Today we also unveiled the uniform of Brigadier General Arthur Brandstatter
Today we also unveiled the uniform of Brigadier General Arthur Brandstatter. If you think that name sounds familiar, it may because he is the father of the radio voice of the Michigan Wolverines football and the Detroit Lions, Jim Brandstatter. Jim and his wife, Robbie Timmons Brandstatter, were present for the unveiling today.
BG Arthur F. Brandstatter
U.S. Army
East Lansing, Michigan Arthur Brandstatter was born on December 27, 1914, in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania. At a young age, he moved with his family to Ecorse, Michigan where he graduated from high school in 1933. After high school, Arthur attended Michigan State College (now Michigan State University) where he was enrolled in the 5 year program for Police Administration. While at MSC (MSU) he was an All-American fullback in football. In 1936 he became the first MSU fullback to be on the All-American team. Arthur was also in the R.O.T.C. program and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant upon graduation in 1937. In 1938, Brandstatter joined the Detroit Police Department and was there until he was ordered to active duty on February 17, 1941. He was then sent to Scott Field, Illinois and assigned as a personnel officer. However, he was soon made the Provost Marshall of the post. In this capacity, Brandstatter acted as the Chief of Police of the post. He was promoted to Captain in 1942 and Major in 1944. In 1945, he was reassigned to the infantry and was sent first to the Philippines, then to Okinawa in preparation for the invasion of Japan. With the dropping of the atomic bombs, the invasion was called off and Arthur was sent to Korea in August 1945. He spent four months on occupation duty there. His main job was setting up a school for the South Korean police. The school graduated almost 200 policeman every week. Arthur returned home in 1946 and became Chief of Police in East Lansing. The following year he returned to his Alma Mater as Chief of Campus Police and Professor and Director of the School of Criminal Justice at MSU. He held this post until 1976. During his tenure at MSU, he was a delegate to the United Nations Conference of Prevention of Crime and Juvenile Delinquency in Geneva, Switzerland and in 1954, was sent to South Vietnam to assist their government in the reorganization of its police force. After World War II, Arthur Brandstatter joined the U.S. Army Reserves and continued as an officer throughout his MSU career. In 1953 he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, in 1960 he became a full Colonel, and in 1964, Brandstatter was promoted to Brigadier General and placed in charge of the 300th MP POW Command in Livonia, Michigan. The 300th was the only Army Reserve Unit of its kind. In case of a fully mobilized war, the 300th MP POW Command would take charge of prisoners of war in the battle area, transport and process them, and supervise their confinement. General Brandstatter held this command until 1969 when he was placed in the Retired Reserve. He officially retired from the U.S. Army Reserves in 1974 with 37 years of military service. However, Brandstatter was not done serving his country. In 1976 he was appointed as the U.S. Department of Treasury’s Director of the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, Georgia. He retired from this job in 1982. In 1990 Arthur received the Jack Breslin Lifetime Achievement Award at MSU and in 1994 was inducted into the MSU Athletic Hall of Fame. Arthur Brandstatter had been all around the world and served his country and community in a law enforcement role for most of his life. He passed away on May 22, 2004, but left a legacy of great deeds.
