General Greer’s military career began following his eighteenth birthday when he joined the Army Reserve. Called to active duty on 12 May 1943, he attained the grade of Master Sergeant during World War II. Upon receipt of his Honorable Discharge at the end of the war, he resumed his education at West Virginia State College. As a member of the Reserve Officer Training Corps, he continued his interest in the military while a student. He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant of Artillery in the Regular Army upon graduation in 1940. On 12 July 1940, he was called to active duty, with his first duty station at Fort Riley, Kansas.
He was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant of Artillery in the Regular Army upon graduation in 1940. On 12 July 1940, he was called to active duty, with his first duty station at Fort Riley, Kansas.
The outbreak of the Korean War in 1950 soon found General Greer serving on the front lines during some of the most decisive battles. He acquitted himself with valor and distinction while accomplishing combat missions involving great personal risk. His exemplary and heroic service during this period was recognized by award of the Silver Star and Bronze Star medals.
A series of important assignments fallowing the Korean War gave every indication that the Army had identified General Greer as a rising star in the officer corps. He was rapidly promoted to Captain. After advanced schooling in 1955, he was selected for assignment to the Department of the Army General Staff in Washington, DC. Three years later he was selected for accelerated promotion to the grade of Major. Important military schooling followed at the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. After graduation, he served a year at Fort Lewis, Washington, as the second in command of a combined rocket and howitzer battalion, further preparing him for higher level command.
The next three years General Greer again served on the Army General Staff in Washington as personnel planner and manager of assignments for Artillery Officers. He was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in January of 1963. In 1964, he returned to Korea, where he first served as an Artillery operations officer in a major headquarters and subsequently was assigned to the most-coveted position available for a Lieutenant Colonel, the command of a battalion.
In 1965 General Greer was again assigned to the Command and General Staff College, this time as an author-instructor. His normal tour was interrupted, however, by selection for the highest military schooling available in the Army, the National War College. While a student at the National War College, General Greer also earned his master’s degree from George Washington University. He then returned to Washington as an operations officer in the Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. During this assignment, he was promoted to Colonel.
In April of 1970, General Greer was assigned to Vietnam where he served initially as the deputy commander of the Artillery assigned to the US Army XXIV Corps. Further acknowledgment of the special trust and confidence placed in General Greer by the Army came when he was selected to command an entire Artillery Group. He was honored for his service in the war by awards including the Legion of Merit and the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with Gold Star.
Combat service in his third war ended in March of 1971 when he was reassigned to the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense. During this assignment, he was selected for promotion to Brigadier General. He then moved to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, where he became the Deputy Commanding General. In 1974, General Greer was reassigned to the Washington, DC area as the Deputy Commanding General of the US Army Military Personnel Center. Less than a year later, his rapid rise continued when he received the second star of Major General.
On 1 November 1976, General Greer requested that he be placed on the US Army Retired List. His request was granted and on 30 November 1976, one of the Army’s most distinguished soldiers retired with honor. Added to his many citations for valor on the battlefield and meritorious achievement in peacetime, General Greer was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal, this nation’s highest military award for service, awarded in the name of the President of the United States.