U.S. Army, Director, Chemical Warfare Service, U.S. Arsenal, WWI. On March 15, 1915, General Sibert was promoted to the rank of Brigadier General. Following the United States entry into the First World War in 1917, BG Sibert deployed with the initial elements of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF) and was placed in charge of the 1st Infantry Division "the Big Red One" once in France. The division having been newly organized under AEF commander, General John J. Pershing. When the War Department created the Chemical Warfare Service (CWS) later that spring, Pershing was asked to name a general officer to head it. Pershing recommended Sibert to the War Department. Following his assignment to the CWS on June 28, 1918, he was advanced to the rank of Major General. Siebert led the CWS from May 1918 to February 1920. As commander of the CWS he oversaw the production of America's first chemical warfare agent, Lewisite, and the development of the US Army's chemical defense equipment, including the first US protective (or "gas") masks, the M-1 and M-2. Today the US Army considers him the "father of the US Army Chemical Corps" because he was the first commander of the CWS. Following his retirement from the Army, Sibert led the modernization of the docks and waterways in Mobile, Alabama and served on the Presidential Commission that led to the building of Hoover Dam. He was elected to the University of Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame in 1961.
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