Lieutenant General
Fred Kornet Jr.

Lieutenant General Fred Kornet, Jr. was born in Wortendyke, New Jersey on October 2, 1919. He served the Ordnance Corps as a dedicated logistician throughout his career, culminating as the Army's senior logistician.

He commanded Watervliet Arsenal during a period of expanding U.S. military commitments to South Vietnam. His leadership in meeting the challenge of rapidly growing demands for the arsenal's products sparked a great increase in the arsenal's production only ten months after he assumed command.

As commander of the U.S. Army Aviation Systems Command, he applied his extensive knowledge of computer systems to successfully implement the Army Materiel Command's ALPHA program there. ALPHA increased logistical efficiency by standardizing basic computer systems, equipment, and programs among various logistics agencies. He served as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics from 1973 to 1975.

During his tenure as the Army's senior logistician, his leadership led to the success of a number of programs designed to achieve simplicity and responsiveness in the Army's logistics system. He implemented the final phase of a comprehensive Logistics Offensive Program, which meshed the program with the Army's Logistics System Master Plan by means of automated management systems. Within months this phase overcame many of the immediate obstacles to efficient logistics support.

Many other improvements in Army logistics were spawned through programs he promoted. Among these improvements were: simplification of paperwork at the user level, increased responsiveness to the user at the support level, development of a standard direct exchange system, refinement of selected item management techniques, expansion of the direct support system, and advancement of logistics research. General Kornet retired in 1975.