In 1940 he was promoted to Brigadier General, and in 1941 to Major General and placed in command of the 1st Cavalry Division and Fort Bliss.Swift Quite a Gardener, San Antonio Light, December 12, 1947, Page 4B. He participated in the Louisiana Maneuvers, where he coined the nickname used by army light observation aircraft when he told a pilot after a bumpy landing, "You looked just like a damn grasshopper!"Graff, p. 109.
