activated for federal service in World War I, and Danford commanded the regiment during its initial training at Tobyhanna Army Depot.[1] From February to July 1917, Danford was assigned as assistant professor of military science at Yale University,[7] and served as the mustering officer for members of the Connecticut National Guard as they entered federal service.[1] While at Yale, Danford co-authored Notes on Training Field Artillery Details, a practical manual for teaching field artillery tactics and techniques.[9] It quickly became the Army's standard reference work for training field artillery soldiers, and went through numerous printings during and after World War I.[10] In July 1917, Danford served as mustering officer for members of the Pennsylvania National Guard, after which he traveled to Fort Sill, where he served as an artillery instructor.[1] Originally slated to join the 42nd Division, in August, he was instead assigned to the 302nd Field Artillery, a unit of the 76th Division.[1] He trained with the regiment at Camp Devens, Massachusetts, after which he was assigned to Plattsburgh Barracks, New York as senior instructor of field artillery for the Army's second wartime Officers' Training Camp.[1][7] He was promoted to major in August, and temporary lieutenant colonel on the same day.[1]
Danford returned to Fort Sill in December 1917, this time to assume command of the 129th Field Artillery Regiment, a Missouri National Guard unit which he led through its initial organization and training after it was federalized for the war.[1][7] Among the regiment's soldiers was Harry S. Truman,[11] who later said he learned more practical, useful information from Danford in six weeks than from six months of formal Army instruction.[11] When Truman later served as an artillery instructor, he consciously patterned his approach on Danford's.[11]
In April, 1918, Danford was assigned to Camp Jackson, South Carolina to command the Field Artillery Replacement Depot, which provided new artillery soldiers to fill vacancies in units as they were organized, and to bring depleted front line units back up to full strength.[1][7] He commanded the depot until December, and was promoted to temporary colonel in July 1918, and temporary brigadier general the following month.[1]
From December 1918 to May 1919, Danford served on the staff of the Chief of Field Artillery.[1][7] In May, he went to France where he carried out an observation and inspection tour as a member of the American Expeditionary Forces staff.[1]
Post-World War I
After the war, Danford returned to his permanent rank of captain (March 1919); in August, 1919 he was promoted to permanent major.[1] From August 1919 to July 1923, Danford served as Commandant of Cadets at West Point.[1] From 1923 to 1924 he was a student at the United States Army Command and General Staff College, after which he served again on the staff of the Chief of Field Artillery.[1]
Danford attended the United States Army War College from 1928 to 1929; after graduation, he was assigned to the 13th Field Artillery Regiment at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.[1] From 1931 to 1935, Danford served as executive officer to the Chief of Field Artillery, and from 1935 to 1937 he commanded the 13th Field Artillery at Schofield Barracks.[1] He was promoted to permanent lieutenant colonel in 1928, and permanent colonel in 1935.[1] From 1937 to 1938, Danford served at Fort Sheridan, Illinois as chief of staff for the VI Corps Area.[1]
World War II
Danford (right) congratulates John Knowles Herr, who became the Chief of Cavalry on the same day Danford became Chief of Field Artillery
In 1938, Danford was selected to succeed Upton Birnie Jr. as Chief of Field Artillery and promoted to major general.[1] As the United States increased preparation for involvement in World War II and then entered the war, Danford's tenure was largely concerned with equipping, manning, and training artillery units as they were organized and fielded for wartime service.[1] Though Danford had been seen as an opponent of technological advances, such as advocating for the use of horse-drawn artillery instead of mechanization,[12] after firsthand observation of how effective light aircraft were for artillery observation he became a strong proponent, and helped ensure that the Army used airplanes for identifying targets, observing the impact of indirect fire, and assessing its effectiveness.[13]
Danford retired in 1942,[1] when the Army eliminated the branch chief positions in favor of consolidating their functions under the commander of the Army Ground Forces.[14]
The President of the United States of America, authorized by Act of Congress, July 9, 1918, takes pleasure in presenting the Army Distinguished Service Medal to Brigadier General Robert Melville Danford, United States Army, for exceptionally meritorious and distinguished services to the Government of the United States, in a duty of great responsibility during World War I. While on duty in the Office of the Chief of Field Artillery, General Danford displayed marked ability in planning the organization of field artillery replacement depots. He then proceeded to Camp Jackson, South Carolina, established this depot, and administered it during the remainder of the war with rare ability and judgment.[15]
In addition, in 1917 he received the honorary degree of Master of Arts from Yale University.[1][16] In 1975, the museum board at Fort Sill designated one of the post's residence buildings as Danford House, and installed a plaque commemorating Danford's career.[17] Built in the 1870s, the limestone house has traditionally been the quarters of Fort Sill's chief of staff.[18][19]
Later career
After retiring from the military, Danford organized and commanded the City Patrol Corps, a civilian auxiliary of the New York City Police Department, which provided wartime security for power plants, water filtration plants, and other sensitive facilities.[1]
In August 1951, Time reported that 90 of West Point's 2,500 cadets were facing dismissal for mass violations of the Cadet Honor Code.[20] The Army arranged for an investigation by a panel which included famed jurist Learned Hand and retired generals Troy H. Middleton, then president of Louisiana State University, and Danford.[20] The board found that some of the accused cadets, most of whom were on the football team, had been receiving the answers to exams ahead of time through upper class students who were assisting them as tutors.[20] Others were accused of knowing about the cheating, but failing to report it.[20] The panel recommended dismissal of all 90 suspected violators; they were eventually allowed to resign, and many transferred to other schools.[20]
Danford also served as president of the West Point Association of Graduates, secretary and treasurer and executive director of the West Point Alumni Foundation, and editor of the Register of Graduates and Former Cadets of the United States Military Academy.[1] Danford also authored a genealogical work, 1967's The Nobles and the Raders: Being a Compilation of Members and Descendants of the Noble and Rader Families Who Were Amongst the Earliest Pioneer Settlers of Mercer County, Illinois.[21]
In 1909, Danford married Katherine V. Hyde (1888-1963) in Oakland, California.[2][23][24] Katherine Hyde was the daughter of Alice Evelyn Van de Carr Hyde (1855-1916) and Marcus Darius Hyde (1849-1930).[24][25] Marcus Hyde was a graduate of the United States Naval Academy, an attorney, and a member of the California State Assembly.[26] Robert and Katherine Danford were the parents of one child, Janet (1915-1972), the wife of Colonel James B. Wells (1909-1996).[27]
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