James Alexander Ulio

James Alexander Ulio
Ulio in 1940
Born(1882-06-29)29 June 1882
Walla Walla, Washington, US
Died30 July 1958(1958-07-30) (aged 76)
Washington, D.C., US
Place of Burial
Allegiance United States of America
Service/branch United States Army
Years of service1900–1946
Rank Major General
Service numberO-1984
CommandsAdjutant General of the U.S. Army
Battles/wars
Awards

James Alexander Ulio (29 June 1882 – 30 July 1958) was an officer in the United States Army who served as Adjutant General from 1942 to 1946. As such, he was responsible for the classification and assignment of soldiers in an Army that would grow to 8.2 million by March 1945.

The son of an Army officer, Ulio was raised on Army posts in the Washington Territory and Montana. He enlisted in the Army in 1900, and rose to be a battalion sergeant major. He was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the infantry in 1904. During World War I he served at El Paso, Texas, during the Pancho Villa Expedition, and on the Western Front, where he was promoted to the temporary rank of lieutenant colonel on the staff of IV Corps. After the Armistice was signed in November 1918, he served with the Army of Occupation in Germany , and in Armenia as chief of staff of the American Relief Administration.

Between the wars Ulio attended the Command and General Staff College and Army War College, and was as a junior military aide-de-camp on the staff of the President of the United States, Herbert Hoover, and then on that of his successor, Franklin D. Roosevelt.

On 1 March 1942, Ulio became the Adjutant General with the rank of major general. As Adjutant General, one of his most important roles was notifying families when their loved ones became casualties. Thousands of telegrams went out under his name every day. He also oversaw the Army Postal Service, the National Service Life Insurance scheme, and the military penal system.